For this month’s Mellow Expeditions, we caught up with @karlofisher following an eight-day trek through the Huayhuash Circuit. Covering 125km and reaching elevations of up to 5200m, the route delivered brutal climbs, freezing camps, turquoise lakes and some of the most incredible mountain landscapes imaginable, making it a multi-day trek that might be difficult to ever top.
I’d always dreamed of trekking through the Peruvian Andes, with Huaraz firmly on my radar. I’d heard about the Huayhuash Circuit, but deliberately didn’t research it too much, I wanted the experience to surprise me.
We started in Quartelhuain and over the next eight days covered around 125km, reaching elevations of up to 5200m. From the start, we were greeted with a steep incline. This became a running joke for the trip: incline for breakfast. The landscape initially reminded me of Ireland — endless green fields, cows and exposed rock, before suddenly opening up to the ice-capped peaks I’d only ever seen in pictures. I genuinely hadn’t expected the scenery to be that insane. We were a group of 10 from all over the world, including another Irish lad, so the craic was flowing from day one.
One of my favourite moments was our first camp, set beneath Jirishanca (6094m). I’d camped in some pretty incredible places before, but this was different. Even getting up for a piss in the middle of the night was worth it when you could look out at those peaks. It was Baltic. We were sleeping in -20°C sleeping bags, wrapped in four or five layers, and my moustache completely froze. It didn’t help that I was somehow sleeping in a kids’ sleeping bag. That became the rhythm of the trek: 8–10 hours on our feet every day, followed by a camp beneath some of the most ridiculous mountains I’d ever seen.
The biggest challenge was definitely the early summit of Paso San Antonio on day five. I’d slept terribly the night before with insane winds, and it was probably the coldest night of the whole trip, camping around 4800m. Everyone had their days where the altitude and exhaustion caught up with them. This was mine. I just took my time and kept moving. One moment that stuck with me was seeing Geoff, a 63-year-old from China, pass me on the climb. I’d never felt more inspired. He was an absolute ox — never complained, no dodgy knees, just eating up the Huayhuash Circuit.
Despite how tough it was, there were so many moments where you just stopped and thought: wow. We passed Laguna Carhuacocha, Tres Lagunas, Siula Pass and Cuyoc Pass within the first six days. At Tres Lagunas, I cracked open a bottle of Johnny Walker and gave each of my fellow trekkers a shot of success while we looked down at the turquoise lakes below. I’d never seen lakes that colour before. It genuinely felt like another planet.
The highlight of the whole trek was definitely summiting Jurau Pass at around 5200m. It was a full 360 degrees of wow. In one direction was the main Cordillera Huayhuash range - knife-sharp, snow-covered peaks. Turn around and it looked like Mars, with turquoise lakes surrounded by exposed rock towers. The next day was just as impressive. After some early-morning inclines, we climbed towards Yaucha Pass before following the ridge towards the Huacrish viewpoint.We stayed high on the ridge with the entire Huayhuash range opening up around us. There was no better feeling than being surrounded by those peaks with condors cutting through the sky above.
After seven days on our feet, we finally reached our campsite below Jahuacocha. It was easily the craziest campsite of the trip. We sat there for hours taking it all in before deciding that swimming in a glacier-fed lake was the move... It froze the complete bollocks off us. I thought the Donegal coast was cold, but this was another level.
Looking back, the Huayhuash Circuit was unreal. I think I’ve ruined multi-day trekking for myself, I genuinely don’t know how I’ll top it.
