packing & prepping

July 10th. Rolling into ‘Refugio Chana’ aka Chana’s house, late in the afternoon meant we had to hustle to get everything together and packed. Chana’s house is located at the end of the Santa Cruz trail. We order of business was to arrange transportation to the start of the trek, a small mountain town called Vaqueria.

Then it was time to gather all our hiking equipment, food, and clothing. Being in a small truck, everything was fairly organised – gear in one cupboard, clothes and food easily accessible. Working out how much food we’d need for four days was the tricky part. We ended up bringing too much, but that’s better than not enough. Nuts, chocolate, and granola bars for snacks; chicken noodle soups, instant noodles, oats, and potatoes – anything high in calories but low in weight.

We were very conscious about our packing, not wanting to carry anything extra. Then came distributing it all between us. Tim & I took the brunt of the weight. Charley and Jaxon carried their sleeping bags, mattress, clothes, water & snacks. We didn’t have a scale to weigh the packs, but they felt comfortable enough for us.

Our two tents are new and hadn’t been used yet. Our two-man tents were thirty years old, heavy, and unreliable due to their age, so before leaving home we invested in two ultralight three-person backpacking tents, along with two summer-weight down sleeping bags, rated to 0°C, and a lightweight cook set. One perk of working in an outdoor store was getting great pro-deals. Our stove, though, we’ve had for thirty years – it’s still sold today and worked like a dream.

With everything packed up and a quick dinner, we were in bed a little late, around 10 pm. I set the alarm for 3 am but didn’t really sleep, my brain running overtime and refusing to switch off.

It was still dark when we loaded into the colectivo at 5 am, rattling along dirt roads for two hours to Yungay, picking up passengers in the predawn chill. From there, we switched to another colectivo that wound its way up sketchy switchbacks and over a mountain pass for three more hours, eventually reaching the isolated mountain village of Vaquería.

Vaqueria, Day 1, 13km

July 11th. By now it was 11:30am, poor Jaxie was pale and queasy from the ride, carsick and miserable. Needing to take his mind off it, we slung on our packs and started walking. The first part of the trail he trail gently climbs through small farming settlements where stone-walled fields and adobe houses dot the hillsides. Corn hanging to dry under the eaves and spread across rooftops, like something out of a story book. Jaxon still wasn’t doing well and eventually vomited on the side of the road. Feeling marginally better afterwards, he soldiered on – tough as nails.

Not long after, a dog chose us to hike with. She’s a free spirit; nobody owns her. She spends her life walking the trail back and forth, connecting with whomever she likes. She appeared well fed and seemed to know all the donkeys and some cows along the way. The last group she was with said her name was Lenkitta – she’d stayed with them the full four days. This time, she chose us.

Word of Jaxon being unwell seemed to have travelled along the trail, I suspect through the donkey porters. Around Km10 we passed a team heading in the opposite direction, the porter asked about Jax, and whether we wanted to hire him & 2 donkeys for the Union Pass climb tomorrow. We declined, pretty sure he was just carsick.

Huaripampa Valley

Emerging from the single track set in the trees amongst plenty of mud and donkey poop, we suddenly found ourselves at the foot of Huaripampa Valley. Stretching ahead, lush green pastures lined the valley floor, crisscrossed by streams and shaded by clusters of quenoa (paper) trees. The slopes rise steeply on either side, covered in dense patches of native forest. Herds of donkeys, cows and Vicuña were grazing. Far ahead were glimpses of high mountain peaks, oh and not another human in sight! Lunch was bacon and eggs rolled in fresh tortillas. With full bellies we had the energy to push on the last 4km. Shoulders & hip bones starting to feel the weight of our packs, we were on the hunt for our first campsite.

At the 12km mark we walked into the first official camping area, but decided to push past to the next campsite because it was too exposed to biting evening wind. Instead opting for a more sheltered spot a kilometre further up. A little warmer without the wind, we moved quickly to get out of any sweaty clothes and into our warm jackets & pants. Making use of a large boulder as a wind block, we pitched the tents and set about getting dinner cooked. As soon as the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped. Too cold to stay outside, we collapsed into our sleeping bags around 7pm. It had been a long day & we all needed to sleep. Unfortunately Tim and I were a little on the cold side all night in summer-weight bags. I wore all my (clean) clothes, including down jacket and pants. The kids slept like babies snuggled warm in their -10°C down cocoons.

Day 2, 12km & Union Pass

June 12. Brrr, it was a cold night, my guess is that the temperature dropped to -5’C. I was too cold to leave what heat I was able to generate, when you are wearing every warm item of clothing you have, it’s not exactly easy to motivate to get up. All night I was wishing I’d packed our extra quilt. We talked about it…

A layer of frost coated the outside of the tents. Braving the cold, we made tea and coffee as the first hikers and donkey teams, heavily laden with gear, plodded past at dawn. Being on a tour you are at the mercy of their schedule, hiking by first light, and the donkeys carry your pack.

We waited for the sun to dry our tents first before packing up. Breakfast was hardboiled eggs and leftover bacon wrapped in tortillas. On the trail by 9:30 am. Our bodies feeling stiff from yesterday, moving slowly to start. The trail continued to follow the length of the valley floor, a broad glacial corridor framed by towering granite walls. Pass turquoise streams flowing through grassy meadows, so pretty, dotted with daisy’s, tiny purple and yellow flowers. Gradually, the landscape became more rugged and alpine.

As we began the climb toward Unión Pass, crossed high alpine meadows with tarn’s hollowed by moving glaciers. In the distance we could see what we hoped wasn’t going to be our route. We were all in solid denial that the trail would take us up that high. The valley just ended with no apparent escape. Climbing higher with each step we could feel the altitude, the air growing cooler and thinner. Thankfully Jaxon was feeling 100%, and took the lead for most of the day. Now it was Charley’s turn to be hurting. She’s strong and fit, but inexperienced and wouldn’t take advice to pace herself yesterday.

Summiting Union Pass

Climbing the trail zigzags steeply up the rocky slope, we took several short breaks, but didn’t want to stop for long as we knew this was the longest and most challenging day. For us, Union pass was the half way point for energy, conscious of the time we had to keep going. Taking in the majestic vistas of snow-capped & dramatic Taulliraju and Artesonraju peaks and glaciers, we estimated another hour to the pass. Plodding along, grateful for good weather, keeping positive thoughts, and popping candies in the kids mouth. The final approach to the pass lead to a hidden entry, something out of a Lord of the Rings movie, a small opening in on the ridge, we’d made it.

Punta Unión Pass at 4,750 metres. What an incredible sense of personal achievement.

Stopping for our victory photos & to take in the views of the Santa Cruz Valley that exploded into grandeur before us. Stretching far and wide, past glacier smoothed rocks, milky blue lakes and down to the valley, we could see our path and tents 3km ahead.

That night we camped at 4,200 m, we expect it to be colder than last night. We each had our jobs – pitching tents, , filtering water, shooing away curious cows & cooking dinner. The kids are learning so much resilience, persistence & survival, both have a deep appreciation for the beauty surrounding them and a love for the outdoors. Jaxon is feeling independent & proud of carrying his own equipment. We’ve done many hikes, but this is their first multi-day, and they’re thriving.

Lenkitta has made an appearance, we hadn’t seen her all day, she must have left earlier with some other hikers. Another early night, n bed by 7 pm, too cold and dark to linger. Twelve hours on our feet, twelve hours resting. The kids played cards in their tent while I bundled up in every layer, this time putting Charley’s down jacket over my feet, then my goretex jacket over top to keep as much heat in, worked perfectly. A couple of Ibuprofen for the joints and melatonin to help us sleep and it was off to la-la land.

Day 3. Taullipampa Camp

July 12th. Day three dawned with a frosty layer on the tents, blue sky and the promise of warm sunshine. We emerged from the tent around 7am to see other camps packed up and heading out. Groans from the kids tent indicated they had no interest of waking. We survived the night, feeling good, I put the kettle on for a hot cuppa tea, sat back and enjoyed a quiet moment taking in where we are. Breakfast was a packet of tasteless apple & cinnamon instant oats, sweetened with as much sugar as we could, but it didn’t help. Jaxon said Grandad wouldn’t approve and fed his portion to the dog.

Again we waited for the sun to come around to dry the tents and warm us. Today was going to be an easy day, deciding to skip the side hike to a pretty glacial lagoon. Figuring it best to keep the kids’ experience positive and fun. Talking later to other hikers later who did the hike, said it made for a 21km day. Happy with our decision we soon forgot about the beautiful lake we didn’t see.

We had a gentle descent down a gorgeous valley. Still had to cover 10km, but these passed by effortlessly. Waterfalls cascaded from melting glaciers; grazing cattle, donkey trains plodded past with their handlers running alongside & passed oncoming hikers coming up the valley. The water here was crystal clear, but we still filtered before drinking to avoid donkey-poop tummy bugs.

Llamacorral camp

Our third camp nestled among old stone ruins, walls beautifully hand stacked by people long gone.  Strolling into camp around 2pm we had the pick of places to pitch our tents. The sun was still high and warm, but there was a strong wind blowing dropping the temps. We were cooking dinner when other hikers arrived looking very tired from their side lake excursion. Dinner tonight was mushroom risotto with chorizo sausage. This was our tastiest meal since running out of bacon & eggs. The wind dropped as the sun went down, taking any heat with it. Jaxon & I washed the dishes down at the river in the last of the light with freezing hands. Tidying up before diving into the tents. We’re lower, but still it’s cold, fully dressed in my bag I drift off to sleep.

Morning came with frost again. We emerged from our tents cold but happy. The kids were sad it was the last day – they loved sleeping in the tent, cooking on the camp stove & carrying their gear.

(Google tells me now that these walls were built by farmers & shepherds, pre Inca people, who occupied these lands for centuries. Constructing agricultural terraces, storage structures, and residential compounds using ‘dry stone masonry’, adapted to the steep terrain and seasonal climate.)

Day 4. last day

July 13th. Packing up for the last time we were excited about hiking but not about ending. We had such a great time, we don’t want it to end. Descending the final 10 km, we felt for the struggling hikers grinding uphill. Their faces etched with effort, I was secretly happy we’d done it the easier direction.

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Reaching Cashapampa at 11:30am just as the sun was heating up the canyon. Dusty and elated, we hi-fived each other over a cold Coke & toasted our victory before heading back to our favourite camp in Caraz where a hot shower and more laundry awaited.

Reflection

This trek wasn’t just about the scenery or ticking off a bucket-list trail. It was about watching the kids step into discomfort, carry their own packs, push through minimal comfort & exhaustion and come out beaming with pride. Seeing them grow stronger each day made every shiver, ache, and freezing dawn worthwhile.