Santa Cruz Trek in the Cordillera Blanca

We were mostly acclimatized after two days in Huaraz (10,141 ft) at the base of the mountains.  We took a van ride up to Vaqueria (12,139 ft) to start the 4 day trek which we did in 3 days (we needed an extra day to go to a rocking climbing area two hours south).  We had a great group of fellow hikers with us, a guide and a cook who lead the mules (our first time with the luxury of everything but our day packs being carried for us and three meals a day including hot coca tea prepared for us).

First day of hiking, most of the peaks were sopped in with low lying clouds and there was a lot of elevation gain.  In the first day and a half we were climbing to the pass and hiked up 3, 445 ft in thin air.  It was wild how difficult it was to hike, my body felt able but my lungs were screaming, trying hard to catch my breath and head feeling dizzy.  The final part before the pass consisted of hiking 30 yards pausing to get oxygen, calm breathing down and then continuing. 

Thankfully when we made it to the Punta Union pass (15,584 ft) the weather on the other side was clearer and eventually allowed for stunning views of the surrounding mountains.  Our final night out we gathered with our newly made friends in the dining tent for dinner with the organic French farmers, the super fit and friendly Swiss, the doctor from Australia, the photographer from Rochester, the artist from UK and the firefighter from Canada.

The final day we woke up at 5am, left the group to do a quick side trip to a pristine mountain lake surrounded by a towering cirque of mountains.  We then resumed the Santa Cruz trail and had to get to our destination by 3pm to catch our ride back down to Huaraz.  During this 15 mile day we had a trusty (slightly mangy) dog that hiked with us and endured the hot conditions in the blazing sun for the last several hours after we ran out of water.   We eventually survived the quick pace and knee-jarring decent (total decent from the pass was 6,102 ft) to Casapampa to meet our ride.  Tired and tickled about the sights we saw, our driver zipped dangerously around mountain curves back to Huaraz and our Hostel Casa Zarela where hot showers awaited us.