Quebrada Quillqueyhuanca Alpine Trek To Cojup - Trekking & Climbing In Huaraz, Peru

Quebrada Quillqueyhuanca Alpine Trek to Cojup High Alpine Trek

Duration:

4 days or 3 days (if already well acclimatised)

Grade:

Medium to Hard

Highest Point:

5100m/ 16732ft

The Quillqueyhuanca to Cojup Trek is an exciting high alpine short trek for strong hikers who want to stay away from the popular & busier Santa Cruz trails and is also an excellent acclimatisation hike for climbing expeditions.

Chocu Pass

The 4 day trek starts with gentle acclimatisation with a day hike to the famous Laguna Churup and a first night camping at 3750m / 12303ft and finishes with a challenging crossing over a 5100m pass between two deep glacial valleys with amazing 360 degree mountain views.

Note 1: Grading

This is a physically demanding trek with crossing a high alpine pass. The route ascending to and descending from the pass is steep and on unformed trails. Clients need to be physically fit and comfortable hiking in steep alpine conditions with unmaintained trails. There can be light snow to walk though on top of the pass if there has been bad weather, although it should be soft snow and not icy.

It is important to be well acclimatised to the altitude before departing for this trek. You go up very high quickly and good acclimatisation is necessary to avoid possible altitude related illness or lethargy.

Itinerary

Day A: Arrive Huaraz 3070m / 10072ft
Day B: Huaraz, day hike for acclimatisation

For 4 days option

Laguna Churup Hike & Camp at Pitec (good acclimatisation day)
Drive 1½ hours from Huaraz to Pitec and set up camp (3750m / 12303ft). We then hike up with a steady continuous climb on a good path up a ridge to beautiful Laguna Churup 4450m / 14600ft, towered over by the peak Nevada Churup (5495m). The final 50m to the lake is a steep but safe climb up a rock gully. Return to Pitec to camp.

For 3 days option

For clients who are already well acclimatised to the altitude, we can omit the hike to Laguna Churup and the night camping at Pitec.
One day 01, we hike direct from Pitec to camp at Olivos (see below).

Hike Quillqueyhuanca Valley to Olivos

in the morning at Pitec campsite we meet our donkey drivers and all equipment is loaded onto donkeys. We carry just a light day pack. An easy walk up the valley Quebrada Quillqueyhuanca to camp at the top of the valley at Olivos at the base of Andavite Mountain (4250m / 13944ft)
In the afternoon we can hike into the valley Quebrada Cayesh, where we are very close to the glacier covered mountains San Juan, Cayesh and Chopiraju.

Olivos to Huapi Camp

We start with a 2 hour easy hike up to visit glacial fed Laguna Tullpacocha (4300m / 14108ft). We then follow an ascending zig zag trail climbing steadily for around 3 hours to our high campsite on a plateau at 4850m / 15912ft by a small lake, close to the mountain Huapi. From the campsite we are treated to close views of many snowy peaks including Huapi, and the massive 6000m+ peaks of Chinchey, Pucarranra & Huanzan.

Chocu Pass to Cojup Valley & return to Huaraz

We leave camp & climb for around 2 hours to the high alpine Pass Chocu 5100m / 16732ft. The donkeys cannot come this way but carry all the equipment back down the Quillqueyhuanca Valley to Pitec from where it is sent back to our base in Huaraz. We carry just day packs. The route up to the pass offers some of the most panoramic mountain views in the Cordillera Blanca and we are surrounded by several 6000m+ peaks. There can be snow at the top of the pass, but it is not deep and is soft to walk on later in the morning. The descent down from the pass is not on a well marked trail and we follow our noses & cattle trails. In places the route is steep and can be slippery, but we will go slowly and take our time. During the descent we can see below the beautiful glacial lake Pulcacocha. After about 2 hours descending we gratefully come to the Cojup Valley floor.

There is a dirt road running up the valley to provide access to lake Pulcacocha at the head of the lake. It is a very pleasant and relaxing walk down the valley following the road and admiring the views. We come to the gate at the entrance to the valley where our private transport will be waiting to take us back to Huaraz

Hiking Hours & Kms Hiked

Hiking hours are estimated times including rest breaks and lunch stop. Times are for our average groups based on past experience. Some people may be much faster and others slower.

Kms hiked are estimated.

Trek Roads

Access roads to and from treks are generally dirt mountain roads (not paved) and in some places can be bumpy. Road travel times are slower than you may expect for the kms travelled.

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