The Cordillera Blanca - Caraz & Huaraz

Some call the Cordillera Blanca the best kept secret in South America. This 200-kilometer strip of the Andes is a hiking Mecca, with gorgeous glacial lakes, snow-capped mountains, and incredible hiking. Another fun fact, this is a tropical mountain range and the most extensive ice-covered tropical mountain range in the world. There are over 700 glaciers in this small region. If we were sans kiddos, we would spend weeks trekking through these mountains which reward you with sparkling turquoise lakes as you lose yourself in the beauty of peaks towering higher than 6,000 meters / 19,600 feet.

CARAZ

We started our journey through the Cordillera Blanca in the cute village of Caraz. This little village of 15,000 people was super sweet filled with narrow windy streets, cute cafes and restaurants, and far less touristy than most Peruvian towns catering to tourists. There were lots of little mountainside villas beside rivers and waterfalls. Most travel here by tuktuk - we were an oddity in our large car on these narrow streets.

We found ourselves at a new campsite with the most modern bathrooms on our trip - it even had a laundry machine(!!). (We also tested the capabilities of our 4-wheel drive when we decided to head into town for dinner after dark and found ourselves in a ditch of a farm.) It gave us a good laugh as we all worked together to get ourselves out of crops without destroying the harvest.

Terrible pictures, but just meant to capture a moment. The first is moments after we pulled ourselves out of a ditch - thank you 4WD! And drying our laundry at a campsite.

Lago Parón

A family pic - poor Zander is always with us but often hidden in a carrier on my back, fast asleep.

This was our first stop in the mountains. We climbed up a twisty windy road to a glacier lake 13,640 feet into the air. By “we”, I mean our trusty car, Bishi. While you can hike 3 - 4 hours to this lake, we let Bishi do the work for us - 800 meters elevation gain at 13,000 feet while carrying 2 kids and motivating an 8-year-old up didn’t sound appealing today. For 2-3 hours - no problem.

We drove through a valley between two sheer walls jutting up into the sky. After 42(!!) steep turns, 7,000 feet elevation gain (from town), and 28 miles of driving (which took 1.5 hours to drive), we arrived at Lago Paron. What a site to behold. This is the largest lake in the Cordillera Blanca region - which has over 300 lakes - but this lake really doesn’t seem that large.

Questions which we asked ourselves immediately:

1. Why is the lake this color blue?

2. How high is that glacier behind it?

3. Is the lake or the glacier receding?

Fun facts:

The glacier is, indeed, majestic. At this lake we are surrounded by some of the Andes’ highest peaks (the highest being Mount Aconcagua in Argentina at 22,831). There are 35 peaks over 6,000 meters in this area of the Andes - and 2 of the tallest ones can be seen from lago Paron.

Imogen and I immediately jumped at the chance to take a kayak out. This is hands down the most beautiful kayak ride I have ever been on. The color of the water, the glacier in the background, the sheer rock cliffs, and my 2-year-old daughter enjoying the experience. Magical.

We also captured some nice family shots of the boys and the kiddos.

And one more shot of this brilliant blue water beside the stone cliffs.

The water color was really this incredible!

Laguna Churup & a mud hut farm

We woke up to clear blue skies and a beautiful morning, so we moved slower than usual. Our goal was to hike to Laguna Churup and its glacial lake. When we got to the hiking trail, the clouds were already starting to roll in, and this time darker than usual. I was worried that we would be hit with a huge hail storm like we had a couple of weeks earlier in Ecuador, so we opted not to take the risk. As the clouds got darker and darker throughout the day, I’m glad that we made this choice - I’m not sure that we would have made it back to the car before it poured rain.

Instead, we kept driving into the mountains to see explore further. Where the road came to an end, there was a little farm and man tending to his fence of his mud hut home. He invited us to explore his property and learn about his way of life. Dashiell and I hopped out of the car to take on the opportunity.

The sweet farmer tending to his fence beside his traditional mud home.

This man lived far from anyone else with his wife, who was grazing the animals up in the mountain. Their son was at the university in Huaraz and only came back on Sundays. They grew everything that they needed themselves - food, animals, and totally off the grid. Sadly, they had a baby lamb die of cold that morning - it was only 1 month old. They put it on the roof of one of the buildings as a sort of sky burial. The place had all kinds of little mud huts - each used for different purposes - to sleep, to cook, storage of foods and equipment. This man was so happy, smiley, and appreciated having visitors. He said that people don’t usually come this far. His life was hard and simple - really mostly about survival - but he seemed to really enjoy it.

HUARAZ

Huaraz is the capital of this province and much bigger than Caraz. Truthfully, it is more of a launchpad for exploration than a city worth visiting. Caraz was so charming, while Huaraz wasn’t anything special. The driving distance between the two villages was short, but we took the whole day to explore the markets in-between, join a local festival, and enjoy the scenery. This was one of my favorite days in the mountains - we stopped and enjoyed the local events instead of rushing from a to b.

This was a celebration happening at a church square. Each village that we passed had some sort of celebration like this one, honoring the saint of their church.

I love visiting the markets.They are filled with women dressed in their colorful traditional garments selling produce and products to each other. They all have the biggest smiles and seeing a gringo baby is a huge attraction. Many ask to take pictures with the kids, especially Zander.

The colorful clothes of the local women in the region.

Pastouri Glacier

Near Huaraz is Pastouri Glacier, accessed by one of the highest paved roads in the world. Sometimes, Bishi gets altitude sickness, so we opted to take a tour instead of pushing her to the start of the trail at 4,800 meters high / 15,748 feet high. This allowed us to learn more about the mountain and the sites along the way. Plus, a welcome refuge from driving for Jonah. Typically, Jonah has been driving while I plan our journey, including cities, sites, and food. I have also now mastered the art of pumping from the front seat and leaning over to feed Zander in the back seat.

Pastouri Glacier lies within the tropical Andes and is retreating. Experts expect that it will only exist for another decade because it is retreating faster than it is building ice. In the last 35 years, it has lost 22% of its ice.

Along the way to Pastouri, we made a few stops. The first was to see the plant called Puya Raymondi, also nicknamed the Queen of the Andes. These plants grow to be 15 meters high (49 feet) and are a relative to the pineapple. They can only be found in high altitudes in Peru and Bolivia.

I saw this very cute shot of Imogen's tushy. I couldn't resist adding it here, especially since I keep getting banned from Facebook and Instagram for posting these types of pics. My posts are pushed waaaay down the feed for a month! (Don't worry, Imogen, I can always delete this later.)

We also saw a natural spring of carbonated water - a boring tourist spot - but got a nice family photo (Zander is finally visible).

Last was the main attraction - Pastouri Glacier. The trail starts at 4,800 meters, but then you need to walk an additional 40 minutes to the glacier, ending at around 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). This was our highest hike yet. Of course, Zander and Imogen were carried, but Dashiell walked the distance. When we arrived, it was sunny skies and a gorgeous view to the surrounding snow-capped mountains.

However, weather here changes rapidly and we were lucky to arrive before the clouds rolled in. We left the glacier in a snowstorm. Others were still working their way up to the glacier and barely got to see the glacier and surrounding area. It was freezing cold, so we walked down as fast as possible.

This was definitely the coldest that we have been all trip. Jonah graciously offered to get us hot chocolate, only to find that it was only luke-warm tea and took 45 minutes to get from a stall near the bus. "The service here is atrocious," he complained. We were just happy to be inside the bus instead of in the snowstorm.

A freezing cold Dashiell after the hike to the glacier.

Laguna Wilcacocha

Our last hike in the Cordillera was to Laguna Wilcacocha. While this isn’t an exceptional lake, the views from here encompass most of the highest peaks in the area. Once again, we set out early to avoid the afternoon rain. The trail passes through some lovely villages and local farms. Dashiell and Imogen were adorable, walking hand-in-hand (a rare treat to see).

At the top, we had exceptional, panoramic views of 8 glacial peaks and watched the storm roll in.

We also met a lovely couple from Seattle with two kids. We haven’t met any other families along the way, so the kiddos were psyched to have other kids to play with (and we were able to capture another family photo).

Camping

On the way to Lima, we found a fantastic camping spot overlooking the ridge along the Pan-American highway. Thank you iOverlander for this amazing tip. Great views, no sound from the road, and a gorgeous sunset.

A beautiful valley along the PanAmerican Highway.

Final thoughts from the family:

Jonah:

Service can be truly terrible here. It took 30 min to get a paper cup of tea after a freezing hike at Pastouri.

Dashiell:

The ice cave looks pretty cool.

When we get home from our trip, I want to live with Grandma and Grandpa for a week. (I think that 24/7 with the 5 of us is taking a toll!)

Pastouri Guide:

The people on the bus were annoyed that there was a baby on the bus. The driver also expressed his concern to the guide. But Zander was super chill and barely cried. The guide said that “he is so tranquil. An angel.” (He was pretty awesome that day, admittedly. All the little guy needs is attention and he’s happy. The long car rides where we can’t play with him are much harder.)

Imogen:

Gallo has a sister named Hainy. (Her imaginary friend has a sister.)

When I’m a boy I’m going to cut my hair short.

Let’s call Grandma.

Any time period in the past is "lasterday." Now, we also have "lasternight."

Next up … Cusco!