Hiking to Laguna 69

January 10^th 2022

The other big day trip to do while visiting Huaraz is Laguna 69, another gorgeous, turquoise coloured lake.  This one actually involves some effort from the visitor as it is a 14 kilometer hike at elevation (7 in, 7 out).  The elevation starts around 3800 meters, and the lake is situated at 4600.  I’m glad I’ve had a few days to acclimatize.

 

The night before, Dieter and I prepared some bacon sandwiches and some other snacks for the hike.  We were picked up around 5 am and it was a couple of hours to get to our breakfast spot, a little restaurant far up the mountainside from the main valley along a bumpy road.  A few 6000+ meter, snow capped peaks were nearby, lit up in the early morning sun.  While waiting for breakfast to arrive, a familiar looking couple sat at a nearby table and we did a couple of double takes before we clued in that we had met over 1000 kilometres away and a few weeks ago at Casa del Sol in Montanita, Ecuador around Christmas time.  Timothe and Cindy are from Luxembourg and I had had a few short conversations with them at Casa del Sol but we hadn’t really gotten to know each other.  Well, here’s our chance.

Looking across the valley as we climb up the Cordillera Blanca side...that is the Cordillera Negra side in the distance (negra or black since it is not snow capped).

Kind of an odd church looking structure below.

The view at breakfast.

After eating, the bus drove another 30-45 minutes with one brief stop by a nice lake for some photos.  Then it was time for the hike and the four of us, Tim, Cindy, Dieter and I hiked together for the day.  Just before getting off of the bus, the guide stated that we had 3 hours to hike the 7 km to the lake, with the elevation gain of 800 meters, 1 hour to hang out there and another 2 hours to return to the bus.  Sounds good.

The first photo stop.

And worth the five minute stop indeed.

The walk began fairly easily with 40 minutes along relatively flat ground across a meadowlike area with the odd cow grazing the grass.  A lovely 3-400 meter tall waterfall was off to the left, coming over a ridge and it turned out that that was roughly where we were heading.  Switchbacks zigzagged their way up the hillside towards the waterfall where it leveled off again for about a kilometre.  

The start of the trail.

Looking back from where we came in the bus.  You can see the road on the right.

The local greenskeeper.

Looking back from the direction we are hiking.

Somebody's home?!?

The big waterfall.  We are heading up to the little dip on the right of the ridge.

Cindy met a friend on the switchbacks.

Where we came from.

Where we are going...

Up on the second plateau.  These cows liked to like your hand and arms to get some salt from our sweat...and man, were their tongues rough and strange feeling!

We are heading up the left bit.

Across that flat area, we had our first sighting of one of the local animals there…the ferocious southern viscacha (okay, a scary animal if you’ve seen Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail and the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog).  These guys look like rabbits with short ears but big bushy tails.

Try and find the little viscacha.  Need a hint...just a bit above the middle, a little to the left, on the rock.  Definitely well camouflaged.

Just below the middle, a little to the left, is the little lake where the cow from 3 pictures before this one was taken.

One more ascent along switchbacks and a short flat stint and we made it to Laguna 69.  I was the second person to make it there and I must admit, I was surprised by the first person.  Her name was Wendy, and she was a tiny woman in her 40s from Lima who was sitting across the aisle from me on the bus.  She just didn’t look like the hiker type in her pink sweats and matching pink jacket and a tiny backpack that couldn’t have fit much in the way of water (I was packing 3 liters).  Good on her!  We took turns snapping pictures with each other’s phones before more and more hikers arrived.  It had taken us 2 hours and 40 minutes to reach the lake…which was stunning.

Almost there!

There it is.

Yeah baby!

Dieter, Tim and Cindy were soon at the lake, and we sat down for lunch.  Tim had a DJI mini drone with him and he took that for a flight and captured some amazing shots.  I’ve got to get me one of those!  While he was flying it, we heard and then saw a small collapse of snow from a bit of a glacier-like snow up on the mountainside.  Not surprisingly, he didn’t happen to capture that action with his drone.

Tim was kind enough to send me the following pics & vids from his drone.

The peaks started to reveal themselves a bit more after lunch.

Good thing I wore a yellow hoody so you could find me.  This is big country.

Soon it was time to start the hike back down.  We were the first group to reach the lake, and the last from our bus to leave it with the guide pulling up as tail gunner.  We did pass a number of groups on our way down and were back down around 3 o’clock (3:20 was our time to be back at the bus).  It was a great hike, but my feet were definitely ready for a bit of a rest.

On our way back down.

I think this would make a great album cover.

Looking back towards the lake.  We didn't see this much on our way up.

The big waterfall again...getting closer to the bus, maybe 40 minutes to go.

Playing with animal bones.  I was trying to be the white spy from Spy vs Spy in the Mad Magazines.

Back on the bus, I noticed that the two seats behind Dieter and me were empty and we had started the day with a full bus.  We recalled that it was two Peruvian ladies who were staying at our hostel.  Both of us had giggled at the start of the hike when they had seemed more preoccupied with their lipstick instead of whether they had enough water or the right shoes for the hike.  Things were said between the guide and some of the other Peruvian tourists about the girls which I didn’t understand, and the bus left the parking lot without them.  Okay, kind of weird…where are they? 

 

We drove about 25 minutes and stopped by a lake where there was a small park with a lodge and canoes for rent.  Perhaps they came here for some reason.  The guide exited the bus and walked over to the lodge but returned 5-10 minutes later…still no girls.  He questioned everyone in the bus again, in Spanish, so we didn’t know exactly what he was asking.  A few people responded, I assumed with information of the last time that had seen them.  Hmm…the plot thickens.  Being high up in the mountains, there was no service for cell phones either.  What to do?!?

 

We drove another 3-4 kilometres and the guide was able to get a signal with his phone (I still didn’t have one with my phone).  He called the tour company and they made calls to the girls.  Five minutes later, the guide’s phone rang and as he listened, I saw him make the sign of the cross with his free hand…okay, they are safe.  He hung up and told the bus that they were okay, and that they were already back in Huaraz.  What!?!  That’s 2 ½ hours away.  When did they leave?  Before noon?  And how did they not think to tell anyone?  The guide…the bus driver…  Crazy.  Nobody in the bus was terribly happy about it, or them.  Oh well, it only cost us about half an hour and some anxiety.  I felt mostly sorry for the guide but perhaps he could learn for the future that it should be stated at the start of the hike to not leave without informing someone.

Back at the hostel, Dieter and I had dinner with a French guy Nordain, who had just arrived, and we saw the two lipstick girls across the lobby, sitting on a couch.  They had their bags packed and must have been waiting for a night bus.  I wish my Spanish was better so I could have found out what they had done earlier, and what they were thinking…and let them know how they had stressed out and wasted time of about 20 people!  Yup, not hikers.

Finally got a view of the mountains from Huaraz that evening:

Anyways, it was still an amazing day.  Thankfully I could sleep in the next day, relax and take a night bus the following evening back to Lima.  It’s now time for the jungle!