Peru’s Huascaran Circuit and Beyond (Video)

Words, photos, and video by Clotaire Mandel

I think the part of Peru that interested me the most is the part that’s blanketed in white all year round. Just looking at the satellite images is enough to make you dream. Many parts of this vast country are magnificent, yet there are some that inspire us even more than others, making us eager to press on so we can finally see with our own eyes what we’ve devoured in others’ articles.

Huaraz has been on my radar for a long time. The road leading there from the north is sublime, the area around the city is splendid, and the southern section leading to the start of the Peru Great Divide is just as magnificent. And all these places, each with a style all their own.

You might be a little worried about the altitude and the mountain passes you’ll have to cross on this loop through Huascaran National Park, but you’ll find that time flies by. It’s like walking through a dream, looking up, searching for the peaks that one by one peek through the clouds.

You forget the cold, the altitude, the fatigue. It is the nature of beauty to push us beyond ourselves, to transcend us. And so the days pass, as if carried by a cloud. Sometimes, we gorge ourselves on photos, videos, and articles about these places we idealize and dream of finally reaching. And sometimes we find ourselves confronted with reality, which, through a multitude of factors, makes it a bit more complex, sometimes disappointing.

But this part of the world is even more beautiful in person than anything anyone can tell you. So much so that it’s almost frustrating not to be able to capture the majesty of the place in photos or videos. It’s a good lesson: learning to appreciate the view without a camera standing between us and the scenery.

After Huaraz, we headed toward the Pastoruri Glacier. The trail that connects one paved road to another is just as magnificent. It’s fascinating to see such a diversity of colors, rocks, perspectives, and terrain, all within such a short distance. You find yourself wishing you had some knowledge of geology just to try to understand what’s unfolding before your eyes. The valleys, the layers of rock piled one on top of the other.

Each valley seemed different to me, and each time we were impressed by what we saw. It helps to tackle one pass after another at over 4,000 meters, knowing that beyond each one, a whole new world will unfold.

Further Reading

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