Peru - Day 6: Lares Trek Day 2: Cancha Cancha to Quiswarani
On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, we began the second day of our Lares Trek with SAM Travel Peru, hiking from Cancha Cancha to Quiswarani. This was one of the more challenging days of the trek, covering about 7.5 miles.
The standard itinerary estimated approximately 7 hours of hiking, although our group took about 9.5 hours because one of my friends and I hiked at a slower pace than the other two.
Leaving Cancha Cancha
We left camp around 7:00am and began making our way higher into the mountains. The trail climbed steadily toward Pachacutec Pass, the highest point of this section of the trek at approximately 14,800 feet.
As we gained elevation, we were treated to views of glaciers, remote lakes, rugged valleys, spectacular mountain vistas, and alpaca herds!
This was definitely one of the more strenuous portions of the Lares Trek, especially with the altitude. It also rained a bit that day, which didn’t help much. Luckily, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow when it cleared up a bit!
Laguna Pachacutec and Pachacutec Pass
Around 12:00pm, we reached Laguna Pachacutec, a high-altitude lake near the Mirador Lagunas de Cancha Cancha and Pachacutec Pass.
Up until that point, we had seen very few other hikers on the trail. For most of the trek, it had just been our group, our guide, the support staff, and the pack animals carrying our gear.
That changed around Pachacutec Pass, where we began encountering other tour groups coming from the direction of the Lares Hot Springs. The rain and fog had picked up again, which made visibility a little more difficult and the area somewhat confusing with several groups crossing paths. Since I was hiking a bit slower than some of my friends, I briefly lost sight of my group and had a moment where I wasn’t quite sure which way they had gone!
Once we regrouped, we continued along the trail and began descending toward Quiswarani.
Lunch by Qoyalay Lagoon
Around 3:00pm, we stopped for lunch by Qoyalay Lagoon. By that point, the fog had really settled into the mountains, obscuring much of the surrounding landscape and giving the lagoon a completely different feel from the clearer views we had earlier in the day.
Since we had started hiking at 7:00am, we were already past the approximately seven hours of hiking estimated for the day, and we still had some distance to cover before reaching our campsite near Quiswarani. We were running behind schedule partly because one of my friends and I were hiking at a slower pace than the others, but also because it had simply been a difficult day of hiking.
After being on the trail for so long, it was wonderful to take a break, eat lunch, and wander around the lagoon for a bit before continuing on toward camp.
Seven Waterfalls and Quiswarani
Around 4:15pm, we finally reached the Seven Waterfalls, also known as Qanchis Pfaqcha, near the community of Quiswarani. The waterfalls are fed by Qoyalay Lagoon, where we had stopped for lunch about an hour earlier, making it especially interesting to see how the water continued farther down the mountainside.
After a long day of hiking, reaching the waterfalls was also a welcome sign that we were almost done for the day.
We reached our campsite near Quiswarani around 4:30pm and got settled in for the evening. The campsite had basic camping facilities, including a bathroom building, and we were served afternoon tea and dinner after spending most of the day on the trail.
By that point, we were definitely ready to relax and get some rest after such a challenging day of hiking. In all, we had spent about 9.5 hours on the trail, compared with the roughly 7 hours estimated for the 7.5-mile route from Cancha Cancha to Quiswarani.
