Boleslav wrote:We did 3 passes in the mid April-May 2008, it did not feel too crowded., but at that time not many people did 3 passes, The mountains are more majestic and you have that WOW factor almost all the time. Yaks are cool to see, so is the culture

Huayhuash- the east side is more crowded then the west side. We did it Mid May to Mid June in 2009, it was starting to be popular, several groups at every campsite. Heard back from others and it seems to be really popular nowadays. The scenery is beautiful but compared to 3 passes, did not feel surrounded by the mountains at every step. Llamas and alpacas are cool to see, so are campesitos who yell at you "Que pais" (what country?)
Do not take me wrong, we loved both treks, if you could do both of them eventually.

we organized the donkey driver through an agency, but we insisted we do not need their guide, so it worked out great as on several occasions he had to take a different route then us and we met him in the camp. I have his contact, if you are interested. I think we paid approx 35-$40 per day for the arriero, 2 donkeys, his food and his equipment.

The donkey driver went with us and his donkeys over the Trapecio pass from Huayhuash village to the other side (name escapes me). We skipped Vigonca as it did not sound that interesting.

4. Did you also do Seria Pass/Caramarca Lake? - did not do

overall experience:
1. 3 passes, but had to take it slowly as we felt the high altitude effects above Namche for couple days.
2. Huayhuash, its nice, but much smaller mountain range,
glad we did both

marving wrote:And finally, would it be foolish to do the trek unsupported (we would rent a sat phone). I really don't like being guided, I'm a minor control freak. And the thought of needing a whole caravan of a guide, donkey handlers, cook, and a half dozen donkeys is unappealing to to me for what is essentially a long hike. Has anyone done it on their own? How was it? Was routefinding difficult? How challenging was the altitude? We don't have any experience hiking at 4500-5000m though the Monch in the alps was a little over 4000m and wasn't a problem. The longest we've ever hiked with full camping backpacks is 3 days.

Boleslav wrote:here is the info for the arriero- if you can contact him direcly so that all the money goes to him. I am not sure how much he really got from the agency. But he is great guy, who speaks Quecua and SPanish AND knows how to read a map.
He lives in Llamac, so not sure if there is internet there (was not 5 years ago, so he used to check emails while in HUaraz which was approx. 1x week.
Arnulfo Nazario
arnol_nv@hotmail.com
NUMERO 944953056, O
EN CASO CONTRARIO NO INGRESA A MI NUMERO
TE COMUNICAS CON MI SOBRINO SU
NUMERO ES 043943235427

in case he does not work anymore, ask him about his brother, who used to be arriero, too

if all fails- you can contact Paulino, the owner of http://huascaran-peru.com/our-team.php
Paulino Tinoco is the one who organized the arriero for us.

moritzscheibe wrote:

marving wrote:And finally, would it be foolish to do the trek unsupported (we would rent a sat phone). I really don't like being guided, I'm a minor control freak. And the thought of needing a whole caravan of a guide, donkey handlers, cook, and a half dozen donkeys is unappealing to to me for what is essentially a long hike. Has anyone done it on their own? How was it? Was routefinding difficult? How challenging was the altitude? We don't have any experience hiking at 4500-5000m though the Monch in the alps was a little over 4000m and wasn't a problem. The longest we've ever hiked with full camping backpacks is 3 days.

My wife and I did the Huayhuash circuit in 2008. We went unguided which meant, first of all, some effort to organize the public transport to Llamac, especially as we don’t speak Spanish.

We chose the alpine variants and route finding was straightforward. Technically we found the trek easy (for alpinists). Descending San Antonio pass was the most difficult part.

So the greatest challenge was to carry all the gear and supplies for 11 or 12 days. I started with a rucksack of about 30 kg. Even acclimatized the altitude – continuously between 4000 and 5000 m – makes the trek physically hard, and in our case some diarrhea issues made it even harder. We have done quite a few other treks in Patagonia, Peru, Scandinavia, Nepal, Bhutan and New Zealand but I would say it was physically our hardest. We were the only fully unsupported / unguided party at the time. We met a German girl with a local guide, who carried a 45 kg-monster pack for her, and a Welsh or Scottish couple, who gave up and hired a donkey after the first day.

I would nevertheless go unguided the next time. It’s doable and organised groups are just not my cup of tea. But I would recommend it only if you know what you are doing, are really determined and willing to suffer a bit. Mönch and 3 days with full packs don’t play in the same league imho. Anyway, the Huayhuash ist stunning!

Boleslav wrote:if you go with Arnulfo, let me know how it was, he may not remember us anymore, but we had a great time in Huayhuash, partly thanks to him as it was he who suggested Paso Trapecio, which was lovely