Chachani, new route

Starting the walk from Laguna Blanca seemed logical, as it was the shortest point on road 34A and Laguna Blanca is a very scenic, dramatic spot. Getting there is fairly easy. Dozens of Cusco-, Puno-, Juliaca-, Chivay-bound buses pass through. We simply went to Terrapuerto and Terminal Terrestre to find a bus that left soon and with a driver who agreed to stop there. Laguna Blanca is not a standard stop. The closest regular stop is Pampa Canahuas, around 6 km away (more on this below). The trip is 2-hour long, traffic depending. Note that we payed the full price for our Puno-bound bus (13 soles each).

This is a delightful walk across wide-open terrain and in low vegetation. Only imagination (and topographic map if you have got one) tells you which way to go. Below is the route we have taken. Note that we started with our backpack absolutely full of water, food and camping gear; we walked very slowly almost all the way!

- 0.0h . 16.07511S/71.48106W ; 4068m: Laguna Blanca, start of the hike. We got there by 2.30pm.

- 2.5h . 16.12118S/71.46808W ; 4245m: We camped there for the night. This is a flat area where you can technically camp anywhere. Vicunas are numerous !

- 5.5h . 16.15586S/71.48070W ; 4510m: This is roughly the entrance of the valley (see picture below) we walked up to reach the dust road.

- 7.5h . 16.17165S/71.49139W ; 4820m: We reached the dust road there by hiking up the little ridge on our left.

From there, navigation is straighforward: follow the road up to the Pass! 

A less boring possibility is to stick to the valley up to the where it opens (about there: 16.16771S/71.49426W ; 4900 m). Then, the road is easy to find. This option might be a bit longer anyway. 

On this first part of the hike, close looks of vicunas are almost guaranteed . We spotted a fox around 4700m. Birds are very few there. 

- 9h . 16.16736S/71.51247W ; 5080m: The road ends at a very scenic (and very windy) Pass. 

From this point, the trail to the basecamp is obvious (during daylight !). Simply follow the well-marked, mostly flat, west-south-west path. 

Landscape is amazingly scenic with great views over Huacullani and Nevada Calcha. 

Beware that if you attempt to walk the trail by night, although it is very well marked almost everywhere, the boulder area (15 to 20 minutes) that starts at 16.17174S/71.52061W can reveal very challenging. I would not try it. Past this area, white arrows clearly indicate the way to the basecamp:

- 10h . 16.17739S/71.53111W ; 5175m: Basecamp, known as Inca camp. 

To split this long hike, here are a few camping spots you can try:

+ 2.5h; 16.12118S/71.46808W ; 4245m: see above.

+ 8h: once you reached the road to the Pass, several spots are possible for camping, like the very open areas at 16.16700S/71.50256W and 16.16703S/71.50505W, or the smaller area at 16.16717S/71.50788W. You can also camp at the Pass.

+ 9.5h: we found a very nice, albeit small, area close to the trail right after the boulder area at 16.17151S/71.52181W. A last possibility may be found there: 16.17260S/71.52285W.

For the way up, 2.5 hours is probably for very well-trained climbers willing to push it. It took us 4 hours (reasonably fit trekkers, very well acclimatized, reasonably heavy backpacks with all our camping gear, perfect weather, no snow on the trail). Six or seven hours is a possibility I guess in bad weather. Return (if trail is snow-free) should not take more than one exhilarating hour of scree-skiing.

See below "Route description"

The way back is mostly identical to a reverse step 2. The trick is that we have been told drivers would not usually stop for people trying to flag a bus at Laguna Blanca. To close the deal, we would anyway reach the road by night. We then had to walk to P. Canahuas to catch a bus, where they all stop. In day light, you can obviously try your luck at Laguna Blanca to save you a few kilometers of extra-hike.

- from basecamp to the pass is about an hour (2.5 km)

- we then walked along the road down to this point: 16.16771S/71.49426W ; 4900 m. We think it is a fairly good choice as walking down the valley was almost exactly the right direction and was fairly easy to walk, mainly in sand, small rocks and bushes. 

- We followed the valley until terrain was open enough to point exactly P. Canahuas. It is a nice stroll down, with fewer and fewer vegetation as you walk down. We then simply aimed straight at P. Canahuas (thanks to GPS, compass will help too as it will soon be hidden by small hills that are 8km from P. Canahuas).

- Beware that about 8.3 km from Pampa Canahuas, you need to descend a small hill. It is probably not the best idea to be there in the dark. We did it in dim light, and felt not comfortable in this relatively steep slope down moderately unstable terrain. During daylight, this is no brainer.

- Last 8 km are very easy stroll over the mostly flat sandy terrain. Note that this plain is almost flat but P. Canahuas is in a small depression and will be visible directly only from time to time. By nighttime, the dim lights of P. Canahuas were visible low over the horizon over the 5 last kilometers. GPS or compass can sure help. Otherwise, use your sixth sense -- it is strictly impossible to get lost anyway (unless blizzard hits you)!