Lake 69 — Attraction in Yungay

A really incredible hike and one of the more beautiful lagunas we have seen. The hike itself was not very hard other than the altitude which slows it down a little. The only problem is how difficult it is to get here. We considered various options and their costs/benefits. To put it in perspective, we hate tours / tour groups and tour buses. We really wanted to find a way to get to this hike without joining all the other lemmings and hiking in a big line. You can take a collective to Yungay and then take another collective or taxi to the hike from there, but this method has two big problems.

First, the one direction cost is not much less than the round trip tour bus cost. Second and bigger problem is that it is only one direction. The trail head is not on a main road and no one goes there unless they are hiking, so no taxis or collectives wait for returning hikers. There are a couple of collectives that pass nearby from time to time but this is not a sure thing and this isn’t a place you would want to get stuck without a return trip to town.

If you really want to do the DIY way, you may be able to talk your way into a tour bus with empty seats for the return. They are always there. Or you may find a collective and end up spending more than the tour trip. Because of these issues, we sucked up our pride and joined a “tour”. Thankfully this is a loose term and is really nothing more than a bus full of tourists that go to the trail together. There is a “guide” but no one actually hikes with him. The painful parts are having to endure a slow breakfast stop (we brought our own food) and waiting for the street shoe, jean wearing, purse toting hikers in the group to finish before the bus can leave.

We joined the Andes Hard bus which costs only 30 soles, or around $9. This was the most economical way to reach the hike. As soon as we arrived, we quickly separated from the rest of the group and still got to enjoy the hike alone. And surprisingly, most everyone at the lake doesn’t venture past the main landing so the rest of the shore is empty of people.

If you are interested in more detailed info on this hike, just search our name, Career Break Adventures and Laguna 69. There is a full write up about this trip....

The start of the track was at 3,900m at one end of a valley. This part of the valley was also used as a camp for overnight stays. There were heaps of donkeys and horses roaming free in amongst the tents. We walked up the gently sloping valley, following a river, and arrived to what appeared like a dead end with 2 waterfalls crashing down from high above.

There was a series of switch backs on the steep sided valley wall. It was only a 300m climb in elevation but being over 4,000m above sea level, the air was thin and we, like most others, were feeling it hard going despite walking slowly and taking plenty of breaks. The path led us in the direction of the waterfall and we assumed that Laguna 69 would be over the crest of the valley wall we were climbing. As we walked off the valley wall, we were suddenly in a wind tunnel. We were in another valley, this time at 4,400m but it wasn't Laguna 69 there to meet us, it was only Laguna 68 with it's green, crystal clear water...

The track continued on a flat plain until there was seemingly nowhere else to go, like before. And as before, the answer was simple, it was more switch backs although this time it was a particularly steep section. We were walking up at a snails pace, resting in every corner. It was a hard slog even if it was only 200m vertical, but we all made it up and caught our breath again.

We seemed to have entered a bowl with snowy peaks surrounding us and Chacraraju towering over the others at 6,400m. As we walked a few more metres towards the centre of the bowl, we caught our first glimpse of Laguna 69's electric blue water - it was startling!!

We continued closer to the lagoon and stopped in awe, our breath had been taken away, not just from the altitude of 4,600m but the picture postcard view. Bluebird sky, snowy white mountain peaks and the electric blue glacial water of the lake.

The walk uphill had taken us three hours and we had made it back down in two. That wasn't too bad for a 12km walk with a vertical rise of...

Uno de los mejores lugares para realizar trecking. PARA IR POR CUENTA PROPIA: tomas un bus hasta Yungay, debes llegar temprano, plan 07:00 am, a una cuadra de su plaza se encuentra el mercado, desayunas y te aprovisionas de comestibles para la ruta, debes llevar agua y tu almuerzo, recomendable el uso de frutos secos. Luego debes dirigirte al terminal terrestre de Yungay, aproximadamente a una o dos cuadras del mercado, hay unas combis que te llevan hasta Cebollapampa (punto de inicio de la caminata) el costo es de 25 soles, tambien hay taxis para los que puedan solventarlo, y es recomendable llegar temprano (07:30 am a mas tardar) porque la combi se llena y parte, y luego tendras que volver a esperar que se llene de pasajeros, y puedes perder 2 horas en ese lapso. Aproximadamente son 2 horas de viaje hasta Cebollapampa, antes se pasa una caseta de control para el pago por derecho de ingreso al Parque Nacional Huascaran (12 soles para nacionales) tambien venden algunos comestibles ligeros en este punto (agua, galletas, choclo y queso, etc) luego llegas a la Laguna Llanganuco (te puedes tomar foto con los arboles queñuales), otra laguna mas pequeña y finalmente a unos 5-10 minutos llegas a Cebollapampa; existen zonas de camping en este punto y tambien hay implementado un restaurante con venta de comida. Inicias la caminata que dura en promedio 3 horas (dependiendo del estado fisico y aclimatacion de cada persona), si bien no hay abundancia de señales en la ruta, el sendero se encuentra demarcado por la huella de los viajeros, el paisaje es muy bonito, apreciarás lagunillas, el rio, a la distancia se aprecian caidas de agua; existe un punto casi intermedio donde se encuentra la Laguna "Consuelo", llamada asi porque muchos desisten en este punto para continuar con la ruta, aproximadamente a una hora de caminata se ubica la "Laguna 69", su aguas son aturquesadas, y provienen directamente del deshielo del nevado, en este punto se pueden apreciar los nevados circundantes, un panorama muy bonito e impactante. La ruta de regreso convencional es por el mismo camino; aunque tambien existe otra ruta (llamado "El Paso del Condor") que es desde la Laguna 69 hacia el Refugio Peru, es de ascenso, y el descenso es desde el Refugio Peru hasta Cebollapampa ( o viceversa) y se requiere buen estado fisico, llevar implementos adecuados y - en mi opinion - orientarse bien en esta ruta, por que no hay señales en el camino, casi todos se guian por el sendero demarcado por el paso de los caminantes o por las abra apacheta que existen en la ruta, a modo de orientacion, pero hay trechos angostos y partes de caminos con rocas que podrian desorientar a quien no está acostumbrado a este tipo de rutas. Recomendaciones e implementos a usar: Bastones de trecking, gorrro o sombrero, gorro para el frio, lentes para el sol, bloqueador, hidratación, algun hidratante para la resequedad en los labios, alimentación porque en la ruta no venden absolutamente nada; calzado adecuado para trecking (botines) .Importante ver el pronostico del clima, para que la lluvia no se sorprenda, de lo contrario deberás llevar impermeable, lo ideal es ir en temporada seca (mediados de mayo a setiembre). Para retornar desde Cebollapampa hasta Yungay (en mi caso) me aseguré de retornar lo mas temprano posible desde la Laguna 69 hasta Cebollapampa, llegué a las 13:50 aproximadamente, donde pude encontrar 2 movilidades que tenian disponibilidad de asientos libres, pero tenian que esperar que sus pasajeros retornen de la caminata procedentes de la Laguna 69, asi que decidí pactar con uno de ellos, asegurar mi asiento y mientras caminar hacia la Laguna Llanganuco para sacar algunas fotos (aprox. 2 kms), luego esperé en la carretera a la movilidad pactada, tambien pude apreciar que eventualmente pasaron dos combis con disponibilidad de asiento para retorno a Yungay. La afluencia de estos vehiculos es mas frecuente los fines de semana o feriados que mayor cantidad de personas visita este lugar, asi que si vas dias particulares o laborables deberas ser mas...