Arma and Gordo had given us the hot tip that the Huaraz region had some excellent hiking so we were keen to shake off our bus funk and get some walks in.

Caraz itself was a quiet little town with the usual central plaza for people watching. The hostel we stayed in, ‘Los Pinos Lodge’, had a terribly ugly dog that greeted us at the gate every day and a beautifully manicured French style garden. The garden was hidden behind tall rendered walls, draped in brightly coloured Boganvillea. There were cacti lined walls and avocado laden trees. It was a great little oasis for lazing and working out (for Adam anyway!).

We decided to attempt to conquer the Laguna 69 hike the day after we arrived. We managed to organise a taxi transfer, which involved pick up at our place and a driver who would wait the entire day for us and take us home. A brilliant set up. Our driver turned up in what felt like a time capsule. A very old, station wagon style car that looked like it had been mummified. In perfect condition and a driver to match.
The drive to the beginning of the hike was around one hour along a poorly made, rubble road. We passed farm land with the purple potato flowers strikingly bright against the green corn and bean crops. We found woman in their traditional dresses and huge hats shepherding sheep, cows and pigs along the roads and farmers tending to their animals and crops in the paddocks. As we climbed, the beautiful view continued to expose itself. The rooftops of the townships below, church spires, quilted paddocks and snow capped mountain ranges.

We were dropped off and ventured down some rock steps, arriving under a canopy of trees. We followed the path over a timber draw bridge which was built over a clear, gushing river.
The view quickly opened up and it was like we were in a movie. A valley of bright green meadows, dotted with an array of grazing cattle. Multiple waterfalls feeding blue glacier water into a snake like running stream.

As we walked, the view just kept getting better. A snow capped mountain would appear, then a new waterfall. The sky was a perfect blue and the clouds cast dancing shadows on the landscape below.
We were continually in awe of our surroundings.

The incline was bearable at first but became progressively more difficult. We had not had a lot of time to acclimatise to the altitude so there were many stops needed to catch our breath. Luckily for us each stop exposed a new jaw dropping vista. After around three hours of hiking, we were becoming tired and could see a peak not too far ahead. We were home... until we weren’t. There was no way we could be disappointed however as a little lake appeared and a whole new range of snow capped mountains were before us. Around the corner a plateau revealed itself and we walked across yet another picturesque green meadow with a winding stone creek and wild flowers. At this point Adam began feeling the effects of the altitude. We had both been out of breathe but he seemed to be progressing into shut down mode! As we began the next and final ascent, we slowed from snails pace to sloth pace! Conversation stopped and literally full concentration went into putting one foot ahead of the other. It was actually laughable the pace that the boy was setting!! After the arduous hour up hill, we arrived and every breathless moment was worth it.

We had reached 4600 mt and the view was easily the most spectacular yet. Snow capped glacier mountains and a crystal clear, blue lagoon. 6.5 hours of hiking was definitely worth it. We had packed a picnic so sat and enjoyed the home made goodies we had purchased from the gorgeous elderly couple in the panaderia in town. We attempted the perfect insta photos with Adam gaining enough energy to remove his shoes and wade in the ice cold glacial lake... fair to say he didn’t last long!

I’m writing this over a month later and after all that we have hiked and conquered since, this is still the standout as the most stunning hike yet. Laguna 69 had a little bit of everything and is an absolutely magical part of this world. There’s something to be said for 21% O2 though!