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en castellano
LAKE CHURUP (map: click here)
The trek to Lake Churup is one of the most poular around Huaraz and easily done in one day. Colombian Catalina heredia went up and down and had a beautiful day.
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The trek to Lake Churup takes only a day and has some one tricky climbing part for beginning trekkers. It is recommended to leave early to take your time to rest if necessary because the air is quite thin which you will probably notice. If you have time and are prepared it is also recommended to camp one night at the lakeside. We took a 'combi' bus from Huaraz (Near the Luzuriga x Raimondi crossing) at 7:30am for 3 sol to drive up in 20 minutes to the village of Llupa (pronounced as 'yupa'). . |
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If you want you can continue until the tiny village of Pitec (the actual beginning of the trek) for 15 sol but you will have to ask for it. Better start your walk in Llupa and ask for the pedestrian shortcut. A nice walk that takes about 40 minutes to Pitec. The walk up from Pitec is quite tiring. First because of the altitude and secondly because the path is bad at times but you will be rewarded by the adventure feeling. |
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Make sure you take good boots and be careful not to twist or sprain your ankles as there are a lot of loose stones laying around. After an hour or two going up you will reach a silent enclosed part which is plain and swampy, with more vegetation and birds. You will see a waterfall on which 'quenal' trees feed on the right. The waterfall goes up to the lake. |
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This is where I found the trek getting more difficult. I recommend not to go alone on either of the two climbs up if you are not experienced. We got up on the left side. For 10 minutes you have to do real rockclimbing, luckily you can hold on to the quenual trees. The route on the right side is directly next to the waterfall. Both routes aren't without danger so hold on well to what you find. Good to know is that directly after the rockclimbing bit you will be rewarded by the magestic view over Lake Churup.
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We arrived at the lake at 11 am to sit down at the lake. A lovely meditation spot looking at the reflexion of the high rockwalls surrounding the lake which changes color from blue to jade green depending on the movements of the sun and clouds. We didn't feel like leaving but were finally forced to as we didn't want to walk back in the dark. |
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Just in front of you towers, appearingly very close, the snow-capped top of Mount Churup which also reflects perfectly in the lake. The mountain is popular with climbers but technically difficult so only for the really well prepared and experienced. If you want you can walk up to a second smaller lake higher up at the end of the lake direction mountain. It is a bit tough as there is no real path but will give you a wonderful high view on the lake. |
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Take some food that is easy to carry for your high altitude picknick. We took some bread from the market, some canned sardines, a piece of cheese (the local Urcon and Chavala I like the most), some dried fruit and sufficient water. Make sure to put on sunblock as the sun is brutal at over 4000 meters. (by Catalina Heredia) |
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| Huaraz.com 2003 | Fotos: Kris Kristinsson | ||||||||