The Huayhuash circuit is 130 km of the Andes at their most vertical — 7,800 m of gain packed into eleven days, with the route’s high point at 5,020 m on Punta Cuyoc. Every day here has a pass in it. There is no flat stretch to recover on.
Siula Grande dominates the skyline for the first half of the trek — yes, the mountain from the Joe Simpson story — and camping under it at Laguna Jahuacocha, with the whole massif reflected in the water at sunrise, was the single best campsite of any trip in this directory.
Logistics reality
This is not a solo trek for most people. We hired mules and an arriero out of Llamac, and paid community access fees at nearly every valley crossing — the Huayhuash passes through several distinct campesino community territories, each with its own toll. Budget for it; it is not optional and it is not expensive, but arriving without cash for it stalls the whole group at the gate.