The best day hike in Huaraz
Laguna 69 is the most popular day hike in Huaraz. Situated in the Cordillera Blanca you get a small taste of the glorious mountain range on this scenic 14km out and back hike. You will be rewarded with valley views and a very blue mountain lake with snowcapped peaks in the background.
On my first day in Huaraz the plan was basically to (re)acclimatise, seeing what things there were to do and recover from a 9 hr night bus ride from Lima. I had one of the plush business class style seats so it wasn’t too bad. It was more that it had arrived around 0630 and well… I usually sleep in far later than that.
For your first day, I’d strongly suggest doing the same – not lazing about but spending it going around, sussing out and locking down the hikes and treks you want to do and acclimatising at the same time. If not, you could end up losing some days which I’ll detail in my future Huaraz post.
I ended up booking Laguna 69 for the next day through my hostel Akilpo for a reasonable price of S/30 (US$9 | AU$13 ). There’s an extra S/30 for national park entry which effectively doubles the price but presumably, that goes towards good use such as maintaining the trails all over the park.
Laguna 69 hike key details:
Altitude: 3800m to 4600m
Distance: 14km out and back
My Duration: 2.5hrs one way (faster on the way down)
Distance to trailhead from Huaraz: 3hrs
Well worn trail: Yes
Signposted: Yes
Difficulty: Moderate – This is a medium distance hike at very high altitude. The altitude and altitude gain is comparable to a mountain pass. As it is the most popular hike and usually the one people start with, acclimatisation and prior fitness is a large factor at play. The long travel distance from town and commencing immediately upon arrival likely won’t help. Potentially muddy descent in the rain.
High Altitude – Acclimatise!
Like everything around Huaraz, this is a high altitude hike and altitude sickness is no joke. Instead of writing an intro about acclimatisation every time I want to write about a hike that’s high altitude and boring you like a plane safety video, I’ve created a separate post here which details the practical information you need to know.
The bus came to pick us up at 0500 😴 and it was going to be a 3 hr drive to the trailhead. There was a stop for breakfast on the way (not included in price) at a place selling a variety of breakfast package options. It wasn’t flash but it was a tiny town and this looked geared towards handling a couple of busloads of tourists. Toilets were ok which is the important thing. Turns out I would later stop here again on my Santa Cruz trek. Kickbacks were likely.
Laguna Llangunaco
After some unknown duration longer on the bus (I try not to remember my gruelling bus rides) we eventually pulled alongside a pair of magnificent richly coloured turquoise lake, Laguna Llangunaco. In the photo, it’s quite cloudy so it looks a bit darker than normal. The colour is obtained from minerals in the rock and this would be one of the first of many turquoise lakes (or lagoons if you will) I would see.
Where I live, the term lagoon is never used and the only time I’ve heard of it was with some old Brooke Shields movie.
At some point on one of my treks, someone in the group asked: “what exactly is the difference between a lake and a lagoon?”
It seemed like no one actually knew until someone convincingly said lagoons are mountain lakes. Hmm. That was the most satisfying answer, at the time. It fit the experience.
However, looking online now that doesn’t seem to be what Google’s first page of results tells me. Neither is the description of what a supposed lagoon is matching the description of these bodies of water around Huaraz, yet these were all called lagoons (laguna is Spanish for lagoon if you hadn’t noticed).
So still not convinced on what the difference is I’m going to use the terminology interchangeably. Correct English be damned!
Laguna 69 trail
Not much further the bus stopped and we were at the trailhead. After bumbling off and scrambling in a quick stretch we were off.
It’s worth noting at this point what the guided hike or ‘tour’ actually is.
Asides from the little knowledge bomb of how the lakes got their colour, there was no further history, storytelling, etc. Except for at the start, I don’t think I saw him again until it was time to leave where he signalled for us to head back down from Laguna 69. The trail was well worn, had no forks (excluding a small detour to a pond), had an occasional signpost and you could always see people up ahead – you didn’t really need him. Thankfully, there were also no stops at tourist traps with junk wares and misleading demonstrations.
Taking it for what it is, you’re paying S/30 largely for transportation. S/30 isn’t a whole lot to pay for a 6 hr there and back transit. In fact, in my opinion, this is actually quite good. Like others I’m sure, I’m not interested in all the crap that comes with a typical tour: waiting around for others, visiting tourist traps, listening to some speech I’ll forget about… but I do want an easy way of getting there and back.
How much time you have up at Laguna 69 is highly dependant on how fast you can hike up and back down again. With a predetermined return time, the time limit is probably the worst thing about this ‘tour’.
So, if you haven’t already realised, there are some nice views in the direction from where you came. The good news is that you don’t have to constantly stop and turn to enjoy it all! As this is an out and back hike, you’ll see it all again on the way back down to the trailhead.
The view in front was ok, just not as good, at least when I went. As you can see in a couple of photos there is significant cloud cover higher up blocking views of the summits. Just need to be lucky or plan around having a clear day.
Laguna 69 itself
The top!
If you’re like the girl that was in my dorm discussing with her friends what clothes to wear, looking at what Instagrammers wear, being told to wear warm hiking clothes, then shouting “But I wanna look cute!”, then don’t delay when it comes to trying to get the perfect photo.
Between people getting in your shots, taking turns standing at ideal spots, the usually garbage photography skills of whoever you pass your camera/phone to, their patience with you, etc, you won’t have a whole lot of time, especially if you hike slow.
I didn’t record my exact hiking time but looking at the photo timestamps it took me roughly 2.5 hrs to climb up and I’m pretty sure I was towards the back of the pack. I ended up spending about 40 minutes eating my cookies and taking in the sights at Laguna 69 before having to head back down. That could be fine for most people but considering total journey time from Huaraz was roughly 6 hrs just to get there, that’s not long at all.
Want serenity and no crowds for a few hours? You’ll have to do this hike unguided and camp nearby or have your own transport. There are campsites at the trailhead and at Laguna Llanguanaco. Camping nearby will allow you to get a significant head start on anyone coming from Huaraz. Most tours leave Huaraz at about 0500 and as such people won’t start hiking till about 0900. If you have your own transport you could leave earlier than 0500 or simply stay later and wait till the last pack leaves (there are no afternoon tours).
Hiking down from Laguna 69
Now comes the time to enjoy the view that was previously behind you, another great view the hike has to offer. So once you get to Laguna 69 itself, it’s not all downhill from there (so to speak).
It was raining lightly while I was there but not so much that it was sticking on the ground. If you were hiking this and it was really bucketing down the steep muddy return would be quite sketchy so make sure to wear good footwear.
Final thoughts on Laguna 69
Laguna 69 is an amazing day hike and it’s easy to see why so many people rave on about it. This very high altitude hike begins from the bottom of a valley and makes you climb 800m of vertical altitude to get to its star attraction – something that makes the Laguna 69 hike extremely rewarding. Being a day hike, getting to see it all without camping is also a huge plus in some people’s eyes.
While this is by far the most popular hike in Huaraz and there were quite a few dozen people doing the hike, the numbers are so much lower than the hundred+ I saw approaching Salkantay Pass on the Salkantay Trek – it doesn’t even compare. The less accessible nature and awareness of Huaraz amongst the masses make the entire area still relatively off the beaten track, although not completely off as it’s well known in the trekking/climbing communities.
The worst thing about this hike is the 3 hr one-way travel time from Huaraz to the trailhead. It’s a long time to travel for a day hike and just the thought of it alone can be off-putting. If you don’t do well on bus rides or get nauseous I’d recommend taking some travel sickness tablets like dry or natural ginger. Finding a way to do the 5-day Santa Cruz trek which includes Laguna 69 would also be beneficial if you were planning to do that anyway.
If you love hiking, no trip to Peru can be complete without visiting Huaraz. If you visit Huaraz and only have 1 full day? Laguna 69 is the hike to do!
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