Pastoruri is a glacier cirque and mountain that belongs to the Cordillera Blanca, is 5240m high and is located in the rural village of Catac, 365 km north of Lima and 35 km south of Huaraz, in the province of Recuay – Ancash.
The Pastoruri glacier is visited by many local, national and international tourists to enjoy a day surrounded by landscapes, nature and snow. On the way to Pastoturi you can observe the Patococha lake, the visit to the Pumapampa water eye, also known as the «fountain of youth» because of the sparkling water emitted from the subsoil, also known as the 7-color lagoon. You can also observe the huge Puyas Raimondi, cave paintings and the most important attraction of the tour: the base of the Pastoruri glacier.
Pastoruri is catalogued as «the pathway of climate change» due to the rapid retreat of its glacier caused by global warming, so some experts predict that this glacier will disappear completely within 15 or 20 years approximately.
Huaraz (Google Map)
8:30 am (Pick up at your hotel)
Participants should have experience in altitude, which ensures adequate acclimatization and conditioning of the body to the altitude. It’s suggested to be above 3,000 m.a.s.l., so we recommend staying in Huaraz two days before this tour.
We suggest acclimatizing in Wilcacocha lake before starting this tour.
This adventure will start in Huaraz, we will pick you up at your hotel with transportation. After the pick up we will head towards the southern part of the Huaylas valley to Catac village, then we will turn to the east side inside Pachacoto canyon towards Pastoruri glacier. On the way we will visit Patococha lake, a place where wild andean ducks live, then we will continue to the sparkling water spring of Pumapampa, also known as «the fountain of youth», then we will arrive at a small lake of 7 colors called Pumapashimin and later we will walk around the Puya Raimondi, a regional native plant of the andean altitudes that grows up to 12 meters high, produces clusters of up to 8 thousand flowers and can live up to 100 years. Also we will make a stop to see the cave paintings found in the area and finally we will arrive at the starting point of the hike to the Pastoruri Glacier, this stretch is short and is reached in an hour at 5000 m altitude, if you’re not in walking conditions you can rent horses.
We will stay on the glacier until we take pictures and then we will descend by the same path, the transport will be waiting for us to take us to the city of Huaraz.
Transfer by car: 3 hours
Estimated walking time: 30 minutes to the base of the glacier.
Elevation: +1700 (3100 masl to 4800 masl)
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