Last Updated on 28 April 2025
The sixth day of the Huayhuash Circuit is rugged, remote, and wildly scenic, offering a thrilling climb to the highest official pass of the trek. After departing Cuyoc camp, the route ascends steeply toward Paso Santa Rosa (5,060m), revealing sweeping views of Siula Grande, Yerupajá, and a chain of dazzling lakes.
From the windswept pass, a steep descent through loose scree and dirt leads into a dramatic alpine valley. Skipping the official Cutatambo campsite, trekkers can enjoy a spectacular wild camp near Laguna Juraucocha, with glaciers and towering peaks providing an unforgettable backdrop.
🏔️ Check out my Huayhuash Circuit Trail Guide for detailed daily route descriptions (including all the best alternate routes & extensions), hike logistics, and a complete packing list.
Trail stats: Cuyoc to Laguna Juraucocha
Stats quoted here are for my recommended 10-day “adventure route” that incorporates ruta alpina (high alpine alternatives to the standard route) and epic side-trips along the Huayhuash Circuit whenever possible.
- Trail hours: 7.5hrs
- Distance: 13.6km
- Elevation gain: 1,300m
- Highest elevation: Paso Santa Rosa 5,060m
- Highlights: A snowy sunrise atop Paso San Antonio; sweeping views of Siula Grande and Laguna Juraucocha from Paso Santa Rosa; peaceful wild camping in front of the Jurau glacier
- Campsite: wild camping at Laguna Juraucocha
When I wake up at 4.45am to climb Paso San Antonio for sunrise, there’s a fair bit of snow on the ground, but a promising cluster of stars that suggest the morning might be clear. I decide to risk it and set off with Marco for the second ascent in about 12hrs. No sooner are we across the pampa than our headlamps begin to catch on snowflakes, falling gently at first, but soon increasing to a small flurry. It doesn’t bode well for the view..
Without stops to strip off layers or enjoy a snack in the sun, we make it to the top of the pass in an hour (although I’m pretty sure Marco could run the entire thing in half that time if not waiting for this sea-level gringa to drag herself up). The sun is only just beginning to rise over the mountains and most of our view is obstructed by thick, angry-looking snow clouds, but the wind is absolutely pumping and it hardly takes anytime for a majority of the clouds to clear.
While we look on, cameras in hand, Yerupaja and Siula Grande materialise above Laguna Juraucocha. It may not have been the crystal-clear morning I was hoping for, but the view is possibly even more spectacular when you watch it emerge through thick clouds.
Back at camp just after 7am, the snow has dramatically increased and our tent now looks like a small prop in a giant snow globe. I eat breakfast inside the tent, hiding from falling snow, while debating the many route options for the day with dad and Eileen.
Given the almost total cloud cover that has accumulated since my hike to the pass, crossing Paso Santa Rosa at 5,060m is not as appealing as it would otherwise be. We contemplate hiking out towards Huayllapa, a tiny village just off the main route, as both the German couple and the guided group are doing, but in the end, we decide to tackle the pass despite the weather and find camp somewhere near the base.
We say goodbye to Marco and his group and the German couple and then set off around 9.30am in the direction that we believe to be Paso Santa Rosa. The current blizzard conditions prevent any degree of certainty and, as it turns out, completely obscure the correct route.
After 2.5hrs of what can only be described as wandering aimlessly along the snow-covered moraine in search of the trail, the clouds finally let up enough for us to see a faint trail in the distance. Using a combination of GPS and good old common sense (although this has admittedly failed us in the past), we determine that we are several kilometres off the desired pass, contouring along the scree-covered hillside until we finally get ourselves into the correct position. It is an enormous relief and we celebrate over an extended snack break, believing ourselves to be fairly close to the pass.
As it turns out, we have another 45min of climbing up to Paso Santa Rosa, having lost much of our vertical headway when we descended under a large rocky outcropping over to the correct pass. The silver lining of the morning’s confused stumbling, though, is that the snow has completely stopped, the sun is out, and much of the cloud cover has lifted from the mountains.
The result is an absolutely breathtaking view from Paso Santa Rosa, definitely one of the most stunning scenes we’ve seen during the whole trek thus far, and totally worth the late start.
In addition to being the high point of the trek at 5,060m (not counting the scramble to 5,080m that I did yesterday), Paso Santa Rosa, also called Paso Jurau, has got to be the single windiest place in the world. I am nearly bowled over during the last breathless steps up to the pass, cresting excitedly over the rocks only to be slammed by an enormous wall of wind that threatens to return me all the way back down to the valley floor.
Still, I sit directly in the centre of the pass, layered up in all my jackets, blissfully immune to the glacier winds and aware only of the incredible view stretched out in front of me. The peaks and lakes are the same as those seem from Paso San Antonio, but from a totally new vantage point that makes everything seem new.
Until dad and Eileen arrive, the only sound is the wild howl of the wind up the pass, an intense sound that completely strips away all other thoughts— it’s impossible to think of anything but this view or to imagine yourself anywhere other than on this pass.
We enjoy a leisurely lunch at the pass (behind some rocks so our food doesn’t completely blow away) before beginning the long, steep descent towards Laguna Juraucocha. As promised by the guidebook, much of the trail is loose scree and other sections are even just loose dirt, neither of which provide any grip for our downhill journey.
Somehow we do eventually reach flat land, but the relief is short lived— we decide to skip the official campsite in Cutatambo and instead set up our tent near Laguna Juraucocha at the base of Jurau, which necessitates even more descending on rocks of all shapes and sizes. When we finally find the perfect spot for our tent, I could kiss the flat ground.
The rest of the evening in our impossibly scenic campsite is spent ogling the mountains and glacier that tower over us and wolfing down some dinner before passing out around 730pm from sheer exhaustion.
Read more about the Huayhuash Circuit
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 1): QUARTELHUAIN TO LAGUNA MITUCOCHA
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 2): LAGUNA MITUCOCHA TO LAGUNA CARHUACOCHA
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 3): LAGUNA CARHUACOCHA TO HUAYHUASH
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 4): HUAYHUASH TO VICONGA
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 5): VICONGA TO CUYOC & PASO SAN ANTONIO
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 7): LAGUNA JURAUCOCHA TO RASAC VIA LAGUNA SANTA ROSA & PASO ROSARIO
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 8): RASAC TO HUAYLLAPA
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 9): HUAYLLAPA TO YAUCHA PUNTA
HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT (DAY 10): YAUCHA PUNTA TO QUARTELHUAIN VIA RONDOY PUNTA
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INDEPENDENT & SOLO HIKING THE HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT IN PERU
SOLO HUAYHUASH CIRCUIT PACKING LIST: WHAT TO PACK FOR 10 DAYS WITHOUT A GUIDE
