Cordillera Blanca Mountain Biking Dirty Roads

Route to the south. We pass through the cities of Recuay and Catac where we fork in to the east. Pass very close to the Querococha lagoon (3890 m) then the Kawish tunnel at 4500, descent towards the town of Chavín de Huantar. Visit the ruins of this ancient pre-Columbian civilization of about three thousand years, classified as World Heritage by Unesco. The remains are still impressive with a very large ceremonial square with concentric stairs, an imposing temple in the shape of a trunk pyramid and an impressive network of galleries, columns and porticoes. 2 hours of approximate visit. Then we continue our route and we arrive to Huari sleep.

5hours

Meals, lunch, dinner included

Lodge

Then we start our route. Pass through the towns of Acopalca and we ride towards the Huachucocha pass. This an old dirty road, remote with very few car traffic. We appreciate in the way up the deep Huari valleys and the fisrt snow peaks of Cordillera Blanca. Arriving to the pass we have great view of the highest peaks. We descend towards the lagoon where we set up our first night at Huachucocha farm with beds.

Ride 40 km (25 miles ) Maximum height 4350m.

Ascent 1250 m (4101.05 feet)

/ Descent 100 m (328.084 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

After the breakfast we leave Huachucocha huts descending towards San Luis a charm small town with its beautiful church. Our way goes to Acochaca a place with a lower elevation to rest and visit interesting places like Chacas and Pomallucay.

31 km (19.26 miles).

Ascent 100 m (328.084 feet)

/ Descent 1450 m (4757.218 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

A deserve rest day in Acochaca in a family lodge. We Visit the workshop of Don Bosco artisans, directed by a group of religious Italians carving wood which is exported to Europe and the United States. Appreciate the art of glass and weavings. In the same day we go to The Sanctuary of the Lord of Pomallucay was built of carved stone and wood in honour of the «Christ with the sad gaze», the lord of Pomallucay, in Roman style, similar to that of the Vatican. It was built entirely by volunteers of the «Operation Mato Grosso» and by the artisans of the Don Bosco school. Its construction began in 1992 and ended in 1996, but the artisans of Chacas continue to add details all the time.

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

We ride to the north of Acochaca, passing through the town of Sapchá, then up to the town of Huecroncocha. Increasingly steep rise. We pass the Tapush pass 4060 m. In front of us the Chacraraju and the Chopicalqui, then we appreciate the east faces after having admired the south and west faces from Huaraz. We descend ann we stay one night in the city of Yanama.

Ride 43.5 km ( 27.02miles )

Ascent 1150 m (3772.966 feet)

/ Descent 500 m (1640.42 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

Before leaving we visite Yanama, its square, its beautiful church with its perfect walls of mosaic with religious art. It is a very nice place and is considered the hidden garden of the “Cordillera Blanca” for its harmonious views with the surrounding mountains the Huascarán, Chacraraju and also the Pucahircas. We bike in the direction of the Chalhua valley, which is a canyon that has very diverse microclimates from the high mountain and deep canyons where we can even find at the bottom of the valley Colcabamba, fruits  and other products from warm climates. Then we began to progressively ascend the road through warm landscape with dry forests to reach Cruzpampa and after our camp.

Ride 32 km ( 20 miles )

Ascent 400 m (1312.34 feet)

/ Descent 600 m (1968.5 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

We are already in the most remote villages of the Ancash region and we begin to ride up to the town of Piscobamba with high Andean landscapes with cultivated fields and a city with this typical mestizo square. With eucalyptus tree that decorates its main square an exotic tree brought from Australia during the colony. Small businesses of breads and meals their local people that make very charming. It is the deep and hidden Peru. We continue pedaling along the road and after a

few kilometers we arrive in Pomabamba our destination today. It is a short day! but Pomabamba is the folkloric capital of the Ancash region and the town has its tiled roofs, very folkloric murals sympathetic with its daily life of its women dressed in white wool hats with black skirts embroidered with flowers. We have the possibility to take a comforting bath in the hot springs and relax.

Ride 48 km (29.82 miles)

Ascent 700 m (2296.59 feet)

/ Descent 1200 m (3937.29 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

Rest day in Pomabamba.

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

We take our bikes and leave the charming town of Pomabamba among eucalyptus forests. We continue along the road between not very steep hills with

small descents and ascents to reach the Palo. Here we head to the high parts of Chinchobamba that we appreciate it. Then we continue on the left road in the direction of the town of Andamayo we again enjoy the views of the east side of the basins of the Marañón. In these distant villages the particularity of the locals are agriculture and also subsists of cattle. It is a unique landscape that we have to pedal, and we arrive in Andamayo where we set up our campsite and enjoy the rest.

Ride 54 km (33.554 miles)

Ascent 800 m (2624.67 feet)

/ Descent 600 m (1968.5 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

We continue our route leaving Andaymayo always on the side of the mountain along the longitudinal road of Conchucos to reach the intersection of Pasacancha 3550 meters. Here we head west,by car we are at the extreme north of the Cordillera Blanca reaching the Cahuacona pass 4200 m. We begin a descent on a regular traffic road and recover the Pacific slope. We head to Urcon and then arrived at Taric. This day we will appreciate the northern summits of the Cordillera Blanca such as the Champara and the Pucahircas in the distance. Camp site in Yanac Alto.

Today we will have the most important descent of the entire route we are in the northernmost part of the White Cordillera place of the most important tropical glaciers. The Cordillera ends in the Champara massif with several valleys of important verticality. We are going to descend with our bicycle to find this deep valley of the Santa River. Where again we are going to observe the richness of Peru with the various microclimates of the canyons of the Manta River that is from 4000 m to 1000 m it will be a prudent and very exciting descent. We will pass through towns such as Yanac, Ranhuas to reach La Pampa where we must spend the night one last day after having pedaled and appreciated the Cordillera blanca this immense massif that we have here in Peru the highest tropical mountain range on the planet. We will also appreciate the Cordillera Negra that has its end along with the Cordillera Blanca.

Ride 60 km ( 37.28miles)

Ascent 100 m (328.08 feet)

/ Descent 1640 m (5380.577 feet)

Meals:  Breakfast, Lunch, dinner, included

Let’s meet the Santa River. We say goodbye to La Pampa, a panoramic plateau. Pedaling downhill we are surprised on the powerful Peruvian geography with deep and mineralized canyons. We arrived in Huarochiri at the end of our epic pedaling around the Cordillera Blanca. With our private vehicle we return to Carhuaz passing through the Pato Canyon, the important hydroelectric power plant of Peru, an engineering work that began to be built in 1944 entirely handmade. We arrived in Caraz, then in Carhuaz.

Bus to Huaraz Lima (or flight)

Flignt from Lima to USA.