Over the past year, I’ve received increasingly more inquiries about different hikes I’ve done in South America. Of the long-distance routes, the most interest has been in a 2014 trip that traversed Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. A sub-range of the Andes, the Blanca, along with the neighboring Cordillera Huayhuash, are the trekking epicenter of the country, containing more than 700 glaciers, a bunch of peaks over 6,000 m (19,685 ft), and a shedload more above 5,500 m (18,045 ft).

The route I put together - unimaginatively called the Cordillera Blanca Traverse (CBT) - measured approximately 400 km (249 miles), took 16 days to complete, and zigged and zagged its way from the range’s northern reaches through to Pastoruru Glacier near its southern terminus. I split the route into four stages, each of which is accessible by public transport, meaning that folks that aren’t interested in thru-hiking the whole thing, could potentially do one or more of the stages as stand-alone section hikes. The collective crux of the trip is its 21 mountain passes, measuring between 4,347 m (14,262 ft) and 5,201 m (17,064 ft).

A basic guide to the CBT containing GPS info, logistical tips, planning resources, photos, and trekking notes can be found here: https://www.thehikinglife.com/2022/08/a-quick-dirty-guide-to-the-cordillera-blanca-traverse/

(Disclosure: The gear list linked to at the bottom of the post contains some affiliate links. Regarding sponsors, I’ve partnered with Katabatic, MLD, Montbell, and Tarptent for more than a decade and, in the case of the latter three companies, have been happily using their gear for close to twenty years).