Laguna 69

Laguna 69 sits at about 4,600 metres in a cirque below Chacraraju in the Cordillera Blanca, and it is the standard Huaraz day hike - buses leave the town around five, drive two and a half hours to Cebollapampa in the Llanganuco valley, and the walk is roughly six kilometres each way with about six hundred metres of ascent, taking two and a half to three hours up. The colour is the reason: glacial flour suspended in the meltwater scatters light and turns the lake an intense turquoise, with the Chacraraju face and a waterfall feeding it directly above. The name is administrative - the lake was numbered rather than named during a survey and the number stuck. The altitude is what catches people: this is a hike that starts at 3,900 and finishes above 4,600, done by visitors who often arrived in Huaraz two days earlier, and altitude sickness on it is extremely common.

What you actually see

• The lake - intense turquoise from glacial flour at about 4,600 metres.
• Chacraraju - the face rising directly above with a waterfall feeding the lake.
• The Llanganuco valley - the approach through the glacial trough.
• The name - a survey number that was never replaced.

When to go

May to September, the dry season. Tours leave Huaraz around five in the morning. Acclimatise in Huaraz for at least two or three days before attempting it.

Honest expectations

Altitude sickness is very common - the finish is above 4,600 metres and most people attempt it under-acclimatised. Long day: fourteen hours door to door. Cold and windy at the lake. Crowded on the trail in peak season.

Nearby

The Llanganuco lakes are on the approach road; Huaraz is the base.