11/11/2026
The Lares Trek segment from Wacawasi to Yanahuara is a rewarding descent through the high Andes, beginning after the challenging climb to the Auroracocha Pass (4,600m), the trek's highest point, which rewards hikers with sweeping views of snow-capped peaks and glacial lakes. From this windswept pass, the route turns downward, passing the stunning Auroray and Mantanay lagoons where a lunch stop is often made beside the reflective waters. The trail then continues its descent for several hours through open roads and gentle uphill sections, gradually leaving the barren high-altitude terrain behind for the warmer, greener approaches of the Sacred Valley, eventually arriving at the village of Yanahuara, a traditional Andean community where trekkers camp for the night before continuing toward Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.
During the descent the landscape transforms gradually: the golden ichu grasslands of the high altitudes give way to relict forests of queñua (Polylepis), one of the highest-growing trees on the planet, whose twisted trunks and papery bark form small stands that act as climate regulators and biodiversity refuges in the Cordillera del Vilcanota. In these forests, located between 3,600 and 4,500 meters, a unique companion vegetation grows—Gynoxys, Baccharis, Escallonia—which shelters endemic and critically endangered bird species such as the royal cinclodes (Cinclodes excelsior), while on the open slopes bloom the majestic Puya of Raimondi, whose inflorescences can exceed ten meters, alongside medicinal plants such as muña and horsetail that local villagers still use. As the trail approaches Yanahuara, it crosses the Mantanay Conservation Area, where these native queñua forests play a vital role in controlling surface runoff and sustaining the temperate microclimate characteristic of the area, before arriving at the village and continuing toward the Sacred Valley.
