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It is easy to rent gear in Huaraz. Check around in the many outdoor shops & tour operators near the main plazas. Price varies with quality, but expect to pay US$3-6 / item / day. (i.e. tent, sleeping bag, stove, etc.) You can purchase basic gear too. Quality, selection & price are, of course, not what you might hope for. Many items cost about double what we pay in Canada. Best is to bring everything with you to Peru. Do I need a Reservation to hike? No. Nada. Huayhuash is completely unregulated. If you disappear out there, no one will ever know. Or look for you. On the other hand, there is no hassle. Hike when you want. Camp where you want. Note that your arriero will need good grazing for the animals & may have strong opinions about where you should camp. Where else can I get information? For us the best advisor was Christopher Benway <e-mail> at Cafe Andino in Huaraz. This restaurant was our hike headquarters for over a month. Post a note there if you want to find hiking partners. Be sure to check with Casa de Guias in Huaraz when you get there, especially if you want to hire pack animals.
The best guidebook is Lonely Planet Trekking in the Central Andes. Do not hike Huayhuash without it. Who should NOT hike Huayhuash? Anyone not yet acclimatized for altitude. Most of the trek is 4000-5000m. NOT those with chronic knee, ankle or back injuries. A hike this high should not be your first big multi-day trip. For us this was the longest continuous hike we had ever done — 11 nights in the tent. This is not an adventure for the nervous. Evacuation is very difficult. Huayhuash is really, really remote. If this discourages you, hike Alpamayo or Santa Cruz <photos> instead. What's the most difficult section? Most hikers list San Antonio pass (over 5000m high!) as the biggest challenge. Many go the long way around (via Rio Calinca) just to avoid it. Honestly we found San Antonio not as difficult as expected. We had reasonably good weather. We were fit. The descent was worse than the climb. Actually, we found every day challenging. Each day had at least one high pass. Some days were longer & more tiring. (Especially the days we managed to get lost.) The only easy day was Huayhuash campsite to Atuscancha hot springs. This is really the only day we felt out of the mountains. The exit day from Inacahuain (Laguna Yahuachocha) to Llamac via the irrigation pipe was relatively easy as well. If you sidetrip away from the main trails you are in for some grief. The terrain is demanding! But we did as many sidetrips as we could fit in.
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