I woke up early on Day 3 and was happy that the sleet/snow from the night before had mostly melted and I could see stars, indicating clearer skies. It was short lived however since it had clouded up again by the time we started hiking and we had a gray ascent of Catananpunta. We followed the trail up a ridge and took it nice and easy up a series of switchbacks to the pass (book time 2-3 hours to the pass from Matacancha, would be a little less from Cuartelwain). The book says this pass is often windy and we found that to be true. Precipitation looked imminent, so we geared up Norah, snapped a quick picture, and started the steep descent on the other side. We had views of the reddish Laguna Pucacocha to the northeast as we descended into the Quebrada Caliente valley. It was a quick hike down and we stopped after 30 minutes at a metal cross honoring a Polish explorer. At this point the traditional route continues along the main trail heading east/southeast on a relatively flat trail to Janca and Mitococha. We opted for the alternative route.

The alternative route heads for the valley south of the cross. We had a small climb up to the valley and stopped at a large, flat grassy area for lunch. We had brief windows of sunshine as we continued our southern route to a ridge above the northern end of Mitococha. There were no trails here, but it was easy walking in the wide open grassy areas. I liked this alternative route because we had great views of Mitococha from above before hiking down to the lake. This was one of our shortest hiking days and we had ample time to enjoy sitting by the lake, where we ran into Miguel and Joel trying to catch fish for dinner (no luck - we had steak, rice, and veggies for dinner). We eventually made our way to the campsite located north of the lake along the Rio Janca (camping by Mitococha is no longer allowed). Steve took a short detour to hike up the ridge on the eastern side of the lake for more views while Norah and I had our hot drinks and snacks and read at camp. It was a chilly night and we wasted no time snuggling into our sleeping bags after dinner.

Day 3 alternative route:
520 m/1705 ft ascent (+ extra with alt. route)
460 m/1510 ft descent (+ extra with alt. route)
Book time 5-7.5 hours (traditional route 9 km/5.6 mi - alternative is likely approximate)
High point: Cacananpunta 4690m/15400 ft
Camp at Mitococha 4270m/14000 ft