Lake Parón
Lake Parón is the largest lake in the Cordillera Blanca, on the Peruvian Andes, 32 km E from the city Caraz, originally at 4,185 m (13,730 ft) asl, now at 4,155 m (13,632 ft) asl.
It is nested in and surrounded by several snow peaks such as Aguja I 5,840 m (19,160 ft), Aguja II 5,888 m (19,318 ft), Aguja III 5,775 m (18,947 ft), Caraz I 6,025 m (19,767 ft), Qaras II 6,020 m (19,750 ft), Qaras III 5,720 m (18,770 ft), Artesonraju 6,025 m (19,767 ft), Parón 5,600 m, Pirámide 5,885 m (19,308 ft), Chacraraju W 6,112 m (20,052 ft), Chacraraju E 6,001 m (19,688 ft), Pisco 5,772 m (18,937 ft), Huandoy E 6,000 m (20,000 ft), Huandoy N 6,395 m (20,981 ft) and Huandoy W 6,356 m (20,853 ft). It is one of the most popular areas for climbing in Peru, including the so famous The Sphinx 5,325 m (17,470 ft), a granite monolith, offering at least 13 big wall routes.
The lake, formed as a natural moraine reservoir, has a catchment area of 44.3 km2 (17.1 sq mi), it is 3.7 km (2.3 mi) long (E-W) and average of 700 m (2,300 ft) width (N-S), the original depth was about 75 m (246 ft), but today the level has been lowered ca.
