Ausangate and Rainbow Mountain Trek

This trips starts early today and you will be picked up from your hotel in central Cusco at 7.30am. Please ensure you spend the night before the start of this trip in Cusco and you are ready in the hotel lobby with your bags packed at 7.30am. From Cusco, it will be about a three-hour drive to the trailhead. After driving through Ocongate and the village of Yanama, we’ll arrive in Cojahuri, where the trek begins for us. This first day of our trek is fairly easy walking for about two hours at around 4,000m of altitude. Our final destination for the day is our campsite of Ranrapata (4,300m) located on a vast esplanade just below the northeast flank of snowy Ausangate. From the camp, enjoy a beautiful sunset and first trek dinner, prepared by our crew. Walking Distance: 6.6 kms Walking Time: 2-3 hours approx. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A HIGH ALTITUDE TREK AND IT’S IMPERATIVE THAT YOU HAVE SPENT A MINIMUM OF TWO NIGHTS AT ALTITUDE OF AT LEAST 3000M (EG CUSCO) BEFORE THE START OF THIS TREK. WE CAN ONLY ACCEPT YOU ON THIS TRIP IF YOU CAN CONFIRM TWO OR MORE NIGHTS OF ACCLIMATISATION BEFOREHAND.

Meals:  L,D

From our scenic campsite at the foot of Ausangate and the Jampa Pass, we’ll set off up the Yanama Valley towards Mt. Surinami and Mt. Inca for Puca Rumi Pass (5,000m), a total of 8.5 kilometres (about 5 hours) of hiking. From the pass, you’ll find amazing views of the red mountain and Vinicunca (Rainbow Mountain) in the distance. When the group’s ready, we’ll descend into the Cusipata Valley where our campsite (4,650m) is located, just below the famous multicolour mountain. The descent is about 3.6 kilometres, or 2 hours of hiking. Walking Distance: 12 kms Walking Time: 7-8 hours approx.

Meals:  B,L,D

Rising early, we’ll start our hike to the iconic Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca 5,000m), a three-kilometre (1.5-2 hr.) ascent from our camp. From the summit, you’ll be able to see the impressive natural coloration of the mountain. Snap a few photos, take in the views, and rest your feet before we continue our trek to the lakes of Quirillacocha and Surini, a much welcome descent. At the lakes, the trail begins to rise again to the Huasacocha Pass (4,980m), a 4.3-kilometre ascent and descent that will take us about 2.5 hours to complete. At the bottom of the descent, we meet our final climb for the day, Ausangatecocha (4,654m), about 480 meters of uphill and 130 meters of downhill into the Anantapata Valley to our campsite. Walking Distance: 15 kms Walking Time: 7-8 hours approx.

Meals:  B,L,D

From camp we ascend for a two-hour, 500-meter, climb to Palomani Pass (5,180m). This is the highest mountain pass of the entire route. If we’re lucky, the summit will be blanketed in snow. We have time to rest and recover before we begin our descent to the Chilca Valley and our camp at Wanu Wanu (4,600m). Walking Distance: 11 kms Walking Time: 6-7 hours approx.

Meals:  B,L,D

The day’s hiking begins with a gentle ascent to our last pass - the Jampa Pass (5,070m). After climbing for about three hours, we’ll begin a two-hour descent to Qimerqocha Lake and Pacchanta Village (4,340m) where a vehicle will be waiting to take you back to your hotel in Cusco. The drive back to Cusco should take about three hours, where your trip concludes. As we will only arrive back in Cusco late in the afternoon (around 5pm), an additional night is required at the end of the trip. Please ask us for accommodation options. Walking Distance: 17 kms Walking Time: 7-8 hours approx.

Meals:  B,L