Ausangate Mountain Circuit Trek |
code: AUCTRE6- Duration: 6 Days / 5 Night
- Activity: Hiking / Trekking
- Transport: private transportation, walking
- Accommodation: Camping (5 Nights)
- Treking Grades: Moderate/Demanding ?
- Group Size: Minimum 2, Maximum 12
- Type Service: We run only private groups ?
Highlights:
Ausangate Mountain, remote mountain scenery, High Mountain passes, quieter trails, less tourists, local villages.
Difficulty degree of this hike:
Difficult/Challenging due to the altitude: we recommend a period of at least 3 days for acclimatization in Cusco or over 3000m/9840ft.
Trekking thought the sacred Mountain of Ausangate
The peak of Ausangate is considered sacred by the local populace. It is the central most powerful point of pilgrimage for today's Quechua/Inca descendants. You will be circling Ausangate, passing other peaks, crossing passes and bogs, seeing glaciers, climbing up and down hills, camping by lagoons and viewing some of Peru’s most spectacular scenery. It will be high and cold, but there is hot springs along the way.
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Day 1 - Cusco / Tinqui to Upis
Pick up from your Hotel at 06:00; we depart from Cusco to Tinqui (3815m/12513ft) in our private transportation and travel about 3 hours to reach the small Andean village of Tinqui at the foot of the Vilcanota range. Driving through the beautiful countryside, we pass several traditional villages including Urcos, Ccatcca, Ocongate finally we will arrive to Tinqui, where we can stop for rests and meet with our horsemen and horses also we’ll put all our things on the horses. Our trek begins around 10:00 crossing the bridge we walk a pampa of grassy meadows below the jagged stone flanks of Ausangate Mountain (6350m/20828ft), the highest snow peak in Southern Peru. After trekking approximately 6 hours, we arrive to the hot springs of Upis (4400m/14432ft). Here we spent the night at a lovely campsite in Upis.Meal Include: L (box-lunch), DinnerDay 2 - Upis / Arapa Pass to Pucacocha Lagoon
Breakfast; on the next day, we hike around 2 hours to get our first pass, Arapa Pass (4750m/ 15580ft). To be in the pass we will have to walk up the valley along the right slope before climbing a rock-strewn area. A hut and a few corrals form the last settlement we will come across before you climb toward the mountain. Throughout all the passage we will see the majestic Ausangate Mountain. Finally we arrive to the Arapa Pass; from the pass we enjoy wonderful views not only of Ausangate itself. Follow the fence line and cross the ridge by walking to the left of the steep hill between it and Nevado Ausangate. We continue down we have the opportunity to see beautiful lakes, multi-colored lagoons until we reach the larger Yanacocha lake (black lake) where we have our lunch, after the lunch one hour more to the camping site near the Pucacocha Lagoon (4500m/14760ft), We will set up camp here.Day 3 - Pucacocha / Palomani Pass to Pampacancha
In the morning, we make a short ascent to our second pass of Apacheta, (4850m/15908ft) then down until Ausangatecocha lagoon below where we will have our lunch. After the lunch climb for two hours towards the third mountain pass, the Abra de Palomani (5200m/17056ft). This is the highest part of the entire hike, from which we then descend for another 2 hours through an area of llamas, alpacas and “vizcachas” to reach Pampacancha. We can enjoy fantastic views of Ausangate and the Vilcanota range from this point. Then we walk down into a valley, we arrive to our incredibly beautiful campsite at Pampacancha (4050m/13284ft)Day 4 - Pampacancha / Qampa Pass to Qomercocha
After breakfast; we climb gently up the Qampa side valley, criss-crossing a stream, and passing ancient rock falls where Andean vizcachas large rabbit-like rodents leap among the boulders. On this less-populous southern side of the mountain our chances of seeing wildlife are heightened. Condors skim along the slopes, and elusive herds of rare vicuñas may appear on the ridge tops, while keeping a safe distance. Beyond the tiny hamlet of Qampa we traverse a huge, grassy shoulder of Ausangate with the icy crags of Collque Cruz (Silver Cross) and Tres Picos (Three Peaks) to our right, as we ascend to Qampa pass (5000m/16400ft), our fourth and final crossing. The high point is marked by tall cairns (apachetas) built by generations of foot travellers making the north-south traverse of the Vilcanota range. We descend with the broad, rolling plains of the upper Mapacho basin spread out far below us, reaching our camp at the cluster of lakes known Qomercocha, as evening draws near.Day 5 - Qomercocha to Pacchanta
Breakfast; we leave this spectacular camp reluctantly, with many a glance back. These lonely lakes, some deep and crystal clear, others shallow and bubbling with exotic algae, lie beneath sharp, towering peaks. Powerful yet peaceful, it is easy to understand how this became a place of ceremony for the Quechua shamans of the Region. We follow a series of rolling ridges across open grassland, encountering child shepherds and women hand-spinning wool as we approach the village of Pacchanta (4100m/13448ft), the biggest settlement on our trek. Here delightful hot springs offer us a sublime soak, with the entire panorama of snow-capped Ausangate filling the southern horizon.Day 6 - Pacchanta to Tinqui
Breakfast; we leave Pacchanta and start to walk our way back to Tinqui, which will take approximately 2 hours. Once in Tinqui, we board a private transportation that will take us back to the city of Cusco, where we estimate to arrive after nightfall.Meal Include: Breakfast, Lunch -
What is included?
- Pre-departure briefing
- Collection from your hotel in the morning of trek departure.
- Private transport to Tinqui, starting point of the trek
- English Speaking Professional Guide (2 guides for groups of over 8 people)
- Entrance to Ausangate Area
- Campsite fees
- 4 Season tents, 2 people in each 3-people-capacity tent
- Therma-Rest self-inflating mattress
- Horsemen and horses: Carry tents, cooking equipment and also carry backpacks, sleeping bags and mattresses (Max. 12 kilos/ 25 lbs per person)
- One emergency horse every 2 people
- Chef and cooking equipment
- Dining tent with tables, chairs and Kitchen tent
- Meals as indicated in the itinerary (optional vegetarian food)
- Toilet tent
- Accommodation for all our staff
- Others: hot water every morning and evening for washing purposes / boiled water to fill in your water bottle every morning and night, and at lunch time if requested with enough time ahead
- First-aid kit including emergency oxygen bottle
- Private transport from Tinqui to Cusco
- Sleeping bag (can be hired in our office for US$ 36 for all the trek)
- Extra porter to carry your personal things like sleeping bag, clothes, etc
- Tips for the guide, cook and porters
- Meals not mentioned in the itinerary
- Domestic airfare to and from Cusco (+/- US$ 290 per person round trip)
- Visa fees (if required)
- Passport & Visa Costs
- Vaccination Costs
- Personal Spending Money
- Drinks
- International Flights
- Travel Insurance
- Airport departure taxes
- Border taxes or fees
- Machu Picchu extensions
- Cusco Add Ons (Hotel and tours)
- Lima Add ons (Hotel and tours)
- Amazon Jungle Trips
- Northern Peru
- Lake Titicaca
- Lima City stop over
- Arequipa extension