Rainbow Mountain Peru Trek
Ausangate is known around the world as Rainbow Mountain. Locally, it’s called Vinicunca. The steep slopes and ridges of this area are striped with beautiful colors. Looking out on the landscape, you can see gold, maroon, green, lavender, and turquoise. It’s one of the world’s great geological marvels. The area is also a holy site for local indigenous peoples.
Our Rainbow Mountain trek 2 days are designed to get you out of sync with the crowds! We’ll climb high passes with stunning views of snow-capped mountains, incredible valleys and, of course, the namesake colored stripes of Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain.
Our Rainbow Mountain 2 day trek starts early as we travel from Cusco to Rainbow Mountain after breakfast at your hotel. To start our trip, we head in the direction of Puno. We will travel on an asphalt road across the altiplano and through the fertile Vilcanota Valley.
After about 2 hours of driving, we will turn off onto an unpaved road, stopping at the picturesque village of Checacupe. After a visit to the Colonial Church of the Immaculate Conception, we’ll start ascending the Pitumarka Valley.
We arrive at Pitumarka town for a brief stop: we can buy some basic refreshments here before continuing through to the village at Hanchi Pacha. From here it’s one hour more on our way to the trailhead for our 2 day Rainbow Mountain trek, travelling through some lovely picturesque valleys and canyons. There are some interesting rock formations on this section of the road, and we will definitely allow time for scenic photos!
We should arrive at the village of Qh’esihuno after a total of 4 hours of travel from Cusco. From here, we will hike for approximately 3 hours, climbing steadily until we reach the Ausangate viewpoint at Pucacocha Pass (4950m / 16,240 ft). Here, we’ll enjoy incredible views of the valley, colorful lagoons and the magnificent Apu Ausangate itself.
We then descend to Anantapata at 4750m (15,583 ft) where we will camp for the night. As this is a high altitude campsite, it is important that you’ve had at least 3 days of acclimatization at altitude before starting this hike. It can also get very chilly, so we recommend layers of warm clothing and a -15˚C (5˚F) sleeping bag!
Along the route, there might be the chance to meet one of the local weavers keeping watch over her flocks, while weaving. This part of the Rainbow Mountain region, Quispicanchis, has a wonderful textile tradition!
After an early breakfast, we begin day 2 of our Rainbow Mountain 2 day trek. We will walk for about 3 hours, ascending towards Vinicunca Pass and passing over two mountains along the way. After the first 1h30, we will reach the Warmisaya Pass (5020m / 16,469 ft). Our breathing will become more and more labored as we gain altitude. Once we arrive at the top of the pass there may be some cold gusts of wind, so make sure that you are bundled up and that your head is covered with a woolly hat!
From this point we will have a splendid view of the Apu Ausangate and the colored rainbow mountains in the distance. We will descend to a lagoon before continuing to ascend in the direction of Vinicunca.
You will be rewarded for your efforts on this Rainbow Mountain 2 day trek when you finally see the amazing Vinicunca, with its colorful layers of rock sediment: turquoise, orange, brown, and red! In addition to the great views of the colored mountain itself, you will have impressive views of the snow-capped Apu Ausangate, when the day is clear.
After some time to rest and take photos, we’ll head back the way we came until we reach K’airahuiri. The return hike downhill will be a lot quicker than the ascent, and should take around 2-2.5 hours. There will be plenty of beautiful scenery to feast our eyes upon along the way.
We’ll have an early lunch at K’airahuiri, say goodbye to our local crew, and then head back to Cusco in our private transport. We should arrive back in Cusco at approximately 4 pm.
