The Ausengate Trek is a high altitude, chaThe Ausangate Trek is a high-altitude, challenging hike in the Peruvian Andes that circles the sacred Ausangate Mountain. It is known for its remote and stunning natural scenery, including glaciers, turquoise lakes, and colorful mountains. The trek also offers opportunities to experience local culture and see herds of alpacas.
To get to the start of the Ausangate trek we took a 3 hour bus ride from Cusco to Tinke. We had been spending time in Pisac for the previous few days, a smaller city outside of Cusco. We were going to take a night bus to Puño and see Lake Titicaca but we decided we didn’t want to spend more time traveling and taking a night but but would prefer to prioritize our time in the region of Cusco.
We arrived in the evening in Tinke and made our way to a hostel to spend the evening. The next day we began the trek!
Day 1
Many opt to take a taxi 8 miles from Tinke to Uris, a start of the trek. We decided we would walk it to warm up and save some money. We got a egg/avocado/cheese sandwich in town then also a warm chicken soup. It was a cloudy overcast day and much colder than we had been used to.
After breakfast we headed up the road! We passed many small houses, all looking a lot alike. The common style house is either brick or cement with some type of tin roof. The houses became more and more spread apart the further up the road we went and the farm land more vast. Before we even left town we saw our first group of Alpacas. The further up the road we went the more we saw out in the field.
After a couple hours a woman joined us on the road, Marguerite. She wore a big round bright bedazzled hat, typical of the women in that area. She had a bag of Alpaca wool and was spinning it into thread as she walked. She told us “vamos a caminar juntos” which means we will walk together. And walk together we did for a bit. We made small talk although her Spanish accent was a bit tricky to follow along at times. She pointed out some of the homes as we went, telling us who lived there, all while spinning her alpaca wool into thread. When it was time for her to diverge paths to go to her home she asked for some medicine for a head ache and I had a little first aid kit so was able to give her some.
We kept going up the road and the sky threatened rain and sprinkled a bit but never fully opened up.
Finally we arrived in Uris, really just a handful of buildings scattered around the valley. We saw steam rising from the hot springs there. A man called us over and said we could camp at his property, he had a nice indoor facility, bathrooms and drinking water. We weren’t sure if we wanted to pay to camp when there was a free spot a little ways over. All the hot springs there are privately owned, he said we could pay 5 soles / person to use his springs. We decided we would start with the hot springs and see what the weather would do, it was starting to rain a bit. He had to fill up his hot spring, just re direct a pipe full of natural hot spring water into his concrete tub, so we had some time to kill. We played some cards and soon enough a very big and violent snow/hail storm moved in. We were very thankful to be inside and were a bit nervous about continuing our hike. The mountains surrounding us were soon covered in a layer of snow.
After the storm let up we went into the hot spring. It was a concrete tub overlooking the mountains. The clouds began to clear more and more and we got amazing views of the freshly snow capped mountains. The hot spring was very hot and we had the place to ourselves. November is the start of the rainy season so not too many hikers come through anymore. According to our host in the prime season August-October the whole area fills up and there are groups of 15/20 people. He also told us that we should be fine to continue just try to be at camp before 12/1 as that is when it will usually start storming. we enjoyed our soak and after an hour or so we got out and made some dinner and said hello to their Alpacas. We decided we would just cowboy camp in this guys shelter since the ground was now covered in snow.
Day 2
The next morning was quite cold and I enjoyed my coffee from inside my sleeping bag. It was a clear day but we knew how bad it could get so we intended on leaving by 6am. We ate some oatmeal, packed our things and were on the way.
Before we could get too far a woman who lives in the area charged us 20 soles (6USD) per person as a fee for hiking through the Ausangate wilderness. Then we slowly started our first real ascent of the loop. We were at the top before we knew it, thinking it really wasn’t that difficult. We had amazing views of the surrounding mountains, glacier and valleys. The descent was a bit trickier though because it was covered in such thick mud.
The mud didn’t last too long and we descended into a beautiful green valley with giant white glaciers looming over us. We saw many Alpaca herds off in the distance as we approached our first glacier lake. We went for a quick dip before quickly drying off and getting redressed and carrying on our way.
We made our way to the other side of the lake seeing a different perspective and many more Alpacas. There is a popular tourist spot in Peru called Rainbow Mountain. You can add on some mileage to this trek to add it on. We weren’t sure if we wanted to do it but were approaching the intersection where we would have to decided. We filtered some water and figured why not? In order to go that way we would take an alternate route up this extremely steep mountain. Gaining over a thousand feet of elevation in less than a mile, climbing up and past 16,000 feet. Now that would normally be hard enough but the difficulty was multiplied by how high we were. I felt like I couldn’t move faster than a snail pace, and had to take many breaks going up.
We made it up to the top and were greeted by a sharply contrasting array of red mountains. With the great big white glacier behind us the difference was shocking. We sat in the little hut up top for a bit before beginning our descent in to that valley.
We walked down for a while, passing more Alpacas. It was around 10:30 when we got over that pass and the skies were still clear but we wanted to be sure to be somewhere by early afternoon. We saw what looked like it could be rainbow mountain in the distance. A series of different colored stripes of different minerals making up the mountain. We approached a camp in the valley, a couple small buildings with an Alpaca farm. There was a woman and a man collecting money from another couple that was backpacking. I guess it was another “passing through” community fee, and we would have to pay another one to actually see Rainbow mountain. We debated it for a while but figured we’d already come so far on the detour we might as well.
The woman and man said they didn’t think it would rain today but we weren’t so sure. With our payment to pass we also were allowed to camp there but wanted to get a bit closer to rainbow mountain to do it early in the morning to avoid the heaps of tourists. We slogged our way to the top of the next incline, it was rather steep and kept going up and up, we we’re already so tired from the day of climbing. We got to the top and saw the actual rainbow mountain in the distance. There was another one right next to us that looked exactly like it. The lake below that I figured we’d camp at was green and gross and the entire valley looked pretty dry. If we went down there and decided to do the actual rainbow mountain, it would make the following day very long, we likely wouldn’t have water that night and we’d have to pay an additional entrance fee. We decided seeing it from afar, seeing the very similar one up close and seeing the vast expanse of mountains around the area was more than enough to satisfy us.
So after soaking in the views we decided to go back down and camp where we had payed to pass. The way down went by quick and we got back and claimed one of the triangle shelters as our own. It was only 2pm but we were quite exhausted. We sat on the edge of the shelter for a couple hours, resting and not doing a whole lot but watching the Alpacas and trying to soak in the suns warmth without any of our skin being exposed to it. After a couple hours we played some cards then made dinner then hiked up a bit to watch the sky as the sunset behind the giant peaks surrounding us. As we got ready to go to bed there were some dogs barking at the moon and some intermittent barking/fighting throughout the night.
Day 3
We woke up early in the morning, around 4/5 and I stayed in my sleeping bag until my coffee and breakfast was completed. There was a cute little dog that curled up by my feet during the night.
We packed up and got on the road, a little after 6. This old woman who ran this camp approached us asking for some medicine for a fever and I searched my first aid kit and gave her something’s I thought might help. We had another morning of pure blue skies but still couldn’t be sure what the afternoon would hold. We would be going up to our highest elevation today, nearing 17,000 feet.
We left camp and the perrito, “little dog” kept following us. I was worried he was the señoras dog but Nick said that he wasn’t there the day before and the señora had brought her dogs inside. I tried to be stern with him and tel him to go home but he wouldn’t listened, he just kept following us or stopping when we stopped. We made our way around the side of the mountain, we were filling a map but the trail didn’t actually exist. We were bushwhacking along the hillside, over and under people’s fences. Suddenly two very aggressive sounding dogs started barking and running up the hillside towards us, Perrito was whining and seemed very nervous. Nick and I picked up some rocks, preparing to defend ourselves and Perrito. We stayed still and the other dogs stopped a bit away from us and kept barking, eventually one approached Perrito and they smelled each other and it was all okay.
We kept looking for the trail but we were too far off, we had to keep going over and under people’s property fences and Perrito would find his own way through. We had a couple other similar instances with dogs but luckily none attacked us or Perrito. After a stressful couple hours we made it back to the actual trail. Then we began the steep ascent to 16,700 feet.
Perrito would stay right behind whoever was in the front and was very patient when we stopped to take breaks. He would just lie down and wait for us to get going again. Perrito ran ahead of us near the top and found a little rock to wait by until our snail pace allowed us to get there.
We didn’t stay too long in the top before making our way down the other side. There were two huge snow covered glacial mountains to our left and red and green valley below. we stopped to sketch out the scenery a bit before continuing on. We stopped for water and tried giving Perrito some sardines and peanut butter but he wouldn’t eat either. He perked up when I pulled out my cheese and I gave him a couple bites and sure enough he loved it.
We kept going down to the low point of the trail. The sky was starting to get a lot darker and the wind was picking up. We decided we’d play it safe and set up the tent. We found a descent spot that was well protected and set up. We hung out in the tent for a couple hours but no storm ever really came so we packed up and hiked a couple more miles.
We set up again around 4 next to a clean water source on flat green ground with an awesome view of the mountains. I did a water color then we made some dinner, giving some of our cheese to Perrito. After dinner we played some cards and went to bed.
Day 4
I woke up early, around 4, and noticed the mountains were covered in clouds. We had another 16,000 plus foot pass to do that day. We’d been really lucky with weather so far but did not want to get caught up there in the rain. We had a quick cup of coffee, slipped breakfast, packed up and left by 5.Perrito was up and ready to go as soon as he heard some movement from inside the tent. It was steady climbing from there and we got intermittent views of the mountains but clouds were quickly rushing up the valley and obscuring them. We took a couple breaks on the way up to try to let the mountains clear up a bit.
Nearing the top we stopped to play a quick game of cards to see if any views would open up. We saw a herd of Vicugna (a alpaca cousin) on the side of the mountain, about half a mile and 1000 feet up, Perrito took off after them. He ran straight up that mountain, we lost sight of him for a while but minutes later he appeared near the herd. It was incredible to watch him go after that herd. They scattered quickly and Perrito changed his approach and came down the mountain , seeking out one that was alone. That one also ran far too quickly for his little legs to catch but it was a valiant effort. WE stopped to watch Perritos great chase and then slowly kept moving up the mountain. Perrito waited patiently at the top for us, panting heavily. It was interesting though because Perrito never ran after or showed any interest in any of the Alpaca herds we had been walking through.
We eventually made it to the top and could see the bottom half of the great big glacial mountains and the lakes below. We then started making our way down , it would be down hill into Pachanta, the final town. The skies were still very dark and moody but the rain was holding off. We walked past some vacant “camps” and stopped at an overlook of the 7 lakes. Two horses and two men soon passed us, someone was on a guided tour. They were both carrying day packs while the horses carried all their gear, including a full stove and propane tank. We were a bit jealous.
We stopped and got more water overlooking the lakes and I had a coffee break and Nick had an oatmeal break. Perrito played with the nearby dog then came to lie down next to us. After our break we continued down , passing another group as we approached the exit of the more backcountry part. He spoke good English and told us he was leading a group up there to do a Huachuma ceremony, a popular indigenous medicine. We spoke to him a bit then began to part ways. We walked apart and I looked back and Perrito was stopped, looking in between the two groups. I told him it was okay and to go with the other group then shouted in Spanish at the group that he wasn’t our dog he had just been following us, and it looked like he would go with them now.
We continued on our way, relieved that Perrito found another group and would stay in the mountains, as that was his true home. It was bitter sweet though leaving Perrito, we had grown really fond of the little guy. We were worried he was going to follow us into the town and get stuck there so it worked out for the best.
We made our way out and saw more and more people as we got closer to the town. There was a couple day hikers going to explore the lakes region and a large family picnicking. We saw a women selling alpaca items on the side of the road and we bought some alpaca gloves from her. We made our way down into the town of Pachanta and found the local hot springs. They were a bit disappointing compared to the ones when we first started our trip. Luke warm and more expensive but it was still a nice way to end the trip. A thunderstorm rolled in a couple hours later and we were able to get a ride back to the town we started in, Tinke, with a family that was also at the hit springs. From Tinke we got on a bus and headed back to Cusco!
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