Ausangate Trek 5 Days

Departing to the south of Cusco, we will cross the Interoceanian highway, passing through beautiful landscapes and several traditional towns like Urcos, Cattca and Ocongate until reaching Tinqui (3,800 meters / 12,464 feet above sea level).

We will start walking for 3 hours and enjoy the Andes mountain range with stunning snow and views of the Apu Ausangate Mountain. Short rest for lunch, we will walk two more hours to reach the hot springs in Upis (4,400 meters / 14,432 feet), Surrounds us with magnificent scenery and fantastic views of Ausangate.

We will camp here at night (4-5 hours of trekking).

• Lunch and dinner.

In the morning we will cross the open Arapa (4,850 meters / 15,908 feet). From here, we’ll continue for 3 and 1/2 hours down the valley, passing the green lagoon of Puqa Q’ocha until we reach the turquoise waters of the lagoon Jatun Puqa Q’ocha.

Then, we will ascend the second Apuchata (4,900 meters / 16,072 ft.), overlooking the impressive Ausangate Q’ocha lagoon and its turquoise blue waters. This lagoon feeds on the melting snow of the snowy Ausangate.

We will camp here the second night.

• Hiking Time: 6 hours.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

From the lagoon, we will ascend to Abra Palomani (5,200 meters / 17,056 ft.) – the highest point of the walk. From the Abra, we follow the trail to the valley where we can rest and have lunch.

In the afternoon, you can enjoy the views of the snowy mountain “Tres Picos/Three Peaks and Punta Puca”. We will continue through the wide green valley of Pampa Jutunpata and up through the valley of the Q’ampa River.

We will spend the third night in this area.

• Hiking Time: 07 hours.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Passing through small turquoise lakes, we’ll climb up the Palomani Pass (5,200 m.) Where the view of the south eastern side of the snowy Ausangate and Vilcanota mountain range is simply incredible. After descending to Chilcapinaya, we will make the camp on the fourth day of Apu Ausangate Trek.

• Hiking Time: 08 hours.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After passing through the small community of Q’ampa, we will head northwest to the last opening of this hike – Abra Q’ampa (5,000 meters / 16,400 feet). We will see several lagoons of different colours and we will have lunch next to Q’omer Q’ocha. From here, we will walk for a few hours before reaching the small village of Pacchanta.

We can enjoy the hot springs for a couple of hours and even have a well-deserved beer! We will meet shepherds from the highlands who tend their sheep and alpacas, spin and weave their wool, near the snowy peaks.

After that we will walk through the puna, previously seen communities of shepherds and weavers, takes us back to Tinki road. Here a bus will be waiting to take us back to Cusco, where we will arrive in the afternoon at approximately 06:00 p.m.

• Hiking time: 08 hours.
• Breakfast and lunch.