The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world


  • Home
  • About
  • 2025 Calendar

Peru’s Ausangate Circuit Trek

July 16, 2024

When last minute cancellations by other clients put paid to my plan to trek to the Incan site of Choquequirao, I signed up instead for an extended Ausangate Circuit trek in the remote Cordillera Vilcanota range of the Andes, south of Cusco, a city I hadn’t visited since 2009. After two days of acclimatization near Cusco, we commenced our nine day trek. Our group of seven clients, one guide and a horseman with his “sag” horse hiked about 90 km (56 miles) and ascended more than 3700 m (12,100 ft). While the distances and elevation gains were not great, the altitude certainly was: five high passes which ranged from 4850 to 5200 meters (15,900 to 17,060 ft).

The Cordillera Vilcanota boasts several 6000m peaks, including the sacred Ausangate, at 6372m (20,900 ft), the highest mountain in southern Peru. This high and wild trekking circuit wound its way on quiet trails through this rarely-visited range, following lovely alpine valleys and traversing a series of passes connecting them. After a lovely soak in the Pachanta town hot springs one afternoon, the usual end point for the Ausangate Circuit trek, our trek continued another 2 1/2 days, highlighted by the remote and stunning Laguna Singrenacocha.

Enjoy some of the hundreds of photos that I took!

View of the Sacred Valley from Parque Arqueológico Pisac, our first of two acclimatization walks
Banana passionfruit flower
A view of Incan farming terraces from Parque Arqueológico Pisac
A Cyclopian-style Incan wall at Sacsayhuaman above Cusco, where we did the 2nd of our two acclimatization walks. The stones weigh up to 200 tons.
Approaching Ausangate from near the Tinki trailhead on Day 1. The trailhead was a leisurely 4-hour drive south from Cusco.
Our first night’s camp. The orange tents on the left side are ours.
Glacial melt-water serenades our group of 7 clients early on Day 2. Our group included five Brits and two Americans. Can you spot them in this photo?
Laguna vista with Ausangate
Old Man of the Andes cacti (Oreocereus celsianus)
View from the pass Abra al Arapa, 4850 m, the first of the five high passes we would cross on the trek. The needle-like peak is Sorimani.
Laguna Pucacocha
Our group down-climbing above Laguna Pucacocha
Our horses grazing near our 2nd camp in the late afternoon
Late afternoon light on Ausangate
Hatun (Great) Pucacocha and alpaca herd early on Day 3
Ausangate with Hatun Pucacocha on the left here
Th Vagabond Hiker with our horseman, Rozes, on the Apachita Pass (4920m)
Painted Mountain, a popular day hike from the opposite side.
Llamas
Our 3rd campsite
Pano with clients on Day 4
Rozes and our guide Evr (r), on Abra Paloman (5100m)
The Vagabond Hiker on Abra Paloman
Pycnophyllum molle moss
Landscape with Senecio leucophyton (in the daisy family)
Lodge, tarn, and Ausangate, seen on Day 4. The usual climbing route ascends from the red-roofed lodge seen in the lower left.
A Northern Viscacha, a type of chinchilla. Over a couple of days we saw (and heard) numerous Viscachas near streams.
Nevado Ausangate in all its formidable glory
Lupinus weberbaueri, seen on Day 5. We saw several different lupines. . .
Lupinus alopecuroides. None of the flowers I saw seemed to have common English names, hence I’m sticking with the Latin binomials for this post.
Some of our pack horses on Day 5 near Abra La Campa (5060m). Jatunhuma (6100m) is in the background.
Puka Punta (5600m), Pachanta (5950m), and Callangate (6110m) seen to our east on Day 5.
Nototriche obcuneata, in the mallow family
View descending towards our Day 5 camp
Sunset view on Day 5. Puka Punta (“Red Point” in Quechua) is on the right.
Laguna Pucacocha in the morning of Day 6.
Grasses and blue pond with reflection of a portion of the Ausangate massif.
A remote village with Callangate behind, seen on Day 7
Some dry stone walls testify to the ubiquitous alpaca and Llama herding over the centuries
Perezia pygmea, in the daisy family
Landscape with glacial stream
An alpaca herd
Closeup of five alpacas. The 2nd from the left looks to me like a character in the Wizard of Oz.
Our “sag” horse, Ausangate, being encouraged to cross a stream
Day 7 sunset vista with horses and alpenglow on Callangate
The turquoise Laguna Singrenaccocha, seen early on Day 8
Gentiana sedifolia
Another view of Laguna Singrenaccocha, which we essentially circumambulated this day, camping near the southwest corner
Hatun Q’ampa reflected in a small, unnamed lake
The main river feeding into Laguna Singrenaccocha, which we crossed downstream, near its entrance to the lake
An view upstream of that river
Yet more alpacas (and some llamas)!
Mark crossing one section of the river near the outlet of Laguna Singrenaccocha
Our scenic Day 8 campsite and our horses
Our support crew (our cook, two assistants, and muleteers), Day 9
Still morning reflections in Laguna Singrenaccocha
Our final canyon descent to the roadhead near Malima on Day 9.

I chose to spend this summer in the Rocky Mountains of southwest Colorado and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada range of California. If I get some decent photos, expect one or two blog posts from some of my numerous day hikes. In early September I will be traveling around Europe for about 5 1/2 weeks, trekking across the Picos de Europa in northern Spain and the Julian Alps in Slovenia (yes, I know they are not particularly close together!), and doing a series of walks on São Miguel Island in the Azores. Expect three more blog posts this autumn from those adventures!

In the meantime, enjoy as much of the summer outdoors as you can,

The Vagabond Hiker

Latin America, Peru Kent

Trekking and climbing in the Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru

July 11, 2018

How does one even begin to describe the wonderful two weeks we spent in the Cordillera Huayhuash?  My friend Bob organized a group of hiking and canyoneering friends from St George Utah for this trek with the company Peruvian Andes Adventures. Our group of nine clients was very ably supported by a head mountaineering guide, a fantastic cook, and two assistant cooks who also helped as porters.  Most of the group equipment and personal kit was carried on 23 donkeys, managed by four muleteers.

The trek was a roughly clockwise circuit of the Cordillara Huayhuash, several hours drive from the mountain town of Huaraz (itself a 7 hour bus journey from Lima).  After two days of acclimatization hikes near Huaraz, we headed up into the Huayhuash. In addition to 10 actual trek days, we had three rest days where we spent two consecutive nights at the same camp. Most of us went on short out and back hikes on our three rest days. Four of us also traversed Diablo Mudo on day 13, a relatively straightforward rock and snow climb with inclines of up to about 45 degrees.

The following photos try to convey some of the sublime grandeur and beauty of the Peruvian Andes. I tried to be very selective in choosing only the most interesting photos, but as you’ll soon realize, that was not an easy thing to do. They are in strict chronological order.

Mountain view from my hotel room in Huaraz. The usual starting point for trekking in the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash, it is easily the largest city in this part of Peru, with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Lago and Nevada Churup, our second acclimatization hike in the Cordillera Blanca near Huaraz

Our lunch spot on day 1, en-route to Llamac, our trailhead where we would start trekking the following day.

Cantua buxifolia, a sacred flower to the Incas and the national flower of Peru

View in the mist, day 2, Llamac Valley

Day 3 vista from near Cacanan Punta, our first high pass

Misty view on the afternoon of day 3

Lupines in the mist, day 3

Two of our group, Marie and Jimmy, above a lake on day 3

 

Likely Gentianella hirculus

Day 3 view of Laguna Mitucocha from our camp

Day 3 view of Nevada Ninashanca from camp

A panorama I stitched together above Laguna Carhuacocha on day 4 with Yerupaja (c) and Siula Grande (l) of Touching the Void fame providing the backdrop

Morning light at our camp at Laguno Carhuacocha on day 5, the first “rest” day. Yerupaja is on the left here.

Three lakes view under Siula Grande and Yerupaja, giants of the Huayhuash, day 6. At 6,617 meters, Yerupaja is the 2nd highest mountain in Peru.

The Vagabond Hiker at Siula Punta (4830m)

Our campsite at Huayhuash

Some of our 23 donkeys on day 7. The pyramidal mountain is Nevada Cuyoc

In the thermal baths. After a week on trek they were much appreciated!

Gentiana sedifolia, day 8

Nevada Cuyoc

A mushroom rock formation, reminiscent of Utah

Hypochearis sessiliflora

View with yellow-flowered shrub and cactus

Local girls at Huanacpatay camp

Our Huanacpatay campsite

Our group at Santa Rosa pass (5030 m), day 9. This was our highest pass of the trek.

An Andean condor near Santa Rosa pass. Admittedly not a good picture of this magnificent and iconic bird. . .

Siula Grande and its namesake glacier, day 10. We were near the climbers’ base camp on the West side of the mountain (previous photos were from the East side) on this 2nd “rest” day.

Waterfall near Cutatambo camp

Red flowers, possibly Bomarea, near the waterfall

A Lupinus mutabilis (aka Andean lupine) forest, on the morning of day 11

Salvia striata

Orecocereus cactus flower

A rushing stream on day 11 as we headed down towards Huayllapa village.

Huayllapa village. Apart from Llamac at the start and finish, this was the low point and the only village we saw on the trek, at only 3,600 meters (10,800 ft)!

Calceolaria Integrifolio (aka baby booties)

Oxalis adenophylla (aka silver shamrock) detail, day 12

A thorny Chuquiragua shrub (“flower of the Andes”) and mountain backdrop

Climbing a high ridge on Diablo Mudo, day 13. We started at 3 AM and this photo was taken about 6:30 AM when we were still almost 2 1/2 hours from the summit.

Dawn view high on Diablo Mudo

Our rope team (minus our guide) on the summit of Diablo Mudo, 5350 meters (17,650 ft). Four of us made this optional climb, which was a 10 1/2 hour day.

Celebrating on the summit of Diablo Mudo with our guide Marco

A cushion plant (Asteraceae) seen on the descent from Diablo Mudo

Tephrocactus floccosus cactus in flower, day 14

A Polylepis tree with semi-parasitic pupa shrub flowers

A gnarled polylepis tree

Ferns in a cave by Laguna Jahuacocha on rest day 14

Laguna Jahuacocha view

The lower portion of a waterfall near our final camp

Our final camp, days 14 and 15

Sunset from my tent on day 14. On the following day we hiked back to Llamac, a relatively easy 8 miles.

Tonight I fly back to London from Lima, Peru for a few days of R&R before my trip to Italy next week where I’ll be hiking and (possibly) climbing in the Mont Blanc (or, as the Italians say, Monte Bianco) region.  Until my next blog post, happy trails!

The Vagabond Hiker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latin America, Peru Kent

Categories

Subscribe for Updates

Loading

© 2025 ·Journey · by WPStud.io