How to get to Ausangate Mountain

Ausangate Mountain is a colorful route that attracts tourists from all over the world for its beauty, beautiful landscapes, and adventures that can be done around Ausangate.

Kondor Path Tours will provide you with all the information on how to reach the second-highest mountain in Peru.

Ausangate Mountain Location: Ausangate Mountain is 6,380 masl and located southeast of Cusco in the Quispicanchis district of Ocongate province.

How to get to Ausangate Mountain

Climate and Temperature of Ausangate Mountain

Temperatures in and around Ausangate Mountain vary according to the year’s season. In the highlands of Peru, there are two well-defined seasons (the rainy and the dry seasons).

According to these seasons, the temperature fluctuates:

• Between 5°C and 0°C at night and dawn
• During the day, between 15°C and 20°C in the dry season (May to October).

On the other hand, in the rainy season, the temperatures are:

• 5C to 8°C at night and dawn
• During the day, between 15°C and 20°C.

Routes to reach Ausangate Mountain

Are you traveling to Ausangate on your own or through an agency?

We will describe two known routes, considering you should do this trek alone.

1. Route by Ocongate to get to Ausangate Mountain

This route takes four days and is the most well-known by travelers. It would be best to get up early in the morning to go to the Tomasa Tito Condemayta Avenue bus station next to the Coliseum Casa de la Juventud.

You will find buses from here that cover the route Cusco-Ocongate. The transportation service costs 15 soles; the trip is on a paved road for three hours.

How to get to Ausangate Mountain

When you arrive in the town of Ocongate, you must take a collective cab to the village of Tinki. This trip will take at least 30 minutes. The village of Tinki is 3800 meters above sea level, a town with essential services for tourists and travelers. From this place, you will start the hike around the Ausangate mountain.

You must walk 10 kilometers from here until you reach your first camp, Upis, at 4,447 m. In this camp, you will spend the first night and enjoy a relaxing bath in the hot springs.

We will continue hiking for another 16 kilometers, the highest point of which will be the Arapa Pass at 4,850 m. Then, you will descend until you reach Ausangate Lake, where you will spend the night.

This third day will be the most challenging day of the trek. We will hike 16 kilometers and climb to the Palomani Pass at 5,200 masl. From here, you will have some spectacular views. Then, you will follow a downhill path until you reach Huchuy Finaba, where you will spend the night.

How to get to Ausangate Mountain

On the fourth day, the walk will be 14 kilometers, reaching its highest point in the Jampa Pass at 5,080 meters above sea level and continuing until you get to Pacchanta, the last place you will visit on this journey. After 1 hour more of walking, you will arrive in Tinki, the same home where we started this tour.

2. Route through Pitumarca to the Ausangate Mountains

This route only takes two days, and you will have the opportunity to visit the Ausangate and the mountain of colors. What recently enabled this new route for tourists?

The adventure begins when you take the bus route, Cusco-Sicuani, located on Huayrurupata Avenue. The service cost is twenty soles. Before you get off, you must tell the driver that you will get off in the town of Checacupe, which is at 02 hours and a half.

When you arrive at the town of Checacupe, you must take another transport to reach the village of Pitumarca, which is only 15 minutes away, and then you must continue until you reach the town of Chillca, which will be the starting point of the trek. The hike will be 8 kilometers, and on the way, you can observe incredible biodiversity of flora and fauna until you reach the Ausangate lagoon known as “Inquiri Cocha.” Following the impressive walk, you will get to Puca Moco, where you will spend the first night at the foot of the snowy Ausangate.

How to get to Ausangate Mountain

On the second day, the tour will be 10 kilometers, so you should leave early to reach the entrance control to Vinicunca. In this place, you can rent a horse and thus regain the strength to get to the mountain of colors. After visiting Vinicunca Mountain, we will take the road to Mancipara, where we will enjoy a buffet lunch in front of a small lagoon of colors. We will return to Japurá, where you will take mobility to Cusco.

Ausangate on your own or through an agency?

A several-day tour of Ausangate Mountain is a journey. It is advisable to hire the services of an agency because they have prepared all the logistics for the trekking, such as camping equipment, food, and guidance, and you will only worry about enjoying the hike.

Tips to get to Ausangate Mountain

These are the tips you should remember when making this trek to Ausangate.

• You should acclimatize for at least two days in the city of Cusco.
• Camping equipment (tents, poles, etc.)
• Adequate clothing for trekking (trekking shoes, waterproof clothing)
• Warm clothes for the nights (gloves, hats, shawls, wool socks)
• Rain ponchos.
• Solar chargers for flashlights, cameras, and batteries
• Water purification tablets

Hikes and Tours to Ausangate Trek

• 7 Lakes of Ausangate Full-Day Trek
• Ausangate Trek 5 Days
• Ausangate Trek 6 Days / 5 Nights
• Ausangate Trek Recommended Itinerary