Ausangate+and+Painted+Mountains

= Ausangate and the Painted Mountains =

Hidden among the Peruvian Andes in the Cuzco region, 100 Km SouthEast of the city of Cuzco, lie the Ausangate and painted mountains of Peru. The only way to make it to these amazing natural sites is by taking the Ausangate trek which takes you along a an ancient pilgrimage route that was once used by the Incas.

The most amazing of the mountains in this region are difficult to locate and require days of hiking from Cuzco at an elevation of 4,000 meters. There are multiple treks available which will take you through this amazing mountain region that has diverse landscapes along the way including granite cliffs, limestone forests, glaciers, and unbelievable rainbow mountains. The most popular Ausangate trek takes 5 days and stretches across 34 miles. Along this trek, each night is spent in a “Tambo,” a type of luxury lodge that offers full accommodations for hikers along the trail. Four of these lodges exist along the trail providing hospitality for visitors and a source of income for the local Quechua people who live in the mountains. Along the way, trekkers will also come across hot springs, local villages, vendors, and lots of llamas and alpacas.

The Quechua people are direct descendants of the Inca and have been to remain living in the mountains for a long time maintaining the original way of life, with few influences from modern society. A resource that is a key part in the Quechua daily life comes from llamas and alpacas. They raise the animals in and then put to use every part of the animal, wasting nothing. To those in modern society, the way the Quechua people live appears too simple, but to them it has been the way of life for generations.

The Ausangate mountain, which stretches to an altitude of 6,384 meters high, is sacred to the Quechua people who believe the mountain is an “Apu.” This mountain means a lot to the Quechua people because it gives life to the villages below by providing fresh water as the glaciers high in the mountains melt, forming streams which flow into the villages. In ancient times, Incans would journey to the Apu to seek guidance and give offerings in hope to be blessed with good fortune. Today, if trekking to Ausangate, hikers get the opportunity to leave offerings for the Apu. The process begins with each person taking four coca leaves which they then hold in their hands and blow in the direction of the mountain peaks. The leaves are then collected with other offerings such as sweets and burned. All this is done in hopes to be blessed by the Apu and receive good fortune for the trek.

Every year the Quechua people celebrate the Apu at Ausangate with the Quyllur Rit’i festival (or Star Snow festival). For this event, thousands of Quechua pilgrims visit the mountain and celebrate the Apu, thanking him for the fortunes he brought.

The painted mountains are also along the Ausangate trek. These mountains are striped in an assortment of colors ranging from terracotta, to lavender, to turquoise. The mountains appear this color from weathering and mineralogy. Each of the colors is produced from different types of rock that are a part of the mountains. The Quechua people also consider these mountains to be holy because they offer the mystery of how they became. When doing the Ausangate trek, these mountains typically first appear on the fourth day of hiking. They are well worth the hike.

By: Hannah Jackson