September 9, 2018 – September 11, 2018
In the streets of Cusco we had seen advertisements for tours to Rainbow Mountain, or, Winicunca to use the local name, but I couldn’t find anything in our slightly out-of-date guide book about the hike. As it turns out, the multi-hued mountain was covered under a layer of ice until recently. With the changing climate, the ice has now disappeared, revealing striped, rainbow like slopes, and the locals soon figured out that tourists would pay to hike to such a magical place. Interestingly, most of the tourists were Peruvian, possibly captivated by the natural representation of the age old Incan rainbow flag.
The road to the parking lot was beautiful, if a bit nerve wracking….another narrow road with steep drop offs and mini buses full of tourists hurtling towards us, sometimes requiring Derek to maneuver the truck to the very edge of the road and the steep valley side. We found a camp spot part way up the mountain road, and continued on early the next day to beat the buses and begin our hike.
Adobe house with solar panel in the valley leading towards Rainbow Mountain. Stone enclosures for corralling llamas and alpacas for shearing on the hillside. It was very cold at this elevation, but many of the local living and working in the area that we encountered simply wore open sandals on their feet.
You see rainbow flags all over Peru. The flag represents the country’s ties to the Inca Empire and the unity of the indigenous people before the Spanish conquest.
The well marked trail led through a high valley, occupied by herds of sheep, alpaca and llama..
We had perfect weather for the hike in.
In the video that follows Derek makes reference to Mt Ausangate, but after checking the location…. not it. It’s nearby but not in view in this video….we did get a glimpse of it later in the hike.
The further into the valley we got, the more overcast the horizon became. At one point the clouds lifted and we could see hundreds of people at the pass, all awaiting the perfect photo opportunity.
Derek and Piper at the pass, waiting for the clouds to lift.
We had a minute or so window where we could see the mountain. This is the “unenhanced” photo.
And this is what you will find when you google Rainbow Mountain…lots of photos playing with the saturation levels. I am sure the colours would have been more intense under blue skies….
Hikers still making their way to the pass, hoping for the weather to clear. It was very cold on the pass which was at about 5,200 metres elevation.
We hiked back to our truck, having had a great day even though we didn’t get epic blue skies at the pass. The hike to and from the pass was spectacular, as was the drive up and down the valley and all three of us enjoyed the day.
Looking down the valley and along our route on the drive back to the highway.