Day 12: Rainbow Mountain

Wednesday 2nd October

Throughout our trip we have says which are designated as ‘free days’. On our free days we don’t have any planned activities through our tour company. It allows us to take it as easy or as adventurous as we please.

When the topic of hiking up Rainbow Mountain came up a couple of days previously I had a lot of reservations… especially as I had not been able to finish Quarry Trail. My tour leader had told me that there are lots of horses at Rainbow Mountain, and you can pay some money to ride a horse most of the way if you prefer.

I resided myself to the fact that I would take a horse. I wanted to enjoy Rainbow Mountain but was worried about hiking to 5030 metres above sea level considering I had struggled at 3700 metres.

So on Wednesday 8 of us along with a local guide took an organised mini bus the three hour trip to Vinicunca AKA Rainbow Mountain.

Rainbow Mountain is a beautiful and naturally colourful mountainside in the High Andes in Peru.

Once we arrived we started heading along a relatively flat terrain. I thought to myself “okay, I’ll walk this part and then I’ll get a horse.” We continued walking and the terrain became rockier and on more of an incline. I once again thought, “I will walk this next section but once it gets steeper I’ll get a horse.”

It’s an 8km walk and I would say the first 40 minutes isn’t too difficult. The rest of the walk can become quite challenging – mostly from the increasing altitude..

I have to say I really enjoyed the walk. The landscape was beautiful and along with my walking boots and my growing determination I was coping fine.

That growing determination settled well with me and it wasn’t long before I decided that regardless of how steep it was, I was going to complete the hike and reach this 5000 metre elevation without a horse. I wanted it so much.

I would say it was around 4000 metres above sea level when the terrain was getting steeper a few of us were feeling altitude sickness symptoms. Nothing major, but enough to slow us down with breathlessness. One of the ladies on our hike had some coca leaves so we chewed a few of those. On we pushed upwards!

I started to find the incline and terrain a little tricky to navigate and my lovely local guide offered me one of her walking poles. Ahhh a walking pole! It doesn’t solve all your problems but wow it makes it easier to balance.

I remember the feeling as we hiked the last section to the main point of Rainbow Mountain. It was incredibly steep and I had to keep willing myself to just keep climbing. It didn’t matter what pace, but I just kept going. A lot of thoughts were going around my head – a lot of it was determination, but also the insecurities I hold about my ability to accomplish difficult challenges in my life. Despite all the insecurities at the front of my mind, the determination was stronger. I did see others get on horses to carry them for a while so I knew I could do that too, but I wanted to see what I could do.

So when I finally climbed up that final stretch and walked through the doorway of this rock wall I looked to my left and saw the famous view of Rainbow Mountain. The incredible and colourful scenery surrounding it was better than the pictures and I was a little overwhelmed. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little teary. I was so proud of myself for making it and persevering.

After a little break we went and took some pictures and just admired this beautiful natural landscape.

It has only recently been discovered due to it previously been covered by snow from the Ice Age.

So there’s the classic spot at Rainbow Mountain that you see in pictures but then if you look up, you’ll notice a ridiculously steep and rocky path to the very peak. Everyone in my group was going up – so I guess I was going to go as well.

This is the part that will take you to that peak of 5030 metres. I can say at this point it was already difficult to fill your lungs with enough oxygen, but what was a little higher at this point? It definitely was the most challenging section and I was grateful for my borrowed walking pole.

I knew I would make it to the top as my determination was high. Altitude had other plans though, and about 30 or so steps before the peak I had to stop. My head felt like it was going to explode and I was suddenly super dizzy. I knew it was the altitude but I couldn’t move. My head hadn’t felt like this before and I couldn’t navigate myself up a steep and rocky path feeling this way.

One man on our tour who was at the top, and my local guide who was coming up behind me each grabbed one of my arms and together they got me to the top. I don’t remember the first few minutes clearly up there but I remember my guide asking me how my head felt, I remember her putting the mixture of herbs and rubbing alcohol in her hands and putting it on my face telling me to breathe it in and out. I remember this from the Quarry Trail and it’s brilliant for opening up your airways. I was told told later that my guide was worried about my temperature and how cold I was, and one of the ladies on our hike had a spare jacket and this was put on me. Thank god she had that. I wasn’t that prepared. So after a few minutes I came around well enough to enjoy reaching the peak. Absolutely stunning!

We had all taken a little stone from the bottom of the mountain and was told that we would use it at the top. So I went to the mountain edge and placed this rock on a stack and made a wish to Pachamama. Pachamama is a goddess admired by the indigenous people of the Andes. She is also known as the Mother Earth.

We took some photos and decided it was getting colder and we should head down.

We’ve all heard stories about hikers, and how they can get caught on top of a mountain because of a snowstorm that blows in. Well, this happened to us. As we were heading down off the peak it because incredibly foggy and we could barely see a few metres in front of us. It had already been snowing a little on top of the mountain, but the snow that came now was powerful due to the strong wind, and the snowflakes were icy and felt like pins.

We made it back to that initial rock wall, and huddled next to it with the locals.

After about 20 minutes we all decided the snowstorm wasn’t stopping, so we headed down in the storm. Hiking 8km in a snowstorm – that was an adventure. We had to occasionally shake the snow off of us and continue on.

Despite the freezing and icy conditions, it definitely added to the experience and we were in good spirits. We had to laugh that at the end when we reached the bus the snow stopped and the sun came out.

Soaked and freezing, we piled onto the bus and headed the hour to the restaurant where we would be having lunch.

My altitude sickness hadn’t quite disappeared and my headache returned with a vengeance along with nausea. We finally made it to this beautiful little restaurant where we were given a delicious and wholesome lunch. I had pasta and a couple of hot chocolates. I felt much better and slept for the next part of the trip back to Cusco.

Despite my bout of altitude sickness I had the most incredible day seeing scenery that pictures can’t do justice to, pushing myself beyond what I thought I was capable of, and just living my best life on this day.

I hope that if you ever get the chance to visit Peru, you will make the journey over to Rainbow Mountain. It is well worth the hike!