Jan 19th, 2017: Colorful Mountains

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ausangate is a mountain of the Willkanuta mountain range in the Andes of Peru.
This beautiful region, inhabited by alpaca and llama herding communities, serves as home to
one of the last remaining pastoralist societies in the world.

This beautiful region is comprised of four major geological features: The hanging glaciers
and glacial erosional valleys, the Andean uplift formed by Granit, the limestone forest, and
most notably, the beautiful Permian formations that naturally occur in a variety of colors
including blue, red, ochre, and turquoise.

Located just 3 hours from Cusco, but comparatively unknown until recent years when climate
change caused the overlying snow to melt and reveal the colorful formation.

There are locals with horses that charge $20-30 to take you to the top. Useful to know
because the hike begins at an altitude of 14,000 feet and rises to 17,000 feet.

Yeah, take the horse. The highest I've been walking is 14,000 ft and breathing was tough.
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