© 2004 Wake Wheeler

PERU - THE HOLY MOUNTAINS

The Holy Mountains expeditions are advanced, rigorous journeys. We will experience nature temples at altitudes ranging from 11,000 to 15,000 feet. Hiking and camping, you will trek to Pachatusan or Salkantay, two of the Holy Mountains sacred to the Inka.

The Journeys begins in the Sacred Valley. We visit the Temple of the Falcon at Pisaq, perched atop a breathtaking mountain with cascading terraces overlooking the Wiilcamayu river. We then join the Q’ero medicine people, the last of the Inka, in a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain. In ceremony, mountain journeyers receive high Inka rites that mark the beginning of a new time on Earth, akin to that described in the prophecies of the Maya and the emergence into the fifth world of the Hopi.

Our pilgrimage takes us through spectacular vistas of snow-covered monoliths, sacred sites where we receive our gifts of power from the mountains.

Pachatusan:

This is a challenging hike but attainable by everyone. We take part in ceremony with the Inka elders and don Martin, the keeper of the mountain rites. We descend to the temple sanctuary of El Senor de Huanca, which encloses the gigantic Pachatusan stone huaca. Medicine people regard this temple as the site where the spirit of the mountain resides. Crossing the Apu pass, we descend to base camp, passing mist-shrouded lagoons on our return to Cusco.

View the Pachatusan itinerary for 2008 [PDF]

Salkantay:

We spend five days hiking the path of the undomesticated feminine. We trek to the base of the holy mountain, where we camp at Ichupata and can observe avalanches on Salkantay’s dramatic walls. After crossing the Inkachiriasca pass at 15,600 feet, we descend into the high Amazon rainforest through a terrain surrounded by orchids and hummingbirds.

View the Salkantay itinerary for 2008 [PDF]

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