I am considering doing the Ausangate trek in Peru. Can anyone recommend a reliable trekking operator? There will only be two of us and we are planning on going in mid-late June. (I am concerned that whoever we make reservations with will cancel at the last moment due to a larger group taking precedence.) Any recommendations, tips, or alternative route ideas would be appreciated.

try http://www.i-needtoknow.com/ausangate/index.html ..... all the info you need. I will be doing this trek independently early June.

Thanks for that link. It's filled with good information. We were just looking for a horse to carry our food and gear and maybe someone with some local knowledge. And it looks like Tinqui is the place to find that.

Good luck finding a horse, but a mule and an ariero shouldn't be any problem to get at the trailhead town, which is what I did a couple of seasons ago when I trekked to the north side of Alpamayo. Be prepared to provide food and shelter for him as well. I think the going rate was about $12 USD per day, which included three mules and the driver, whose Spanish wasn't too good.

Thank you for those details. By the way, what did you eat while out there? Is food for the trail available there or should we bring some dehydrated meals with us from the US?

I can only speak of Juaraz but I suspect it's also true of Cusco: camping food was available in many of the trekking outfitters but I recall that it seemed pricey and limited in selection. If that's what you want to eat I'd suggest bringing most of it from home.

I went to a local market and stocked up on dry soup, insant mashed potatoes. pasta, canned tuna, dried fruit, etc. It was amazing how cheap it was to provision two people for more than a week. Water treatment pills are available at drug stores.

Thank you, Michael. That's all I needed to know. Now I'm all set for the Ausangate trek and a climb in Peru.

http://www.andeantreks.com

My wife and I used them for Lake Titicaca/Machu Picchu and friends of ours used them for Ausangate area trekking.

Pulling this one up again...

Understanding that it will be the busy season in June, what are the odds that we won't find an arriero in Tinqui? And does anyone know of where we can store our things while trekking (we won't be staying in the same hotel when we get done with the trek)?