Chacaltaya from Milluni

Ascending the Chacaltaya peak (5435 m) from the old mine village of Milluni.

Chacaltaya used to be the world's highest ski centre. Due to the climate change it is today free of snow almost all time of the year and the old mountain huts on the top are left abandoned. You can visit the peak with an organised tour which is offered by every tour agency around Sagarnaga street. They drive tourists up with a minibus or jeep to the top where they can have a small walk and can take some photos before they go down again.

This hike is an excellent alternative for those who prefer solo hiking and being alone in the nature without paying for organised tours. Also, the views are much more beautiful on this side of the mountain. However, you will need a pair of good hiking shoes and some hiking experience for this one. You can use this hike as a perfect acclimatization tour if you are planning to climb any 6000 m peaks after.

To get to Milluni there is a public bus every day at 6 am from here -16.486291,-68.171818. Just ask the locals for buses running to Zongo (a remote village at the end of the valley). There is a small office where you can buy your tickets. If you didn't like the idea of getting up so early you can get a regular taxi from El Alto for around 100 bs (I used the inDrive application). The most convenient but also the most expensive way is to pay a tour agency to pick you up at your hostel and take you there (price between 300 and 600 bs).

From Milluni you start walking southeast on a dirt road towards the first lake which is a large water reservoir (Embalse de Represa). On the way you will have excellent views to the Huayna Potosi, the most climbed 6000 m peak of the world. You follow the dirt road on the south side of the lake which gains elevation slowly but steadily. Behind the lake the road turns to northeast but you should look for a valley on the right side and start ascending. First, we tried to climb direction east but the terrain was very loose so we later got back to the official track which goes straight to southeast. You can see this correction on my GPS track.

From here there is a relatively short but a very steep and demanding climb. You keep ascending on loose terrain which is much more stable and easier to walk if there was rain in the previous days/weeks. Apparently, you will find some footsteps or even small trails which is a good idea to follow. As you gain elevation you will have amazing views to the reservoir, a smaller lake next to it, the rocky ridges behind them and several snow-capped peaks like Huayna Potosi and the Cerro Charquini. There are only two less steep points where you can have some rest before the climb goes on again.

Ones you make it to the ridge you can enjoy views to the other directions as well and see for example the Serranías Almillanis. From this point the rest of the hike is very easy. After a small rest you will walk on the ridge towards southwest. The ridge goes up another 100 m before connecting the main Chacaltaya ridge. From here you can visit the viewpoint on your right and climb to the actual peak on the left. At the end you will follow the tourist trail to the abandoned mountain huts. The smaller one (Cabaña Museo Federico Nielsen Reyes) is often photographed for its exposed architecture style.

From here you can try to catch some tourist tours and ask them to take you back to the city if they have free places. We reached the top quite late around 2 pm so we were completely alone and decided to walk down. There are many dirt roads lead down from here. Some longer ones even go back to El Alto completely. We chose a very nice walk along the Laguna Chacaltaya and Laram Khota taking us down to another huge reservoir (Embalse Represa de Chacaltaya). On the way you will see several animals like sheep and lamas which enjoy the green valley. On this side of the mountain, you can admire some extremely colourful rocks.

Ones you get to the bottom of the valley you will find some traffic on the main road (F41) where you can hitchhike back to El Alto or La Paz depending on where your driver goes.