Rainbow Mountain Trek Distances and Altitudes

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Hiking up Rainbow Mountain brings you to an elevation of 5,200 meters! (That’s 3.2 miles in altitude.)

For perspective, this is higher than any mountain in the Continental US (Mount Whitney is 4,421 meters). It’s higher than any mountain in the Alps (the highest being Mount Blanc, 4,810 meters), and is nearly as high as Everest Base Camp (5,389 meters).

A trek at 5,200 meters is no joke. People begin to feel symptoms of altitude sickness at about 2,400 meters. Rainbow Mountain is more than double that! Severe altitude sickness can become a likely reality here. Severe headaches and nausea are both possibilities. Some passengers began vomiting just on the drive up to the trailhead.

At the very least, breathing and walking will be difficult as the air is very thin at this elevation. This makes for a fun time when the guides try and rush you in an effort to speed up the whole ordeal. Yes, they do that.

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