Trekking through the Andes on the Inca Trail

It started as a joke, well sort of, I sent an email to a friend with a link to an incredible deal for airfare and ground expenses for hiking the Inca Trail. You have to be careful who you send joking emails to, because next thing I knew I had booked a trip to Peru! I was a willing participant in the whole decision, coercion was not necessary, because the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu were definitely on my list. I had recently finished reading Mark Adams book on Machu Picchu, and I was pumped to hike this historic path.

Our group ready to start the Inca Trail

Starting at mile marker 82, we crossed the check-point and headed across the bridge to begin our 4-day journey to Machu Picchu. Of the thirteen trekkers, two guides, and twenty porters, I only knew one person, my email-obliging friend, at the start of the journey. There is nothing like hiking over several days to form friendships, and open up topics of discussion that are typically not ventured into after only knowing someone for a few hours or days. Bring on the awkward bodily function conversations!

Entrance to the Inca Trail at mile marker 82

Day 1

After an early start, leaving Cusco at 4am and a stop for breakfast, a 9-mile hike lay ahead. A rolling trail of ups and downs with a nice gradual incline is a great way to get started with a load on your back! I chose to forgo the extra porter and carry all of my own gear. I've been section hiking on the Appalachian Trail and have learned to narrow down the necessary gear to a few items. The pack still has some weight despite my attempts to shed pounds. One thing I learned on this trek was I should have left the snacks at home, it was not necessary to carry extra Kind Bars, because our guide company kept us well stocked. Bring extra pants, leave the snacks at home!

Day 2

They don't call it Dead Woman's Pass for no reason! Besides looking like a dead woman lying on her back (never did really get the entire picture), it's a formidable climb to 13,800 feet. This might not sound like a very high elevation, but the steepness does make it a climb that will have your lungs clamoring for oxygen. Trust me, I've been to the Roof of Africa at 19, 341 feet, I know what it is to be above the clouds, and this was a good workout. Now I should put in a disclaimer that I live at 300 feet, or 310 feet if I ascend the stairs to the second floor, so altitude is not exactly something I'm accustomed to or have lots of practice breathing thin air. Staying hydrated is key to climbing to those thin-air locations!

Pick your pace, was how we ascended to Dead Woman's Pass, which worked well for me. Stopping to take breaths and sips of water, with an occasional picture was perfect for getting me up and over the mortal pass. The challenge continued as we descended for lunch, only to ascend that afternoon to the second pass. The fun didn't end there because we had another descent to camp. The descents are just as difficult as the ascents because your legs are working to hold you back from falling forward or descending with too much momentum. These descents left your legs wobbling at the end of them. The beauty of the Andes was enough to keep me looking around and drinking in the magnificent views, and if that weren't enough there were Incan ruins dotted along the trail to amaze and stupefy.

Onward and upward towards Dead Woman's Pass

Inca Trail

I mean, really? Can't get enough of the beauty!  

Just another well-placed Incan ruin.  

Day 3

This was an easy day! I was definitely looking around more, because the hiking didn't require so much effort to get up and over passes. The Inca Trail in this section is about 85% original, that is incredible to think about how many years and feet have trodden its path and the percentage is still so high. There are currently 500 permits given out each day for trekkers and guides/porters, that's a lot of people using the trail. The best part of day 3 was the little excursion we took, after we arrived at camp, to another Inca site.

They carved a path through this boulder! Be careful of guides that like to hide at the bottom and scare their hikers (namely me!).  

Bathroom guard!  

My friend who likes when I send emails joking about going to distant lands!  

Winaywayna live here? Excursion site. 

Day 4

This day starts off at 3am, because there is only one train for the porters to get back into town on with the gear, and it leaves at 5:30am. That means breakfast and all of the tents must be finished and packed up in enough time for the porters to get down to the train station. One would assume the early start was so the hikers could get to the Sun Gate as the sun was rising, but alas that is not the case. In fact, the check point doesn't even open until the sun is starting to rise.

They call these stairs "Gringo Killers" 

I had this feeling in my gut that reaching Machu Picchu was going to be a little like summitting Pikes Peak. If you've ever hiked Pikes Peak, you know what I mean! You put forth all of the effort to reach the 14,000 foot summit, only to discover a parking lot filled with masses of people that drove or took the train to the top. Your reward for the effort, a parking lot! Machu Picchu was definitely not a parking lot, but it was a sea of people that had taken the bus to the entrance. It was very overwhelming after spending the prior 3 days in relative solitude, and suddenly you are surrounded by mobs of people. It was raining when we got to Machu Picchu, so I'm told the crowd was light in comparison to a sunny day. What?

Ah, Machu Picchu! 

A guided tour around the important points of Machu Picchu, then off to escape the throng of tourist by taking the bus down to town. Once in town, it was time to sit at a cafe along the water and ponder the trek of a lifetime. Here are the words that I penned to describe my time on the Inca Trail:

Words and pictures will not do justice to my experience on the Inca Trail. It's stepping back in time to catch a glimpse of a culture and people group, advanced beyond modern understanding, while being captivated by the beauty of the Andes, and forming friendships over shared experiences. The journey is not for the faint, it will challenge and leave an indelible mark of appreciation for the road of history others have laid.

Machu Picchu ruins. Amazingly I got pictures without people in them.  

Might be hard to tell but this is a rock formation of a condor. The condor represented the heavens for the Incan people. The wings are the large boulders with beak on the ground. 

Stone quarry at the top. Machu Picchu was an unfinished fortress. 

Resting and getting a break from the mob at a cafe along the river.