The second morning on the Inca Trail started early. Three of us opted for an earlier start than the main group, so we had a light breakfast while the others got another hour of sleep. It was a beautiful morning as we headed up towards the notorious Dead Woman’s Pass. It is thus named as there is a woman’s figure is visible reclining in the shape of the rocks. The pass is the highest part of the trail at 4000m or 13,000ft. So we spent the majority of the day going up.
Our little group did well, keeping a slow but steady pace through out the morning. Most of the group caught up with us about mid day at a lovely little look out closer to the top of the pass. This was the last place that we would see any of the local peoples and they took full advantage setting up a little stand with chocolate bars and alcohol for the various tourists. Inflation is definitely a thing here too. Yesterday is was $6usd for a bottle of beer, today that same $6 got me a can. Everyone got various treats for themselves at this stop. It was just a little snack break. Lunch was planned for when everyone arrives at camp on the other side of the pass.
There was still a bit more up for us, the group had discussed a group photo at the top, but myself and one of my early companions took too long so they had continued on by the time we made it. It was a long slow slog getting up to the pass for me, but I was so thrilled to make it. The clouds were closing in on the far side, it was so neat to see how they would bump up against the mountains and get stuck. I decided to save my celebration beer for camp, and after taking the celebratory pictures we headed down the other side.
Physically the down hill was easier than the up of course, and it was all steady stone steps. That likely was part of the problem for me, I wanted to power through and get to camp. Not taking as many breaks probably wore me down as I just ran out of energy. I could have easily given up, but my guide and my companion got me going again and into camp. It was still early, about 2:00 but as I recall we left about 5am so that is a lot of hiking. I thought I would be fine with the altitude if I went a few days early to Cuzco to acclimatize, but sometimes it doesn’t matter what shape you are in or if you do it right. Not every physiology can handle it. I don’t tell this part of the story as a “woe is me” or to discourage you from trying it, but to be honest and give a full perspective. Look into all the details and all the options, including medications you can bring.
Anyways, that’s enough of the PSA. As I said, I was feeling rough, but I was well taken care of by the team and by my fellow hikers. It was decided the next day the porters would carry my personal pack and I would just have my water and my camera. After having a long rest in the afternoon I was up for rejoining the group for dinner and cards in the evening. A group of Brits taught us a new game, and it turned out one of the porters had played before with previous tours so he was joining us too which was a lot of fun.
The next morning dawned a lot better for me. With some donations of B12 and coca leaves to chew, and a lighter weight literally on my back, I was able to keep up on day three. I was never going to be at the front of the pack, however I didn’t need a head start this time. There was a detour to a look out point with some Incan ruins that I skipped, but the entire trail was littered with amazing stone work. I did the tour in November which is the start of the rainy season, and it did rain. But I actually ended up taking off my rain gear. It was lovely and warm and the rain actually was very comfortable on the hike.
After another pass, we got to the last set of terraced farms before Machu Picchu. It was such an incredible view back along the sacred valley, the same valley and the same river we saw on day one of our hike. And then we finished at an absolutely amazing camp, where all the groups were clustered along terraces over looking the valley. My tent had a clear view, and since I was under the weather yesterday I still had my can of beer so everyone took turns posing with it that night!
We had a phenomenal full moon rising over the mountains that night, and it was the last night with our porters. Along with the usual tips I donated a bunch of left over travel snacks I had brought. More popular was the deck of cards left by the Brits, we found one of the porters teaching games to the others and they were having so much fun.
The next morning we opted for a super early start, we needed to be out of camp in time for the porters to pack up and make the train back to Ollantaytambo, but the gates to Machu Picchu didn’t open till 5:00. The option was no breakfast with a 4am start, or up earlier to give them time to serve us a hot breakfast. We requested in between- cold breakfast with hot beverages. With all 250 odd tourists all leaving at the same time, this was the bottleneck. So we voted for an earlier start to try and be at the front of the line.
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