Inca Trail Day 2 - Post #3

We awoke on our second day feeling not nearly as sore as we expected, and, for Cory, much better than the night before. Thank God for altitude sickness pills! We were greeted by a stunning view of the world and were both excited and apprehensive by the day before us (promised to be our hardest day on the trail).

We had already had a chance to get to know the people in our group on the trail the day before, but in the morning we got to meet our eleven porters, one of whom was also our chef. They all only spoke Spanish or Quechua (the native Andean language), so we were lucky to have two guides and one person in our group who were able to translate for us as needed. We'll write a post specifically about the porters later, but suffice to say that this incredible group of guys were our lifeblood on our trip and without them the second day would have been significantly more difficult than what it was.

Luckily for us, we had started the uphill ascent the day before. Cory and I are fairly seasoned hikers and aren't afraid to push ourselves when it comes to a challenging climb, but this was much more strenuous than just about anything we'd climbed before. Most of the path is made of ancient stones, so going up the path isn't just about climbing uphill. We actually had to climb ancient, uneven Incan stairs. One hiking pole in front of the other, we forced our legs up the steep, narrow steps. It was a day of halfways: We were halfway to the halfway point, then halfway up the hill, then halfway past the halfway point. Our first break was halfway from our campsite up to Dead Woman's Pass, the highest peak of our trip at 13,782 feet (4,201 meters) in elevation. This picture is us at our morning break point. You can see Dead Woman's Pass behind us. It is so named because it looks like a dead woman with her head and nose on the left side of the picture and her breast on the right side. The pass is through the saddle between the two (essentially where her neck would be).

The goal of the second day's hike was just to get past the hard part, but we were encouraged to take our time. At such a high elevation, it was not just the challenge of the hike but the exceptionally high altitude that made the climb difficult. It took us most of the morning to reach the top, but once we did, it really felt like we were on top of the world. This picture is the six of us and our two guides at the top of Dead Woman's Pass as the fog started to roll in. It was so cold we could see our breath and had to put on hats and mittens. This photo is looking back at where we'd just come from. You can see people coming up the trail on our right and the path we'd just climbed trailing down the hill behind us.

The other side of the trail was a lot different. Steep steps, lush green foliage and waterfalls that fell down the cliff sides. It was almost more difficult going down than it was going up, and I fell once on the way down. No worries ... only my pride was hurt. Cory and I took the slow, gentle footing way down the hill while our friends Klaas and Mathias made like the porters and ran down the steps. I'm glad we took our time because Alex and Eddie pointed out all kinds of fantastic flora and fauna, including a golden hummingbird and her tiny nest of even tinier baby birds.

We were met with a huge lunch once we reached the bottom of the hill, but the day wasn't over once we finished our meal. We had to climb again, this time to 11,876 feet (3,620 meters). We passed by Runkuraqay, one of the ruins, before we reached the crest of this climb. One of the things I enjoyed most about the Incan ruins was the ability to wander through them. We were often either one of two or the only group at any given site, so we could poke around in the ruins, look out the windows and enjoy the amazingly green and luscious views. There is so much rain that the stones are overflowing with moss and brilliantly colored flowers. Some rooms are so overgrown we couldn't even walk into them.
Just past the "false top" of the second pass, the sky cleared just a bit and a rainbow opened up behind us. Spread across the backdrop of the Andes and the Inca Trail, it felt a little bit like being in a dream. Even though we were tired and damp (from rain and sweat), we were so excited to be in this place, experiencing this moment. We had so many moments like this on our hike, where, even though we felt uncomfortable or worn down or stiff or cold or wet, we still felt so lucky to be in such a beautiful place.

We crested the pass and continued on down the Inca Trail, tired and accomplished. Day two had been a tough one, but not one that took us down. It only led us closer to our ultimate destination ... Machu Picchu.

Beautiful violet flowers and crystal clear waterfalls,

JoAnna