Crossing the Urubamba

Our little group posed for this shot before entering the Inca Trail proper. Only 500 people per day are permitted on the Trail, including guides and porters. Five years ago there was no regulation and the Trail was a mess. Like Wal-Mart the morning after Thanksgiving. Today you have to show your passport before going in and it has to match with their list. No one can hike the Trail without a registered guide.

Funny, for all these restrictions the city of Machu Picchu itself is unregulated.

Locals on strike. It seems for all the tourist pesos involved the locals believe too much flows back toward Cuzco and fails to stay in the area. They blocked the railroad in protest. It didn't effect us as we were hoofing it. By the time we finished the Trail the strike was over.

We were scheduled to hike 17 kilometers the first day, about 10.5 miles. Early on the Trail was easy to negotiate. Sunny weather graced us and the route was basically flat. "Inca Flat" they called it. This was going to be a snap.

Elevation-wise this was the lowest point of the hike. Our guide, Freddie, had each of us select a small rock to carry to the top of the first pass. The stone represented our souls. If we wanted we were to take other stones to represent the souls of those we hoped to bring to Machu Picchu. We would build a stele atop Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point on the Trail the next day. It was a beautiful spot, a small plateau overlooking an Incan village below. From here on out there would be no signs of civilization until we reached Machu Picchu. We turned into the valley. The easy part was over essentially. Now the climbing began.

And climb we did! It seemed endless. A few minutes before reaching the first night's campsite it began to rain. This was going to be fun.

The first campsite. Since the light was failing I decided to try a time exposure to get the best view. One of our group, Kelly, decided to do some stretches. But, what a view! The glacier in the distance was at about 15,000 feet elevation. We were at around 11,000. Tomorrow morning would be a big climb to Dead Woman's Pass.

Mess Hall. The porters, which we were required to use, were fantastic. Not only did they speed ahead of us up the Trail, but they erected our tents, cooked our meals and generally kept us well fed and hydrated. For my part I had humped a nice bottle of Peruvian Merlot for dinner. After all, an evening meal without a decent wine is simply uncivilized. As a group we were pretty tired after this first day's stroll. I am informed I slept better than most as my snores were heard throughout the camp that night.

Tomorrow: Dead Woman's Pass and more climbing.