Day Two, Inca Trail

Woke up around 5AM this morning and went for a little walk around the camp to loosen up. Below us was the view back down the valley with a little hut nearby. Above us was a beautiful plateau carved out by glaciers. A flock of wild Llamas and Burros came grazing by. Obviously, they aren't too afraid of human contact because they posed very nicely for me. It was a very serene moment before the work of the day.

By the way, they eat Alpacas in Peru. MUCH better than the Guinea Pigs.

Yesterday was the warmup. Today the real test began. After a hot breakfast we broke camp and headed up the valley toward Dead Woman's Pass. (We never did get a satisfactory explanation for that name.) Freddie, our guide, said the first hour would be a gentle grade followed by an increasingly steeper slope. He lied.

It was a haul from Git Street. Despite the toughness of the climb the entire group topped the pass in about an hour and a half. The view back down was real and it was spectacular!


One of our number, Paul, who ran up to the pass like he had a rocket in his pocket, whipped out his trusty GPS and caught the elevation. It was the highest point for us on the Trail. From there it was all downhill to Machu Picchu.
NOT!

Freddie gathered us around to build a monument of our stones we had picked up the day before. Each us placed the stones on a pile to honor the souls of ourselves and anyone whom we hoped would one day join us in this trek. I carried four stones, one for me, two for people I hope I will one day join in this adventure and the last for the one whom will never make this pilgrimage.

It was great to revel in what we had already accomplished this morning. But, Machu Picchu wasn't getting any closer and we had many more tough climbs ahead as well as tougher descents. And the clouds were rolling in. So we pressed on.

Down we went, into the mists. I swear the downhill parts are much worse than the climbs. For starters the steps are of stone and uneven. Then they were damp from the clouds and light rain. AND my quads were feeling the effects of the previous days climb. I could get into a decent rhythm climbing. I never could descending.

There were Incan ruins along the way. These were generally used as way stations for those traveling to Machu Picchu or as farmhouses. The construction, though ingenius, was not as perfectly designed as that of the temples. Look at the stone layout here. Compare it to the stones in Machu Picchu. You'll see the difference.

The Trail wasn't all rocks. These foot bridges were surprisingly stable. Good thing. Sometimes the drops went pretty far down. By the time we made the second campsite a steady rain was falling. There was quite a fog up so I didn't take any pictures. Tomorrow would be a somewhat easier day. There was the promise of warm showers at the next campsite. Good thing. I was getting pretty gamey!