Inca Trail – Day 2

We were all exhausted from the climb of day before and slept fairly well but the 5:00am wake up call seemed to come early.  It was cloudy and misty when we crawled out of our tents.  A layer of clouds covered the valley below and most of the peaks surrounding us, although some stubbornly poked through.  As the sun rose the light glanced off of both the peaks and the clouds causing an ever changing picture before us.  We were all moving a bit slowly but everyone was feeling a bit better.  The plan for the day was to hike 13 km and work our way through two of the three passes that we had to conquer before reaching Machu Picchu.  The first pass, at 4200m or so, would be the highest point on the trek.  We were already partially up the mountain towards that pass since we had hiked so far on our first day.  Still to go was about 500-600 meters before turning around and hiking down the other side of the pass.  Lunch would be at the bottom of the valley between the two passes after a decent of 600 meters.  Following lunch up we would go up again, approximately 400 meters and then down again 300 meters before reaching camp.  It was going to be a challenging day, but again, we would be ahead of the crowd.  Erick was expecting only three or four of the some 22 groups on the trail with us to be reach our second campsite.

We had a great breakfast, filled our water containers, donned our rain gear, mentally braced ourselves for more steps and set off.  The pace, like the day before, was slow and steady.  I was reminded, a bit, of my Kilimanjaro climb in that I had to step and then concentrate on breathing but it was not nearly as bad this time as I was still relatively low in altitude (13,000 ft compared to being at 18,000 ft in Africa).  The clouds still engulfed surrounding peaks but the weather, now close to the end of the rainy season, was very dynamic and it was possible to watch the clouds crawl up and down the slopes.  Occasionally we were afforded a glimpse of some of the really tall, snow-capped mountains nearby.  Due to the amount of rain that falls during the rainy season small waterfalls were both visible and audible as we walked the trail.  Also due to the amount of rain the vegetation was vibrant and green.  Small orchids were growing everywhere and Erick pointed them out along with other native plants and flowers as we passed by.  (This interludes also served as great breaks to catch our breath!)  We eventually reached the pass where the clouds still blocked any kind of panoramic view, but at the same time their enveloping cloak made the pass more intimate, as if we were the only people there at the top of the world.

After a short rest and look around, it was time to start down and head towards lunch.  Actually despite the effort of constantly climbing up, I thought down was much more difficult.  With uneven steps made out of slippery stone walking sticks were necessary to ensure you did not slip and go tumbling either down the path or off of the cliff.  The trail, in many places, hugs the side of the mountain on one side and drops off into astonishingly steep drops on the other so it was necessary to pay attention to where you were walking.  As we hiked along from time to time someone would call “porter” and we would step to the side (near the mountain!)  as the porters from our group and many from others would come barreling by with their large loads.  Many wore sandals and quite frequently they were running or jogging, even downhill.  We watched them go by with awe and several “hellos”.  Really they were an impressive group of people!

We slowly made our way down the hill but had a stop at another Inca ruin before reaching the bottom and lunch.  These stops were always pleasant because, of course, we had a chance to rest, but also because Erick was well versed in the history of the area, the Inca’s history, and the latest archaeological theories.  In addition he had such a great way of telling the story.  The passion he had for the subject made it all come alive as you were sitting in the ruin listening.  He would explain the current thought about function of the structure we were in and then place that into the larger concept of how the Inca’s society worked as it was spread out over the Sacred valley and the empire.  He even explained some of the opposing theories about the Inca society and why different schools of thought existed.  It was fascinating.

Even though the weather had been raining off and on all morning the temperature, as we descended, was warming up and it was quite pleasant.  From the ruin we had a short hike to lunch and found the dining tent up and lunch ready to go.  As  we had come to expect, it was delicious and very filling.  During lunch Erick brought up the fact that we were a family and therefore needed a name.  The Canadian girls, who were very creative and funny, volunteered to think about it on the trek that afternoon.

After lunch it was time to go up again, but not nearly as high as we had just been.  We had passed the highest point on the trek and after getting through the second pass descending to the next campsite we would be entering the cloud forest. There was another ruin about half way up the slope which served as a great rest point and another chance to listen to Erick’s stories (he called it “story time”).  By now everyone was back at 100% and we were moving more as a group and not as spread out.  Usually Elbin was in back and Erick in front but sometimes they switched positions.  Since there really was only one way to go you were not going to get lost.  Our trail led, eventually, straight to Machu Picchu.  The trail we were following is by no means the only Inca trail in the valley, it is merely the one that connected, at one time, Cusco, the Inca capital, to the Machu Picchu site.  Other trails led from Machu Picchu to other Inca outposts and according to Erick there are many small ruins of what is believed to be agricultural communities surrounding Machu Picchu (to provide food for that relatively large settlement) and trails connected these as well.  Some of these other trails are open for hiking also but we were on the most popular (and crowded) approach.

After the break at the ruin, it was time to climb again- more steps!  It was cloudy at the top at the pass and raining too, so we sheltered in a small cave until everyone was ready to start the descent.  As we descended into the cloud forest the vegetation changed a bit with the trees and plants getting a bit more varied and larger and intertwined.  Even without the sun it was very green.  The clouds clinging to the steep slopes, while blocking the view, made everything look mysterious and other-worldly.  It was beautiful and serene.  Again, because we were hiking a bit further for the first two days we had the trail to ourselves (except for the porters passing from time to time) and it was just great to be out there so isolated and alone with all of that beauty!

We got into camp a bit earlier than the day before, around 4:00, and settled in our tents to wait for tea time, at 4:30pm.  Unlike the day before when people were feeling ill we all attended tea and arrived at the tent to find popcorn and fresh guacamole waiting for us.  (All the guacamole I have had here in Peru has been great because the avocados are really fresh.)  We sat and chatted with each other and Erick and Elbin long after tea time was over and simply hung out in the dining tent until dinner at 6:30pm.  The subject of our family name came up and the girls had come up with “Cloud Warriors” and so that is what we became.  The funny thing was that they had been using the wrong word for “warrior”  and “cloud” all day and instead of “cloud warriors”, they were calling out “strong cows” in Spanish, as the porters passed us and when we conquered difficult passages.  Oops!  We had a laugh about that (Erick and Elbin were in hysterics!) and it became the running joke during the rest of the trek.

By dinner time the rain had more or less turned into a mist.  The campsite was similar to the day before in that there were beautiful vistas available right out the front flap.  There were only three or so other groups at the site but they were far enough away that they might as well not have been there.  Dinner was another delicious meal- we were not going to starve on this trip – and we hung out a bit before going to bed.  While it was not cold, the mist drove us into our tents along with another early start to the day in the morning.