I was sitting on the ledge, looking at the spectacular mountains encompassing us. Surrounded by my friends who I have hiked three full days with, I broke down in tears. All the worry, fear, and desire I had about this hike and the pain I struggled through to do it hit me. It finally felt safe to let it out. The day had been extremely painful, but it was much more than that. It had been a surreal, beautiful day hiking through a science – fiction like cloud forrest. Three full days on the Inca Trail already felt like such an accomplishment; and the next day we would finish the trek to Machu Picchu.
Hiking the Inca Trail to see Machu Picchu is on lots of bucket lists. For me it ended up being much more. It was one of the most difficult things I have accomplished mentally, emotionally, and physically. And it was definitely worth it! If I can do it, maybe you can too.
I have been struggling with low back, sciatic pain for a few years. A flair up derailed my training plan for this hike. When I was finally able to start a couple months before the trip, I did a few 2-4 mile hikes and those went well. Then on a steep up and down, I stepped incorrectly on the way up causing pain to shoot through my right knee. Uh oh… I felt a few pains in that knee as I headed up the rest of the way but the extend was only realized when descending. Immediately every step hurt. I borrowed a set of hiking poles and hobbled down. Over the next month I couldn’t hike down uneven ground. So there I was, about to attempt a 26 mile hike over the Andes Mountains and my training consisted of a handful of 2-4 mile hikes.
It was the night before we were suppose to start the hike, and I still didn’t know if I should or could do it. From what I had researched, if you are injured or sick during the hike, your only options are to either just hike the rest of the way or get airlifted out. I couldn’t decide what to do. I desperately wanted to experience the Inca Trail. I broke down to my friends and each person provided something I needed. Understanding of my confusion and frustration, agreement that hiking may cause further injury, and one saying “I think you should just do it!”. So that night I packed everything up to go and decided to ask the tour guide in the morning what they thought.
DAY 1 “No Turning Back”
We dragged ourselves out of bed around 3:30 in the morning to check out of our hotel, tag and leave behind our extra baggage, and wait for our guide. Around 4:30, Flor (the assistant guide) arrived at our hotel door. We stepped out into the dark, but there was no bus. The streets were too tight for it to fit, so we started our morning with a hike down cobbled streets and stairs to the bus. I timidly asked Flor what would happen if my knee pain acts up during the hike. I didn’t know what I wanted her answer to be. She didn’t seem at all concerned. Said we would just wrap it, put some ointment on, and all should be fine. I wasn’t so sure that it really would be fine, but I said ok and nervously sat in my seat. About a half hour into the drive, Raul (our main guide) shares that there is road construction affecting our hike. We will be starting about 5 km before the official start of the Inca Trail. Our 7 1/2 mile day would instead be over 10 miles!
I decided that my mantra for this trip would be “Si, se puede” (Yes, we can). One of my friends was saying that as motivation to the group a couple nights before. I believe it helped me survive the trek.
We arrived to our starting point and unloaded into a million mosquitos! So first thing was to spray down with insect repellant, make sure you have plenty of this! Then we went to work on packing our bags for our porters to carry. There’s a 6kg max on the duffel bag you give the porters. This includes your sleeping bag and mat. I had packed way too many cliff bars and was over the limit. I would realize later, that these were completely unnecessary. Your appetite is suppressed at altitude and the tour company provided plenty of food.
With the hiking poles the tour company rented us, we hiked our 5 kms along a torn up road to the check in point, showed our passports, and officially began! We crossed this beautiful river and started trekking uphill along the path.
After a few hours, at the top of a hill we caught a glimpse of some ruins.
It was a long day of walking. My knee was hurting a bit… but so far not too bad. The beautiful mountains helped the 10+ miles pass by.
Finally we reached our first campsite. The porters arrived long before us and had already set up our tents and dining area. The meals were an extremely impressive aspect of this hike. You would expect simple meals when you are hiking through the Andes, right? That’s not at all what they rewarded us with each day. These were 3 course meals, and they even provided me with personal vegetarian (and almost vegan since they excluded milk) dishes. They served appetizers, soups, entrees, and deserts! Really good food!
That evening Raul introduced us to all the porters and chefs. They shared their names, ages, and number of children or “wawas”. We introduced ourselves too in Spanish, some more successfully than others. We crawled into our tents early to prepare for a 5 am start in the morning.
Since I’ve brought them up, I want to discuss the porters a bit. They are amazing! They not only carry the personal belongings the hikers give them, but also their own necessities, tents, food, chairs, the table, and everything needed to cook our meals (including gas and a stove). The bags they loaded onto their backs were huge (about 20 kg each). And somehow they would fly by us each day during the hike.
Most Inca Trail porters are farmers who work the trail to supplement their income. When researching tour options, we came across information about how the porters are often not paid or treated fairly. This is why we chose to hike with Peru Treks. There were companies that were cheaper, but Peru Treks discusses responsible tourism on their website. They contribute to community projects and porter welfare. They are a Peruvian company and their employees are almost all locals, creating jobs in the community and contributing to local economy. And according to their site, they have always been in the top five companies paying their porters well.
Day 2 “Challenge Day”
The second day has the greatest elevation climb, termed “Challenge Day” by the guides. The chart below shows the elevation of the Inca trail and so far we were at the line marked Huallabamba on the chart. It was all uphill for this morning.
We woke up to Flor at our tent door with hot coca tea, packed up our stuff, and had a great breakfast in the dinner tent. The porters weighed our bags to make sure they were still under the weight limit. Flor rubbed ointment into and wrapped my aching knee. Throughout the hike she acted like a mother to us, taking care of all our pains and illness. I was especially grateful to her!
We had heard that is was possible to hire an extra porter to help you get up Dead Woman’s pass. We thought they may push or pull you up the steep sections. Maybe they yell words of encouragement when you want to give up? We were disappointed to find out that you hire them just to carry your day pack rather than physically help you. While this would lighten your load, it also meant you wouldn’t have access to them. I decided to keep my pack. Couldn’t let my camera or water go.
We set out for the uphill battle bundled up in layers. We ascended around bends, in and out of the hot sun, and across a wood foot bridge. Within half an hour we were feeling the heat and peeling off those coats. I strongly recommend bringing layers for this experience.
We continued uphill along a gurgling river. Then came the stairs. After a few hours, we took an official break for “Second Breakfast”. Our group loved this part of the day, recalling the hobbits always have second breakfast in Lord of the Rings 🙂 Then it was back to stairs, and stairs, and more stairs. They were unrelenting. Thankfully there were plenty of trees providing shade to the struggling hikers.
Eventually we passed the tree line and Dead Woman’s Pass was in our site. But it was still a long ways to go. With the altitude, more frequent breaks became necessary. We tried to follow the guides’ advice to only stop for 30 seconds to a minute at a time.
Finally we reached the pass at 4,200 meters. Many faster members of our group were waiting at the top and cheering us on as we summited. We took photos to commemorate our success but the frigid wind encouraged us to keep moving.
I thought the hard part was over… I was wrong. The rest of the day’s hike would be downhill to the campsite. Sounds easier… and most everyone else found this to be the case. My knees, however, did not agree. It was a couple hours of maneuvering down steep, rocky steps. I was very thankful for the hking poles! When we did reach camp, we were met with beautiful views of our campground in the mountains. Pacamayo is the hightest elevation we camped at during the hike at 3,600 meters. That night we all enjoyed a special (and delicious) rum drink that Flor and Raul made.
Day3 “Gringo Killer” and the Cloud Forrest
This was my favorite day, though most excruciating as well due to many hours of downhill hiking! We started the day with an hour trek to the small ruins of Runkuracay. The views were constantly changing with drifting clouds all around the mountains.
The first half of the day was up and down (mostly down) over a couple passes. This section has much of the original Inca Trail stones. We then reached the impressive site of Sayaqmarka. It is surrounded by cliffs on three sides and fog wrapped around the walls as we explored the site.
As we left Sayaqmarka, we descended into a surreal cloud forrest. It was like being transported into a science-fiction movie. We wandered through hanging moss, flowers, ferns, and drifting fog. There’s even a tunnel the Incas built through solid rock!
Next up… “The Gringo Killer”. Hours of endless steps down. And yes, the rest of the day was a killer on my knees.
The last site we saw that day was Wiñay Wayna. We had 2 options: hike to the ruins or take a short cut where you would see them from far away. I chose the shortcut.
After many hours down stairs and hills I reached our final campground. It was beautiful. I was exhausted, in extreme pain, and overcome with accomplishment. After being consumed with worry that I wouldn’t get to do the hike or would somehow fail it, I had made it most of the way. All that was left was a couple of easy hours to Machu Picchu in the morning. I sat on the cliff over the lower level of tents, next to my friends and broke down, letting myself feel all the emotions I was dealing with for the last few months and especially the last few days.
That evening was a celebration. The chef presented a final delicious dinner and surprised us with a cake! We had access to showers, which I took advantage of. It was the coldest water I’ve ever tried to dowse myself with. Washing out shampoo, conditioner, and soap was torturous. But once semi clean, I felt great and ready to take on the final day!
Day 4 Machu Picchu
We woke up at 3:30 in the morning, turned on our headlamps, and dragged ourselves out into the brisk darkness. We packed up all our belongings right away so the porters could take off. They needed to leave early to hike to the train back to Ollantaytambo at 5:30 a.m. By the light of our headlamps, we found the gate back to the trail and waited.
At 5:30 we were allowed to start hiking again. It started as a lovely walk… and then the rain began. Up to this point, we had fantastic luck throughout this journey, as this was the first time we had to pull out our rain ponchos. An hour and a half later we climbed a set of stairs that transported us to the Sun Gate. “Suddenly the whole of Machu Picchu is spread out before you” or at least that’s what the Trek Briefing (that Peru Treks sent us ) told us would happen. Instead we were met with a sea of fog, with no Machu Picchu in sight. We waited and rested for a while, and it did clear enough to make out Machu Picchu. But it was hazy and far off. We continued along the path another 20 minutes and officially arrived. Once again our view was obstructed, but that soon opened up to an eery Machu Picchu surrounded by the fog.
Raul toured us around the site, then set us free. We wandered as we wished, taking more pictures, befriending the llamas, and getting a feel for the entire complex. One of my favorite things about Machu Picchu was the majestic, endless mountains towering all around us.
Around 10 am the trains with hundreds of tourists started arriving. So as the complex started to fill up, we decided to head out and meet our group in Agua Calientes for food, drinks, and a final goodbye. Raul presented each of us with a certificate of accomplishment. Our Machu Picchu family exchanged emails and parted ways. My friends and I gratefully took the train that night, thankful we didn’t have to hike back.
We had finished the Inca Trail and seen Machu Picchu. In all it was a fantastic experience. While I definitely had ups and downs along the trek, the adventure was worth every pain and struggle. And while Machu Picchu was magnificent, the hike through the cloud forrest and the personal accomplishment I felt that third night on the campsite ledge were my highlights of this excursion and will not be forgotten. Si, se puede! They were right… yes, we could!
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