Inca Trail – Day 2
Our guides woke us up at 5 AM, bringing us hot coca tea in our tent shortly thereafter. After a filling breakfast of porridge and pancakes, we departed for Dead Woman’s Pass, named because of its resemblance to a dead (or sleeping) naked woman. Jeremy and I hiked ahead of the rest of the group for the entire way and Inez, the Swiss/Irish woman, joined us near the near the summit. Although the climb was tough and my thoughts were slowed by the lack of oxygen in the air, we ascended 3,000 feet in two hours, arriving at the 13,779 feet summit well before the porters! At the top—the highest I’ve ever been in the world—we took pictures, waited for 45 minutes for the rest of the group to arrive, and braved the bone-chilling wind of the summit.
Once the rest of our group arrived, we began the steep descent towards Pacaymayu (at 11,700 feet), our lunch camp. Once again, Jeremy and I were in front, and we passed the time enjoying the scenery, and playing word games—naming musical artists, movies and beers alphabetically. We finished our descent reaching lunch camp with time to spare, so the entire group took a one-hour nap in the sun on the sleeping pads, which the porters had laid out for us. Waking up to clouds, we bundled into the lunch tent.
After lunch, Jeremy, Inez and I walked together to Runkuraqay, an Incan ruin which may have been an observatory and military outpost. During our guide’s description of the site, it started to rain. Packing up, we ascended to the second summit of the day (at 13,123 feet) in steady rain. Although there was a rainbow behind us, and the scenery beautiful, the going was tough, and my legs were aching. As we descended on the other side, the vegetation immediately changed, from scrubby paramo to lusher, denser, tropical greenery. The flowers changed too—from alpine flowers to more tropical varieties like orchids and fushias. Eventually, the rain lifted and we were treated to views of two Inca sites—first Oonchamarca, a small terraced storehouse, and the much more impressive Sayaqmarka, a fortress built high on a point overlooking the valley. We visited Sayaqmarka, and saw a still-functioning irrigation system that carried water from a nearby glacier directly to the fortress, draining directly into a pool within the structure. The views would have been incredible, but a lot of fog sat in the valley. As we explored the ruit, it began to rain (again!), and a full 270 degree rainbow appeared over the fortress, continuing into the valley.
Although our entire group having skipped exploring the ruin due to the rain, Jeremy, Eric and I stayed behind for a while. As we hurried to catch up with our group at the campsite, the vegetation changed further, becoming semi-tropical, with moss and bamboo (a small-leafed variety) appearing everywhere. Solidly in cloud forest now, we also learned that we were now on the main Inca Trail, with its well-worn, better-laid stones attesting to that face.
Our camp overlooked a deep valley, and we watched an incredible sunset from our tent. During dinner in the tent with our group, I got to know our Cayman Island friends a bit better.
