Inca Trail: The Sun Gate

It was October 1st and our last day on the Inca Trail.  At 4:30 a.m. we received the word to pack up our gear so that the porters could break down camp and head down the mountain.  During the next half hour, we drank coca tea and had a light breakfast of fruit and bread.  Then all of the porters rushed down the mountain with the gear.

Next, most of the tour groups headed down the mountain in the dark with  headlamps on towards the final checkpoint.  We stayed behind at the empty camp for the next hour.  Freddie explained that the final checkpoint didn't open until 6 a.m.  The other groups were going to bunch up in line where there were no views, no bathrooms or places to sit.  So we sat on a rock wall with Freddy and waited for dawn.

 

It was pleasant enough and a lesson in patience.  About ten minutes to six, we hiked ten minutes and arrived at the checkpoint just as the office opened.  As Freddie predicted, there was a long, standing line of hikers, waiting.  They got in two minutes before us.  Freddy smiled and winked.

 

Not a race

 

The trail was mostly flat or gradually descending with one exception:  the Monkey Climb.

Then suddenly we were there:  the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu.

Julia asked me not to post the photo, but she cried tears of joy just before the group shot above.  We made it!

Inca Trail: Intipata and Final Night

 We had hiked a long day--through fog, rain and slippery rocks on the trail.  Our reward was Intipata, an impressive set of ruins consisting of dozens of agricultural terraces built by the Inca.

From here, we could see the valley floor where we would make our final camp.

 As Freddy promised, the final camp was crowded with 200 other hikers and about 300 porters, guides and cooks.  

The bathroom situation was atrocious.  There were no toilets--just a recessed porcelain hole into the ground.  Those who could not squat had a problem.  There will be no pictures but you can imagine what the floor looked like.  Every once in awhile, we heard screams and yells from failed attempts.  It was funny but not funny.  We all vowed to wait until we reached the tourist toilets on the next day at Machu Picchu.  

That night, we had a special dinner with the cook baking a celebration cake for the last night.

It is customary to tip the porters and cook on the day before Machu Picchu.  There were six porters.  Before the tipping ceremony, there was a group photo.

Everyone worked extremely hard for us during this trip.  Freddy suggested a tip of $25 for each porter and $50 for the cook.  After the photo, each porter told us where he was from and about their family. Freddy translated as none of the porters spoke English.  Spanish was a second language, as their first language was Quecha, the language of the Inca still spoken by eight million people living in the Andes.

The porters would not be traveling with us on the next day.  We would need to get up at 4:30 a.m. so that the porters could break camp and hike down to the town below with our gear. 

Inca Trail: Should Have Been Here Tomorrow

We asked our guide Freddy at the beginning of the hike what his favorite day of the trail was, and he responded without hesitation: the day before Machu Picchu.  "The views are amazing," he promised.

More Ruins

By noon, we had covered about 8 miles.  P&G were excited at lunch to get cell service again. And they learned that their luggage had finally made it to Peru in time for the trip home to Scotland.

Lunch time

Our porters checking cell phones

 

Just a few more miles until the final camp.  After our lunch, the skies began to clear.  Freddy said that he could almost guarantee clear views for tomorrow.  He wasn't wrong this time. 

Inca Trail: Into the Clouds

We rose at 5:30 a.m. on our last full day of hiking, wondering if G would be able to hike with his bad ankle.  We found out at breakfast that his ankle was feeling much better, and P said he was recovered from his altitude sickness.  

Pancake breakfast with chocolate syrup

We had completed the hardest climbs.  Today, we would alternate steep descents with flat.  We were camped at Runkuraquay  (3710 meters or 12,172 feet).  

 

For the first two nights of the trail, the tour groups were relatively spread out.  But on the final night, we would join the other 496 hikers and porters at one final camp.  Freddy warned that we might want to make sure we used the bathroom before leaving that morning's camp because things would be "messy" at the evening camp.

Freddy was unusual accurate with his predictions, so I made sure to use the facilities.  Even here, there was no toilet seat, and I needed to wade through used toilet paper on the floor, wipe down the toilet rim, and do my business quickly.  For those wondering, the used toilet paper was on the floor because the wastebasket was overflowing.  One does not flush toilet paper down the toilet in third world countries.  I would much rather plop my butt over a downed tree or the worst outhouse on the Appalachian Trail than repeat that morning's experience.

Why didn't I just use a downed tree?   Freddy didn't advise it.  Off the trail, poisonous snakes, spiders and insects were present.  Also with the numbers of hikers each day, the government wanted to concentrate the unsanitary conditions in the provided bathrooms, which were cleaned once per day by rangers.

Early morning view

 

After a steep descent, we were in the clouds and mist/drizzle for the entire day.

Porters in the Fog

Inca Ruins

Continuing to hike down, the vegetation began to change to jungle.

Inca Trail: Descent from Dead Woman's Pass

Feeling like we had done the hard work for the day, we started descending from Dead Woman's Pass just before noon.  Earlier in the day, Freddy made the strategic decision to delay lunch to our final camp down below in the valley.  

The path down started out at a gradual grade.

Then the weather started to change.  Clouds quickly covered the pass, and a light rain began to fall, creating slippery conditions.

The trail turned into an alternating set of gradual downward grades, which Freddy called "ramps," and steep stairs.

Serious Focus

In the above photo, you can see that G is hiking on his own with Freddy and P bringing up the rear.  G soon passed Julia and started attacking the stairs more aggressively.

We were almost to our camp just past this bridge when G went down hard and did not get back up, screaming in pain.  My first thought was that he had broken something and that it was G, not P, who was going to need to be evacuated.  

G was writhing in pain and grabbing at his ankle.  Freddy arrived with P within a few minutes of the fall.  Freddy and P helped to get G's shoe off and then nearby porters carried him to the closest camp, where they prepared an herb-infused bath to soak G's foot and ankle.  

Our own camp was just around the next bend, so Julia and I continued on, wondering what was going to happen if G was unable to complete the hike.  Paul showed up at our camp shortly thereafter ad informed us that this was a chronic problem for G, having sprained that ankle several times before.  On these prior occasions, G's recovery had been  fairly quick, but Paul was worried because the next day's hike was over ten miles--our longest day but over relatively flat to descending terrain.  

It was a somber afternoon.  By supper time, G was gingerly walking around with one shoe and one sock. He said that he felt much better after the soak.  G quickly dismissed the idea that he wasn't going to be able to finish the hike.  "I'll be fine tomorrow," he promised.  "I've dealt with this a bunch of times."

That night's camp was more spartan than the night before.  Our water came from upstream.  The toilets did not have seats, and it was pretty obvious from the smell that the discharge was downstream.  Some of the camps were right next to the toilet, and we were very glad that our porters had chosen a narrow, flat ledge further away.

Everyone was present for dinner.  P was feeling much better, and his appetite was back.  G was still hobbling around, but his spirits were high.  We were cautiously optimistic about the next day, which would be the final full day of hiking.

Three of our porters in background

Inca Trail: Dead Woman's Pass

 Temperatures continued to drop as we climbed higher and higher.  It was time to put on the additional layers of clothing from our day packs.

Dead Woman's Pass has that name because the rocks resemble a dead woman in a reclining position.  As we climbed, all of us took turns looking for the dead woman, which also signified the end of the climbing.  So, of course, we saw dead women where there were none--at least not the official dead woman.

Dead woman?  Nope

Stairway to Dead Woman

Keep climbing

Keep climbing

Just a little more

Finally, we made it to the top, where we found the Dead Woman.

There were two guys on the top who had been watching us ascend for the last thirty minutes.  They were waiting for their friend (the guy with the food poisoning) who was behind us and hiking alongside  Freddy, P, and G.  We had been told to expect rain, wind, cold, and maybe snow at the pass, but the views and weather were actually spectacular for about thirty minutes.

Eventually, the rest of our party made it to the top for a group photo.

P told us that he was feeling much better.  Ain't nothing going to stop us now.  

Inca Trail: Ascent to Dead Woman's Pass

I woke the next morning to a flat inflatable sleeping pad, which isn't ideal, but I had a good night's rest. Our alarm clock was one of the pack animals braying just behind our tent.  A few minutes later, a porter came by with a tub of hot water for washing, soap, and cups of steaming coca tea.

We had a quick breakfast and  started hiking just before 7 a.m.  Julia and I were excited for the big day.  Our camp was at 3100 meters (10,170 feet).  Dead Woman's Pass tops out at 4215 meters (13,828 feet).  P still wasn't eating but was determined to power through.  

All smiles on the way up

Within the first hour, we entered high altitude jungle--full of mossy trees and vegetation that you would normally expect at much lower elevation.

Porters

On flat ground or downhill, the porters easily outpaced us.  But this day was all up and steep.  The porters frequently took breaks and we took turns passing each other.

The guy in the above photo was hiking very slowly and deliberately--never taking a break.  We learned from his friends that he was still getting over an extreme case of food poisoning, but there was no "quit" in him.  

Taking a break

Julia re-hydrating

When we stopped at 9:30 a.m. for for the last Gatorade stand on the trail, it was about half-way to the summit.  Temperatures were cooling quickly, and the views were opening up.