Inca Trail Day 2 - May 31, 2011

Today was the dreaded "Day 2"...we had an early wake up call with the porters dropping by the tent with the two washpans and soap, plus some hot tea.  We had breakfast and was given a snack bag with cookies and fruit for the hike.

it's the same outfit again!  but different underclothes :)

We hiked to the next Inca Trail checkpoint at Wayllabamba, where the authorities checked to make sure we had our hiker permits.  Jimmy referred to a wooden relief map of the Inca Trail to describe to us the sights we would see and where we'd camp.

at the checkpoint

Warmiwanuscca, here we come

From this point, the Inca Trail became mostly stone stairs, and hiking poles helped a lot to take some weight off of the knees and legs.  It was mostly uphill, with few parts downhill. (isn't it sad when you work so hard to go uphill and then have to go down and back up?)  As the altitude increased, I found myself breathing more heavily than usual while hiking, and I had to take breaks every 15-20 minutes.  The same groups of hikers from the day before were following/leading, and we'd pretty much tag team all the way up.  We'd pass them during their breaks, and they'd pass us while we took a breather.  The porters continued to run right by us carrying their 50 lb packs.

the Stairmaster begins...

there go the porters

We reached a rest stop and have lunch; there was a makeshift mini-mart situated there.  When Babe approached to purchase a bottle of water, the three "shop owners" were trying to get him to buy from either of them.  Jimmy told us that they had to offer the same price for the items anyway.  It was 10 soles for a liter of water, not terrible if you consider carrying that all the way up the mountain.  I was glad there were restrooms with running water. (still BYOTP)

whew!

thank you, come again

the same hikers we'd see throughout the next couple of days

restrooms!

literally breathtaking scenery

this is how much food is served all the time...somehow Basilio managed to make pizza!

huge ass fly (0.75" long) with green eyes that moved; he wasn't camera shy

After lunch, it was the push to the top.  My body was aching from all the stairs and my knee was acting up.  I had to pop some ibuprofen along the way.  We were almost 14,000 feet above sea level, making the air somewhat thin to breathe as I found myself panting.  Eventually, we make it up to Dead Woman's Pass (Warmiwanuscca), and I did not die! (though I felt like I was going to)   I was glad that I didn't need the oxygen tank that Jimmy was carrying with him the whole time.  (I forgot he had it until he mentioned it at the top)  I felt bad that he was carrying it when we didn't need it, but if he didn't have it, maybe we'd need it...   Babe spotted a hiker wearing a Penn State cap...turned out that guy did go to Penn State so they were chit-chatting a bit.  What are the odds of two Penn State alums running into each other at the peak of the Inca Trail?

I did it!

people resting, waiting on the slower people of their group

what a view

see the rest of the trail in the valley?

okay, here's a close up of it...way way far down

We walked up a small hill off to the side where there was an "altar" to the gods; we stuffed offerings of coca leaves and candy in the rocks.  Then it was time to move onward and head to our campsite for the night at Pacaymayo.  Jimmy told us that since we did so well on time climbing to Warmiwanuscca that we might be able to bypass Pacaymayo and make camp further down the trail, leaving a lot more time to explore ruins on Day 3.   I was elated to hear that we weren't slow as I had feared, given my "advanced age".  (I surmised that most of the people on the trail were in their 20's)   Babe laughed at me as I was using the hiking poles like a spider, scurrying down the mountain.  My knee was killing me at this point (going down seemed to aggravate it more) so I wanted to get to camp as fast as possible.

a lonely stretch

making our way down to camp, and we have to go back up tomorrow??? (see the trail?)

We arrived in Pacaymayo around 3pm and decided to make it a rest stop, later on evaluating whether we'd move on to a campsite further down the trail or not.  After the break, I ended up feeling way too tired, so we decided to stay for the night, even though it was still early in the afternoon, as the next campsite was at least a couple of hours away.

campsite marker

setting up camp

another beautiful mountain sunset

I meant to take a short nap in the tent before dinner, but I was so exhausted from the day's journey, and I had also lost my appetite, so I didn't eat.  (What???)  Jimmy suspected it was the altitude that took my hunger away.  I should have known something was wrong when at the top of Warmiwanuscca, I had turned down eating a Reese's peanut butter cup and the thought of it didn't even make my mouth water.  That was so unlike me.  I ended up sleeping all the way until the wee hours of the morning.  Babe stayed up with the guys until bedtime.

Day 3 was going to be filled with lots of ruin exploring...a kind of pre-show before the spectacle of Machu Picchu.  I hoped that I would feel better enough to enjoy it!