Day 2, Inka Trail

Day 2, Inka Trail, Perú (5/10/2012)

[For an introduction to this four-day hike, see Day 1.]

Day 2: The hiking today was the toughest we have ever done. The same was true for Becky and Colin. After leaving our overnight camp, we began climbing steeply immediately, and it didn't stop until we reached Wamiwañusca Pass (known to locals as Dead Woman's Pass for obvious reasons), 4000 feet of ascent and hours later. This is the highest point on the entire trail, and at an elevation of nearly 14,000 feet, the hiking and breathing made it at least twice as hard as it otherwise would have been.

About halfway up we had a boxed lunch at Ayapata which was the last outpost along the entire trail at which to buy water or snacks. It's simply not worth it for the venders to climb any further along the trail. As it was, the items got more and more expensive the further along the trail you went. Once you're on the trail, there is no way out except via walking, rescue helicopter or being carried by porters. The next day, a woman was carried by porters after she was unable to go any further. That same day a 37-year old man had a heart attack and had to be helicoptered out. On our Day 2, an Argentinian man collapsed from exhaustion not long after I chatted with him in Spanish. I later saw him on the trail on Day 4 and he was feeling much better.

Ironically, when we started our descent from Wamiwañusca Pass we felt relieved (no more climbing!) but after a few hundred of those Inka steps we started feeling it in our calves and our legs shook whenever we stopped. The descent was, in some ways, tougher than the ascent. After hours of grueling uphill and relentess downhill, we settled in our overnight campsite at Pacaymayo, happy to take off our backpacks and boots and enjoy the freshly-cooked food in camp.

Total distance hiked today was about 6 miles in about 7 hours.

Continue to Day 3

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