Inca Trail - Day 2

  Day 2 was to be the longest hiking day of the week. After a much needed breakfast we started hiking shortly after 7 o'clock. We immediately began our 900 meter ascent to Warmiwanusca, or Dead Woman's Pass. We hiked for hours through the forest up stone steps. We were overtaken by the local women and their llamas. They easily passed up all the hikers, even though their loads were much larger than ours. At our first break there they were, set up with tents selling drinks and other things.
We stopped at a fairly large flat area next to a stream. Steve had brought a woven fabric frisbee that we brought out. We tossed it around, roping some of the Peruvian porters into our game. I don't think they had ever seen or held such a thing, but they soon caught on to the technique. It ended up in the water a couple of times and was quite muddy before we put it away for the day.

We continued our uphill battle, leaving the shade of the forest and continuing up, up, up until late morning when we reached the summit of 4200 m. or 13,776 ft. The view was spectacular.
It was a struggle to get enough oxygen at that altitude. When the last of our party arrived we cheered. We took a long rest at the top to drink, eat, take photos and gear up for the next leg of our journey.



where we came from



where we are going

 At this point we had only accomplished less than half of our hike for the day. We descended the slope into the Pacaymayo Valley stepping down tall uneven rocky steps all the way. It was a real test of our quad strength/endurance and sure-footedness.

After a lunch in the valley, we began our ascent to Runcuracay Pass. Before we reached the summit we stopped at the nearby ruins for a rest and explanation by Ruben.
 Although the day had started out sunny and pleasant, the clouds moved in quickly and turned the tides. We Willis four were the first of our group to reach the pass(3,950 m / 12,956 ft) and sat down to take a rest. It was soon sprinkling and we donned our rain jackets. We soon put our packs on under our jackets and ponchos to keep our things as dry as possible. I was glad I had a rain cover for my pack.

By the time we began our descent it was drizzling. It was not fun hiking down those steep rocks in the rain. We were wishing we had brought walking sticks. We hiked very slowly so as to not twist an ankle or fall on the slick steps and mud. We took no photos and had no desire to stop at the ruins of Sayacmarca, which should be proof enough of the challenge that we were experiencing. The temperature dropped twenty degrees, perhaps, and the rain continued as the daylight hours crept away. We had to turn on our headlamps before making it to our campsight drenched, exhausted and famished. Again, we were grateful for the porters who carried the bulk of our gear and set up our tents in the rain before we arrived.

After we got to our camp at Chakicocha, the rain let up and the clouds parted to let us see the last rays of sunshine of the day. We camped at an elevation of 3,400 m, or 11,000 ft. It was a chilly night.