Inca Trail 08/20/2006
After a short night, well it wasn't exactly short but we could not sleep that much. The tent was sloping downhill a little and the first night on a simple mat and in a sleeping bag is never quite comfy. We were woken up by our guides at 5:30 am with a hot cup of tea. "Hola champions, how are you my friends …" became the moniker of the hike, used by our main guide Isac all the time. After a quick breakfast we were on our way to the "Dead woman's path". We had to survive an ascend of 1400 m (4200 feet), starting from elevation 2850 m to the top of the pass at elevation 4250 m (roughly 12,750 feet). The pass was very narrow, winding up the hill and unfortunately there were way too many steps. It was amazing and also absolutely grueling and exhausting! The higher we climbed the more difficult became breathing. My heart was razing at a speed that I thought not possible ….. hey, I am getting old remember ….., but step by step I moved closer to the top. I stopped many times …. Of course to catch my breath …., but also to enjoy the beautiful views. It was grueling … one more turn and then another …. More steps …. Will this never end? Porters (the local guys to carry the tents, food etc.) passing me all the time, carrying probably more than 40 kgs … how can they possibly climb so fast?
The last few steps seemed to never end, but finally I reached the summit and the sign indicating the top of the pass and an elevation of 4250 m. So, when I thought that would be it I was terribly wrong. Going downhill for miles and miles was even worse (in my opinion), it really hurt my knees. Finally I reached the camp site, boy was I happy to pull of my hiking boots, get a drink and relax. The majority of our group just finished lunch when the last group of hikers arrived at the camp site about 2 hours after the first hikers reached camp. I wrote a little in my journal, had a nap. It was starting to rain and we were so tired anyways to do much, so we simply had dinner and went to bed early. Do you get the pattern?
After a short night, well it wasn't exactly short but we could not sleep that much. The tent was sloping downhill a little and the first night on a simple mat and in a sleeping bag is never quite comfy. We were woken up by our guides at 5:30 am with a hot cup of tea. "Hola champions, how are you my friends …" became the moniker of the hike, used by our main guide Isac all the time. After a quick breakfast we were on our way to the "Dead woman's path". We had to survive an ascend of 1400 m (4200 feet), starting from elevation 2850 m to the top of the pass at elevation 4250 m (roughly 12,750 feet). The pass was very narrow, winding up the hill and unfortunately there were way too many steps. It was amazing and also absolutely grueling and exhausting! The higher we climbed the more difficult became breathing. My heart was razing at a speed that I thought not possible ….. hey, I am getting old remember ….., but step by step I moved closer to the top. I stopped many times …. Of course to catch my breath …., but also to enjoy the beautiful views. It was grueling … one more turn and then another …. More steps …. Will this never end? Porters (the local guys to carry the tents, food etc.) passing me all the time, carrying probably more than 40 kgs … how can they possibly climb so fast?
The last few steps seemed to never end, but finally I reached the summit and the sign indicating the top of the pass and an elevation of 4250 m. So, when I thought that would be it I was terribly wrong. Going downhill for miles and miles was even worse (in my opinion), it really hurt my knees. Finally I reached the camp site, boy was I happy to pull of my hiking boots, get a drink and relax. The majority of our group just finished lunch when the last group of hikers arrived at the camp site about 2 hours after the first hikers reached camp. I wrote a little in my journal, had a nap. It was starting to rain and we were so tired anyways to do much, so we simply had dinner and went to bed early. Do you get the pattern?
The small path winding up the hill towards the "Dead woman's pass"
I survived the "dead woman's pass". I had a quick snack before the picture was taken, that's probably why I could smile as if nothing happened.
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