Inca Trail Day 2

22 09 2009

Hiking today was crazy hard. Margo and I hired a porter to carry my bag so we could just have one to take turns with between the two of us. I still felt like crap, though, so Margo definitely stepped up and did the majority of the carrying. Today gave me a whole new respect for the porters who are easily carrying 50 pounds on their backs. They stay behind and pack up camp and then run ahead of us and have the next meal waiting by the time we arrive. It’s loco.

The trail was straight up all morning. It was brutal but gorgeous. Every time we stopped and turned around the view got better and better. Parts of the train were very jungle-esq today and we hiked past rivers and waterfalls.

We went for about three hours before we stopped for lunch and I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get back up after I sat down. Luckily, Margo and I were in one of the earlier waves of our group to arrive which meant we got more down time. And, Simba and Herbert let us take a siesta after lunch which was heavenly. The view from our resting spot was, once again, breathtaking.

After lunch we had two more hours of hiking before reaching Dead Woman’s Pass – the first (and highest) of the three passes we are going to take. I literally had to constantly tell myself to keep going. The stairs are so uneven and long, and I’m pretty sure I had to stop and rest every nine or ten feet. Passing over the top, though, was totally worth it. So amazing. And so great to look back down the path and see how freaking far we had just hiked.

The final two hours to our campsite were all downhill, which is a different kind of challenging, but the change felt really good. We keep running into the same people during the day which is fun – you kind of get to know their stories bit by bit as you take turns passing each other on the trail.

When we finally got to our tent I curled up for about an hour and a half while we waited for the rest of our group. Again, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it back up. I was actually able to eat at dinner, too, which was nice. We stayed in the dining tent for a long time tonight talking etc. Mostly just listening on my end since I can’t catch half of what everyone else says. I did chat with one of the guys from Argentina for a little bit before they broke out the rum they bought. He was patient with my Spanish – but it’s easy since he also speaks English very well.