Holy crap - we hiked the Inca Trail: Day 2

Day two began with morning tea and 5:45 am - yikes! We sipped it from the open door of our tent while zipped up in our mummy bags and looking out over the misty dewy mountains. After quickly washing our faces and getting packed up for the day, we had breakfast and another round of tea and coffee in the mess tent with our other sleepy traveling companions. After that we were off and immediately smacked in the face with a daunting 500 meter (1650 vertical feet) ascent to our first, and highest pass -- Dead Woman's pass. The pass is at 13,779 feet. The air was so thin. It was Kelly's first time at such a high altitude so Alan (being the loving husband that he is) helped out by carrying both his and Kelly's pack for the last 150 meters. At the top we were rewarded well for all our gasping and hard work (and despite our bitching). The view from the top was unforgettable and we savored it as a "family" by sharing a bottle of Peruvian rum that Erick presented us with at the top.

After the pass it was down, down, down (hard on the knees, easy on the lungs). Most steps are 1.5 to 2 times the depth of a normal stairwell step and uneven. At the bottom of the valley (around 12,000 feet above sea level) we had lunch and then headed up 400 vertical meters again to the second pass. During this ascent we entered a different type of climate. Up to this point the landscape had been mostly arid with cacti and other scrub plants. After lunch though we entered what Erick referred to as the "cloud forest" which was much greener and lush. We saw lots of birds, including hummingbirds. After going over the second pass (Abra Runkurakay at 12874 feet above sea level) and hiking down again, we made it to our second campsite at around 5:30pm. Although we can't remember exactly, we think the total distance this day was around 13 km (about 8 miles).


At this campsite (Erick's favorite) it was again just us and one other group which was nice. The temperature was warmer although from about 5:30 to 6:30 we were feasted upon by vicious Peruvian mosquitos (so small you can't see them, but so vicious they draw blood). The night was perfectly clear, which allowed us to see the very bright and large Milky Way system and the snow-capped mountains that surrounded us. Before dinner, Erick rolled us two coca cigarettes (more for the neatness factor than any hallucinogenic effects) and we shared a bottle of scotch Alan and Clark packed up the mountain which definitely warmed us and helped with the aching knees and lungs.