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| Backpack | 28.00 Miles |
7,800 AEG |
| | Backpack | 28.00 Miles | 4 Days | | |
| 7,800 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | 4 of us (2 couples) did the classic 4 day/3 night Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Started at Ollantaytambo, camped at Yancachimpa (I think), Sayacmarca, and Winayawayna. The last day, at Machu Picchu, we also hiked Huayna Picchu, which I would highly recommend.
Getting to this hike is truly the hardest part. When we showed up at the guide's office 2 days before the start, he warned us that there was going to be a worker's strike in the area. The start of the strike would coincide with the start of our hike, and they were planning on blocking the road to Ollantaytambo. So he was going to pick us up a little earlier on hike day.
To add to the complications, 10pm the night before we were to get picked up at 5am, 1 of our group of 4 came down with food poisoning (still a mystery since we all had been eating the same things, and no one else got sick.) Up all night throwing up, he was insistent on staying behind and meeting us once we got to Machu Picchu. When our guide showed up at our hostel, he all but dragged him out of bed to join us.
Indeed, there were 5 roadblocks on the way (boulders and dirt dumped on the road), even though we took backroads to avoid the main strike. The roadblocks had mostly already been knocked through by the time we got there. Only once did the porters have to get out of the van to push us past.
The first day for our food poisoned compadre was pretty miserable for him, but he bounced back on the second day, and was very grateful for the guide's insistence that he go. It was fortunate that we went with a smaller company that limits their group size. If we had gone with a bigger commercial group (8-12 person tours), our friend would have been left behind for sure.
The other wrinkle that our guide warned us about is that Winayawayna camp is of questionable safety due to landslides. 5 years ago, 2 people were killed at the camp, and landslides continue to be a problem. Our guide really wanted us to skip the camp on the third day and continue to Macchu Picchu. We would see Macchu Picchu at sunset, stay at Aguas Calientes in a hostel, and return to Machu Picchu the next day to explore. As tempting as a warm shower was, we really wanted to just camp, and the specific camp spot looked safe to me (not that i have a clue, but there was lots of vegetation on the hillsides above and below. Plus the Peruvian government had deemed it safe).
"Backpacking" with porters is the best; it was really more like 4 days of day hikes. We opted to pay for a half porter each to carry our personal belongings (clothes and sleeping bag), and it was well worth it.
All of the ruins were fantastic, and the scenery was gorgeous. We had great weather all days except the last at Machu Picchu, when we got drenched in the morning. We were thankful for our last minute purchase of ponchos from a street vendor ($0.60 each). The weather did clear up, though, by the time we did our Huayna Picchu hike.
I'll probably post pictures at some point, but the trek was part of a 2 week vacation in Peru, and I have a lot of pictures to churn through. |
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