Trails and Treasures

The day did not start as planned, and, by the time it was over, I knew I could throw the itinerary away.  If things could go wrong, they would. 

Day 1 itinerary:

Leaving Cusco after breakfast around 7:00 a.m. we travel through traditional Quechua communities and through the spectacular eastern ranges of the Andes to the village of Paucartambo, passing snow-peaks and small Andean farmsteads. We will have time here to look around this picturesque village.  We then ascend to the last pass overlooking the Amazon Basin and begin the breath-taking descent from 3500 meters to 1600 meters above sea-level to our comfortable lodge in the orchid laden Cloud Forest. This is a spectacular journey passing cascading waterfalls and multicolored birds along the way. In the late afternoon, we’ll walk into the lodge to the sounds of Quetzals, Trogons and Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens. Night at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge.

Day 1 as accomplished:

Instead of being the last person to board the Manu Expeditions’ van, I was the first.  Scheduled for a 6:45 a.m. pick-up, I was, luckily, just finishing my breakfast when the van arrived at 6:15.  Moreover, I had already handed off my large suitcase for storage until my return, and the small duffel I would take with me was at the door.  Being first turned out to be a blessing.  I got my choice of seats, and I, of course, picked the one behind the driver.

With five fellow tour-mates, our guide, cook, and driver plus all of our food and gear for a week, the van ended up being very full.

From Cusco we headed east over the mountains towards the Amazon basin.  About an hour after leaving Pisaq where the pavement ended, as we were winding our way down a mountain, the right front tire blew.  The driver pulled over, and we piled out.  Klaus took us on a stroll to find birds while the driver and Fortunato, our cook, got the spare off the roof.  Sometime later, the van pulled up; it still had the blown tire on it.  The spare was also flat.  We piled back in, and the driver proceeded very slowly.  When a bicyclist passed, the driver asked where he might get the tire fixed.  Supposedly it wasn’t far to a village, and there was someone there who could help us.  So we continued on, passing through the village where the one store we saw was boarded up tight.  Maybe a mile later the driver stopped; the tire was in shreds.  More bicyclists indicated we had missed the place, so the driver and cook take the spare off the roof,  and the driver began rolling it back to the village.  A car came along and Fortunato hitched a ride to the village.  Meanwhile, Klaus took his satellite phone and climbed to the top of the ridge to call Cusco.  The company would send someone with new tires.  The rest of us lounged or strolled; some searched for birds. Elaine concerned herself over a wounded dog, and Felicia tried to talk to a woman walking by, but she didn’t understand Spanish. 

Our van

Its tire

The view

The traffic on the road

Sunday rubberneckers

Eventually we saw the driver rolling the tire down the hill toward the van.  But Klaus reported that it wasn’t usable, so he climbed a shorter hill and called back to the office on his satellite phone.  The next thing we knew, Klaus was telling us we had to walk.  Seems like I’d heard this before, only this time I didn’t have to drag my suitcase along.  (See my post on “Road Walking Peruvian Style.”) 

We walked to the next village (Paucartambo?); it took about two hours and was quite pleasant.  Along the way we saw painted sheep like I had seen on Taquile.

Painted Sheep

While some of us waited for the last of the group to arrive, Felicia befriended a young boy who was fascinated with her binoculars. 

Felicia with boy who had never seen binoculars

It was Sunday and this market town was filled with people.  Unlike some villages I’d been in, the women here wore a wide variety of hats.

Which hat do you like best?

The next thing we knew Klaus was telling us to return to the upper edge of town where we would have lunch.  There was our van, still with its shredded tire. I gathered that the driver had continued on after we were out of sight, going very slowly.  Perhaps he thought reducing the weight was necessary; maybe Klaus just wanted to keep us busy.  Klaus never said why we were walking, but I think we were all happier to have been walking than standing around.

 Fortunato doled out lunch, and we ate in the van.  It probably was at least 2pm.  As we were sitting there, a van covered with painted ants and filled with a larger group of tourists passed by.  The drivers exchanged comments.  Lots of people walked by, looked at the tire, and laughed.  Just as the cook was packing up, our replacement van arrived.  So the two drivers and the cook transferred all our stuff to the new van.  The replacement van had a smaller luggage compartment but more seats.  More stuff had to go on the roof and that took time to secure and cover with tarps.

 We finally left the village just after 3 pm.  The new driver seemed to be trying to make up for lost time.  While I never felt endangered by his speed, it was a very curvy road and my stomach did not like the ride at all.  As we neared the pass where we would start our descent down to the jungle, clouds loomed on the horizon.

I was feeling pretty green when we stopped at the entrance to Manu National Park on the top of Acjanaco Pass (3,550m). 

The above pictures are deceptive.  Just a few feet higher at the mirador, I could barely find the monument in the fog.

Monument to Sven Ericsson

Within a distance of less than a kilometer, we had moved from the dry grasslands of the western slopes of the Andes to the humid rainforests of the eastern slopes.

Then, we careened down the mountain into the cloud forest.  It was foggy and getting dark.  Much of the road was only wide enough for one car.  There were no guard rails, and in places the drop-offs were precipitous.

View from Mirador down to the Madre de Dios River

In the following version, you can see the road switchbacking down the mountain.

The road down towards the jungle

Soon it started to rain.  As it grew darker and darker, we would sometimes glimpse a waterfall in the dense forest.

About 15-20 riding minutes from our lodge we passed the ant van.  It was now marooned with a flat tire, and its passengers were walking to their lodge in the dark and the pouring rain along a pothole-infested dirt road.  Klaus said they had a 2 to 3 hour walk before them as their lodge was beyond ours. 

 We arrived at the Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge around 6:30.  I was assigned to cabin #2.  (This photo was obviously taken the next morning as it was pitch dark and pouring rain with we arrived.)

Cabin at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge

We were told to assemble for dinner in 10 minutes. The cabins were nice, wooden with private bathrooms and propane-heated water.  There was no electricity

 We were given a welcoming Pisco sour, and several of us ordered beer.  It had been a long, grueling day that was harder on my stomach than the Inca Trail had been on my knees.  For dinner we had broccoli soup, some sort of hot beef stew with rice, and melon for dessert.

 I took a shower and was in bed by 9.

At Intipata we had some great views down to the Urubamba River Valley.  (On the side of the mountain to the right in the photo below, you can see the short “Inca Trail” that begins near Km 104.)

Urubamba River Valley from Intipata

And, although we had descended over 3,000′ from the 3rd pass and were lower than we were at our starting point, we were still high in the mountains.

Andrew and Yvette at Intipata

The View from Intipata

But, the flag at Machu Picchu was much closer.

The Flag on Machu Picchu Mt from Intipata

Intipata has  just a few buildings

One of the few buildings at Intipata

and 48 terraces.

Terraces at Intipata

I actually managed to find a wiñaywayna orchid in the lush hillside vegetation as we continued our descent to Wiñay Huayna.

Wiñaywayna Orchid near Intipata

We arrived at our Wiñay Huayna campsite around 1 p.m.  Lunch was ready: tuna in mashed potatoes, quinoa soup, beef steak, cabbage slaw, lentils, rice, potatoes.  Far too many carbs for an easy, half-day of hiking, and very unexciting.

Our tents were pitched in the direct sun, something that had not been a problem when the porters set up camp in the late afternoon.  My deodorant and Blistex had melted and then congealed into globs.  In fact, it was almost impossible to get the lids off.

Civilization restarts at Wiñay Huayna.  Among the available amenities: hot showers and cold drinks, including beer.  The shower with towel rental cost 10 soles; a cold coke 5.  There was no line when we arrived at the showers, but by the time we finished our showers and cokes, there was.

At 3 p.m. Romero led us off to visit the ruins of Wiñay Wayna, which means “forever young.” 

Wiñay Wayna

Like the other ruins we had seen along the trail, the Inca had built to take advantage of the topography.  The terraces followed the contours of the mountainside, and canals from mountain springs delivered water for people and crops. 

There were also some interesting inconsistencies, especially in the quality of the stonework.  Parts of some walls were of the mortarless fine cut work seen in Cusco.

One of the better walls at Wiñay Wayna

But, there seemed to be no pattern to the quality of stonework.

A series of “baths” or fountains channeled the water between the upper and lower building sectors.

Fountains or baths linked the upper and lower sectors

Looking down the cascading fountains

The steps were just as steep!

The steps between the upper and lower sectors

The fountains still worked.

A fountain at Winay Wayna

Where the vegetation had not been removed along the hillside, I found several flowering plants,

including some very large fuschia bushes.

Fuschia

For our last dinner, our cook had obviously replenished his supplies for we had stuffed chicken breast, some mystery meat, a beet and carrot salad, potatoes, rice, and jello with pineapple.

Ever since our initial briefing in the Llama Path office, Andrew had expressed his desire to climb Huayna Picchu.  However, only a set number of tickets are dispensed each day for the two starting times, 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., and a 7 a.m. start was obviously impossible.  Thus, he wanted to be at Machu Picchu as early as possible to increase his chances of getting tickets for the 10 a.m. start.  So, in order to be the first people through the gate, Romero suggested we get up 3:15 a.m.

While some groups gathered in the “lodge” to drink beer and celebrate with their new-found friends the successful completion of a difficult trek, we went to be bed early!

The hardest day of the trek!

A porter woke me up at 5 a.m. with a cup of coca tea.  Breakfast, served at 5:45, consisted of porridge and a pancake with fruit–a heavy dose of carbs.  Well-versed in how to pack up and get going on a camping trip after three weeks on the John Muir Trail, I was ready to start walking a few minutes after 6.  The others were still brushing their teeth and packing when Romero said I could start.  He knew I wasn’t going to break any speed records on the 2900-ft climb ahead of me.  Besides, it was barely light.

The sun may have been up, but not far enough to penetrate the deep valleys. 

Morning Twilight on the Inca Trail

Being by myself, I climbed at a nice steady, but slow pace stopping to take pictures and admire a waterfall and a short stretch of cloud forest.  It was along this stretch that I began to see the signature trademarks of the Inca’s road-building laborers–stone-paving and steps, but alas the guidebook says the original were long ago destroyed by mules’ hooves.  This stretch of trail was reconstructed in the 1990s.

Waterfall along Inca Trail

Inca Trail through some Cloud Forest

Thinking we had passed the last village and knowing trail users’ could not take pack animals beyond a certain point, I was surprised at being overtaken first by two llamas, then a few minutes later by a saddled, but riderless donkey, and eventually by a woman and finally a man. 

A LLama on the Inca Trail

Both the woman and the man appeared to be carrying heavier loads than the llamas.

A Native Woman on the Inca Trail

It was along this stretch of steps that Yvette, Andrew and Romero caught up with me.

Andrew and Yvette; Romero's hidden by the tree on the right

When we exit the cloud forest, the sun still had not made it over the mountain tops.

Peaks near Dead Woman's Pass

After 1 3/4 hours of steady climbing we reached the last camp before Dead Woman’s Pass at Llulluchapampa (12,460′); that’s almost 1,000′ per hour.

Llulluchapampa Camp

We pressed on and after another 45 minutes the highest point on the trail was in sight–Dead Woman’s Pass at 13,779 ft.  The pass gets it’s name from it’s profile which is likened to a supine woman; that’s one of her breasts on the right.

The final approach to Dead Woman's Pass

 It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, the final approach is not easy.

Looking up the final approach

Looking down the final approach

I made it to the top in just over 3 1/2 hours.  Not bad!

It’s a long ways down to the valley.

The Kusichaca River Valley from Dead Woman's Pass

We stayed long enough for a snack and the obligatory photos.  First looking back from whence we came,

On Dead Woman's Pass

and then looking forward.

On Dead Woman's Pass

At this point my knees trembled.  They do not like going downhill.

The Steps Down from Dead Woman's Pass

The young folks just lept from stone to stone, but I took my time zig-zagging and letting my poles absorb the biggest shocks.  Two hours and the loss of 2,000 ft in just 2 km (1.2 mi) later, I arrived at Pacaymayu to find lunch waiting.  (I was too busy negotiating the steps to take pictures.)

Dead Woman's Pass from Pacaymayu (note the cell tower)

Lunch included a salad of lettuce, ham and cheese; asparagus soup; chicken filets; beef with onions and potatoes; and quinoa.  There was no time for a rest this day as we had to make it over another pass before reaching our campsite, which was estimated to be four hours away.  Our porters were packing up as we finished eating and made our toilet stops.  (A real flush toilet at this spot, not one of those squat ones that we found most places.)

Llama Path porters packing gear at Pacaymayu

We were back on the trail by 1 p.m.  As we climbed we could see that some groups were going to spend the night where we had lunch.

Tents at Pacaymayu

The second pass, which had no name, was at 13,123′, or 1,423′ up from Pacaymayu–just under a half of the morning’s climb.

Andrew heading up to 2nd Pass

Did I mention the stunning views when I stopped looking at my feet?

The View while climbing to 2nd Pass

On this climb I had a chance to put the morning’s descent into perspective.  Rarely was it possible to see this much of the trail at one time.

Camp Pacaymayu and Dead Woman's Pass

Just before the 2nd Pass we made a brief stop at Runkuraqay.  This ruin is often referred to as the Egg Hut because of its shape.  Most guide books say it was the watch-tower for a tambo.

The "Egg Hut" at Runkuraqay

From the top of Dead Woman’s Pass to the top of 2nd Pass there were numerous waterfalls up on the mountainsides.  Unfortunately, they don’t show up very well in my photos.

At the top of 2nd Pass, people were taking the opportunity to rest,

Llama Path porter on 2nd Pass

soak up the sun,

Sunbather on 2nd Pass

and admire the view.

Romero, Yvette, and Andrew taking in the view

Me, I adjusted my knee braces and tightened my poles in preparation for another steep descent of about 1,300′.

The way down from 2nd Pass

Although there were a couple of places with huge steps, I found these steps much easier than the ones in the morning.  They were steeper, but more even–more like a staircase in places–making it possible to get a rhythm.

Hikers on the steps down from 2nd Pass

On this hillside we passed through a microclimate where there were flowers blooming.

A Lady-Slipper?

Fifteen minutes later as we circle the mountain, the view opens up and reveals the ruins of Sayaqmarka (11,800′).  Situated like Machu Picchu on a rocky spur, it commands sweeping views.

Sayaqmarka

Andrew and Yvette arrived long before me.

Sayaqmarka (Andress stands in the circular building at left)

The thought of descending the steep steps up to the ruins almost deterred me from going.

The steps up to Sayaqmarka

These ruins have been extensively restored.

At Sayaqmarka

An observatory?

As part of the sweeping views one can see the ruins of the Conchamarka tambo and our path,

Conchamarka (tambo)

as well as our campsite on the other side of the valley.  It was 4:15 p.m. and I had been walking since a little after 6 a.m.  And camp was way over there!

Chaquicocha Campsite

In fact, the trail circled the valley, making it a fairly easy 45 minute stroll to camp.

Tea was waiting, so I waited until morning to take my camp photo.

Camp at Chaquicocha

In addition to the usual popcorn, we had some delicious cheese wonton.  Dinner included a soup, chicken leg with potatoes and rice, and chocolate pudding.  I was too tired to record anything else.