Inca Trail Day 2

Day 2 of the Inca Trail is noted as the “Challenge Day” as there was the “slog” over Dead Woman’s Pass. We got up at 5:45 and were awoken to a warm beverage, and being all packed up for breakfast at 6:30. Breakfast was good with fruit salad covered in sprinkles, porridge, and a pancake with cinnamon syrup on it. There was a 8km uphill start from Wayllabamba (3,100m) to Dead Woman’s Pass (4,215m). While it was hard work, it got quite scenic as we got out of the valley floor.

As we got further, it looked almost jungle like, as we ascended to the clouds.

 

Us Canadian boys with Ukrainian dancer thighs managed quite well on the uphills and were at the front of the pack. We stopped at Llulluchapampa (3,859m) for elevensies where we had a cheese sandwich and the most delicious popcorn I think I had ever had (maybe it was the altitude). It was also the last place on the trail to buy water and other goods; since it was a shorter but harder day, we took advantage of the bottle of rum for sale to enjoy when we made it to camp. It was the highest elevation “liquor store” and was kind of funny.

We finally fought our way up to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass and the view down both valleys was incredible.

 

We were on the top for about an hour and I took a bit of time to drop the pack and climb up a bit further to gain a better vantage point.

We even managed to get everyone up to the top for a group picture.

And then it was the difficult (and painful on the knees) descent to the campsite at Pacaymayu (3,500m).

We got into the camp at Pacaymayu (3,600m) around 2:00 and got all set up for lunch to happen about 2:30. We had bean and potato salad, beef, fried rice, and pumpkin sauce, then it was off to bed for a nap. After the nap, Mike wasn’t feeling well so he stayed in bed, but Dave, Nathan, Tyson, and I got up and played some crib while starting into our bottle of rum. Again the chef and porters were working hard to make us dinner.

 

Mike still wasn’t feeling well and didn’t join us for dinner, but we had fried potatoes, beef, and soup. We played more crib at the table, while finishing off our bottle (and sharing it of course). We were debating selling some of it to our guides or porters, 1 oz of rum for carrying 1 kg of our stuff for the next day, but thought better of it. From there, the exhaustion kicked in and we were off to bed, completing the “Challenge Day” of 12km while gaining 1,100m and losing 600m.