Machu Pichu Trip Report

Well...how about a quick trip report on Peru? Benjamin and I had a great trip. We left on 2 July flying through Atlanta and arriving in Lima late that night. Most of the group (Ehlerts, Pollmanns, and folks from work) was on the same flight with us. The Wiests and Durrants (John and his son James) caught up with us in Cuzco on the 3rd. We had the weekend to spend in Cuzco to acclimatize and explore the city. On Monday we did a day trip out of the city and a couple of short day hikes (2-3 miles each). We saw some cool ruins that day. On Tuesday morning we headed to the trailhead of the Inca Trail which starts at about 8500’ elevation. The trail followed the Urubamba river for most of the first day and steadily climbed. We camped our first night at nearly 11,000’ and hit 13,878’ by mid-afternoon on the 2nd day.

The elevation kicked my rear! It made me feel a bit better to see guys like Larry Kunz and John Durrant, both super-fit, to be hurting as well. :) After topping out on day 2 we went down about 1200’ to camp only to climb back out of the canyon first thing on day 3. Again another gut wrenching climb. I was glad to peak out on day 3 as it was became “Inca-flat” from there meaning just small ups and downs for the rest of day 3. Frequently along the trail we were able to stop and explore Inca ruins. The closer we got to Machu Pichu, the better the ruins became. It was very cool to be able to walk through and around the ruins with no “Off Limits” signs like you often see at our National Parks. The grandeur of the mountains was incredible. Image the steep rugged mountains of “The Lord of the Rings”. It was beautiful! Day 3 ended at a camp located about 12,500’ and surrounded on 3 sides by snowcapped peaks. It was really cool to watch the sunset that night as the peaks came alive with an orange glow across the snowfields.

On the morning of day 4 we began by descending over 2700 stone steps on our way down the mountain toward Machu Pichu. Again we passed by other tremendous ruins. After 6 or so hours on the trail we turned the corner to find a near vertical set of steps up the mountain. Talk about a natural choke point for an ambush! After scrambling hand over foot up the steps we were within 20 minutes of catching our first glimpse of Machu Pichu. We emerged at the “Sun Gate” and saw the immense ruins of Machu Pichu below in the distance. The picture of me and Benjamin above is taken not very far down the trail from the Sun Gate.

It was really cool to see the ruins…learn of the Incas…and spend time with the wonderful Peruvian people again. It was fun to find myself thinking in Spanish again. My tongue always seemed to run a little faster than my mind so my words didn’t always come out quite right, but nonetheless it was fun to be speaking my mission language again. Though the trail was fairly tough…I’d do it again in a heartbeat. :)

The 2nd part of the trip to summit Misit at 19,150’ was another experience altogether. Yuck…pain…sickness…dirt…windy…and other unpleasant words describe what the trip up Misti was like. I can say that I’ve climbed over 19,000’ now, but I’m quite certain I’ll never do it again unless it’s to somewhere more alluring that Misti. Regardless, we all made it to the top and survived the descent and trip back to Arequipa. We flew out of Peru Friday evening, July 16, and arrived home mid-afternoon on the 17th. I was glad for the kettle-bells and P90X. It would really have been a bummer without being in somewhat decent shape. :) Well…so much for my trip report. Hope you enjoyed it.