The Long Walk

What to do after sitting for two weeks of Spanish school? Go for a long walk, of course. In our case, we decided on a really long walk - the Salkantay trek. This particular version was a 5 day hike over 46 miles, over a 15,190' pass, and with about 5,900' of total vertical. It was a lot. That said, the whole crew did an amazing job.

Day One, we got up at 4:00 AM and headed out for a 3 hour bus ride to the trailhead. We stopped for breakfast, then hit the trail. Unfortunately, this was complicated by Tim getting car sick a few times. Despite this, Tim rallied and showed how strong he can be, completing the 8 mile hike to our first camp at 12,795' with confidence and even beating many of the adults making the trek. Along the way we spotted a soaring condor and our guide, Nico, tore some grass out of the slope and showed us how the Inca used the very same grass to make rope bridges. Once we made camp, we took a side hike up to Humantay Lake, which was spectacular. We spend the night in the domes with probably the best view of anywhere I've stayed, but boy was it cold!

The formidable Salkantay looms ahead.

Learning how to build and Incan grass bridge (take that, MacGyver)

Views from Humantay Lake.

The view from the evening's accommodations.

Looking up from camp to the next day's hiking route

Day two was another early 4:00am start, in this case with a mug of coca tea. Following that, we began the toughest day of the trek with a climb up and over 15,190' Salkantay Pass, all the while in the shadow of 20,574' Salkantay Peak. It certainly made you feel like an ant, crawling along below such a gigantic peak. "Salkantay" is the Quechua word for "savage" and looking at its towering slopes, it very much seems to deserve its name. Carol and Tim elected to ride horses to the pass but after that we were all on foot for the 8.5 mile, nearly 6,000' decent to camp. After a 15 mile day we were certainly glad to finally make it to camp! Again the boys did an amazing job - we were in camp, done with showers, and resting as other groups were still trickling in.

Neil celebrating his climb to 14,500', higher than any point in the Lower 48.

The boys, glad to have made it to the pass.

Heading over the pass towards lunch.

The hike is never too long to stop and pet a dog.

Camp at last...a sight for sore eyes.

After all that hiking, we decided to make Day 3 a layover day. We took a van to the next stop, and instead used our time to visit a nearby hot spring.

Day 4 was yet another early start. Neil and I headed out over an old Incan road, up over a pass, and to our lunch spot on the other side. Carol and Tim met us there and after a nice lunch we took off down the mountain then along the railroad tracks to Aguas Calientes which is the town at the base of Machu Pichu. Along the way we made sure to stop for ice-cream at the random shop in the middle of nowhere, and of course, to smash coins when the trains came by.

Day 5 was spent touring the ruins of Machu Picchu (see upcoming post by Neil on that). All in all, it was a fantastic trek and despite the many miles the crew did a fantastic job and we saw some truly amazing things. Out of all the many people we passed on the trail, we only saw one other group of kids and many passing crews marveled at how well the boys were hiking.

Salkantay Peak is in the middle. We started about 15 miles behind it.