The Emperor's New Groove

So a group of 6 Dukies went on a 5-day hike to Machu Picchu this past Friday through Tuesday. We went on the Salkantay hike, which is a popular alternative to the Inca Trail, since it's easier (but longer). Over the course of 4 days (from our starting point, Mollepata, to the town next to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes), we hiked around 48 miles, which is a lot. The trip turned out to be more luxurious than I had in mind - we had a cook, a porter, and we even got to stay in a hostal our fourth night. The cook and the porter took care of everything campsite-related, and so all we had to do was hike, eat, and sleep! After a long day of hiking, it is pretty nice to not have to set up tents or cook food. We hiked with 5 other people in our group (and our guide as well), and they were from England, California, Lima, and Japan - a pretty fun group. I'm in the process of uploading some 300 pictures from the trip, but I'll break it down in terms of what we did day by day.

Day 1: (20 km hiked, 1000 m elevation gain to 3800 m above sea level)

So we stayed overnight in Cusco on Thursday night, and were picked up bright and early at 5 am by van. We drive for 3 hours, and arrive at Mollepata, our starting town. After a quick breakfast, we start hiking. The climate here was a mountainous one, which was a cool sight to see. The trail was a dirt jeep trail, and there were steep shortcuts through it that we took. After about 7 hours of hiking, we arrived at Soraypampa, our stop for the day. It was near the base of a glacier, but our tents were inside of a shed, so we didn't get extremely cold during the night. 

classic.

Day 2: (25 km hiked, 800 m up to 4600 m, 1800 m down to 2850 m)

We get woken up at 5 am by our cook with steaming hot cups of mate de coca, which is the perfect thing at that hour of the day. After breakfast, we start hiking to the glacier pass, where we can see the Salkantay glacier. The glacier is massive - much more impressive than Chicon. On the way up to the pass was a really steep trail, so reaching the pass at 4600 m was a joyful moment - until we felt the cold. The winds at the pass were freezing (with us being next to a glacier and all), so we quickly started descending. The coolest part of this hike was seeing the micro-climates along the way. Once we descended into the valley, we started seeing a tropical climate (accompanied by rain). It was really bizarre, but really cool. After 8 hours of hiking, we collapsed at Challway, where we spent the night. 

Salkantay in the clouds

Day 3: (16 km hiked, 650 m down to 2200 m)

We again get woken up with coca tea at 5:30 in the morning, and start our hike shortly after breakfast. Still in the tropical-climate, we hiked along a river for most of the day. We found a house along the way that sold passion-fruit straight from the trees along the trail (delicious!), and we saw some avocados and bananas growing right alongside the trail. After a super-easy 4 hour hike, we got to Sahuayaco (2200m), ate lunch, then were bused down to the town of Santa Teresa (1650m), where we stayed the night. From Santa Teresa, we walked about 40 minutes to natural hot springs, where we were able to soak our aching muscles (yay!). 

Suddenly, forest.

Day 4: (16 km hiked, 400 m up to 2050 m)

We had a later start (6:30 am), and hike for 2 hours to Hidro Electrica, where we take a break. Along the way, we saw a pretty snazzy waterfall, and still hiked along the river from earlier (River Salkantay). From Hidro Electrica, we hiked 2 hours along a train track to the town of Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain that Machu Picchu's on. The town is entirely built on tourism, and it was really confusing to have people try to talk to us in English (we can understand your Spanish better!). We had a hostal, and stayed there for the night (hot showers!!). 

When did waterfalls start making milk?

Day 5: (? km hiked, 400+ m climbed)

So we woke up at 7:30 am, and start hiking up the mountain to Machu Picchu at 8:40. The trail up is a series of 1786 steps (more or less), and takes about 1 exhausting hour. We enter Machu Picchu, and get a guided tour of the city, which is pretty cool to hear about. (side note: I saw a group of Whitefish Bay kids at Machu Picchu!) After 2 hours, we get turned loose, and a group of us (5 dukies and the british kid) decide to hike the Machu Picchu mountain. After another exhausting, sweat-dripping (it was really humid) 50 minutes up a trail of steps, we reach the top. From our view, we were higher up than Waynapicchu mountain, and we could see just about everything - Machu Picchu, Waynapicchu, Hidro Electrica, and Aguas Calientes. The view from the top was spectacular, and being on level with the clouds makes you want to be able to just jump off and fly. After all of that, we came back down to Aguas Calientes, and hitched a train to Ollantaytambo, then a bus back to Urubamba. 

The view from Machu Picchu Mountain

I'd like to start making postcards now.

Edit: new photos can be found here.

#wemissedurubamba #youshoulddothis #machupicchuisprettyamazing

¡Nos Vemos!

So forgive the lack of posts in the near future - I'm going on the Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu for the next five days!  I leave for Cusco tonight, and leave Cusco early tomorrow morning to start the hike.  I'll be getting back Tuesday night I think.  I owe you, my faithful readers, a post on the awesome food tour I took in Cusco yesterday.  Hold me to it.

Back in 5 days.


#excited #ilovehiking #onekiloofanimalcrackers

up, up in the air (Chicon glacier aka 15000 ft)

So a lot of the Dukies down in Peru decided to climb up to the Chicon Glacier next to Urubamba this weekend.  To say that this was the hardest hike in my life might be an understatement.

So we started at 7:30 am, with three groups (Slow, Medium, Fast hiking speed).  I was in the fast group, with the porters that were carrying our extra water and cooking stuff (they were from the local community).  Just a quick comment about the porters - I have so much respect for them.  They did the entire hike without breaking a sweat, in sandals, and carrying more weight than any of us.  (There was a 14 year old who was always in front - what a boss!)  So the hike started out around 3000-3500 meters, and near a river from the glacier.  Hence, there was a lot of vegetation, and with that comes prickly cacti and spines everywhere. Ouch.  Once we climbed up a bit, we reached what would consist of most of the hike - rocks and hills.  It was pretty tough, because we had to navigate some narrow trails (and there weren't even trails sometimes) over rocks with heavy packs. Double Ouch.  To make things worse, we're at 3500+ meters, with a nearly vertical path (seriously, I couldn't find flat land to save my life), and less oxygen than we're used to. Triple Ouch.  Regardless, we reached our cabin around 1:10 pm, which means a solid 5 hrs and 40 min (with maybe 6-7 15 minute breaks) of hiking.  It was super satisfying, but to say it again, hardest hike of my life.

After sleeping overnight at the cabin (20-25 degrees F?  It was pretty cold.), we hiked for another 2 hours to reach the base of the glacier.  It looks a little something like that.

Not only was it pretty on the way up, it was breathtaking from the base of the glacier.  Ice, snow, all around, and all of it pristine.  Oh, and since it was at 5000 meters above sea level, literally breathtaking.  Recommended for sure.  (if you're wondering, it took us only 3-4 hours to get down to the bottom).

#myfeetaredead #somuchsunburn #worthit

Edit: Pictures of Chicon are up! Start at #451