HIking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

 I needed to make sure that I wrote anout this experience so that I never forgot any detail of this trip. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was an experience, and I need to talk about it,

We will start from the begining when I get a text from my friend Melanie inviting me back in November. She was invited by somone that teaches with her at her school. She decided she couldn't go and so she texted me and asked me if I wanted to go. That she didn't know anyone in the group and so would really love it if I went with her. She told me they needed to know in the next couple of days and needed a $200 deposit. 

A couple of thoughts went through my head. I always love an opportunity to travel and they don't come as often as they used to. I miss it! The other thought I had was... well, I have been to Peru before, but I always knew I wanted to go back because I loved it there. I also told myself that if I ever went to Machu Picchu again, that I should do the hike there (not knowing what that really entailed). It sounded cool. So why not. Then here is the opportunity to do it! You have to book far in advance and have to have a group...so who knows when this opportunity would come again. Especially because I don't know who would do it with me because it is some intense hiking. So I said yes and I gave my deposite.

After I committed, I got on YouTube and decided to look up the hike. To see what others experience was with this hike. The first video I come across is a couple that looks very young and fit and they trained for the hike and day 1.... they didn't think they were going to make it! This is when my anxiety started. What did I just sign up for? Can I really do this? I know I have always been active and I go to cycle class twice a week... I hike, but I am a slow hiker and hate hiking uphill. I have never been a peek hiker. Everytime I thought about the hike I worried about it. I had 6 months to worry about it. ha ha. In the begining I talked about it with family and friends... telling them I can't believe I signed up for this. Sara (my friend from Spin class) started doing the stair machine with me after spin class to start to train. That was before the holidays so that didn't last too long, but I appreciated her help and support. Then I kind of stopped thinking about it until April when I had a couple of friends that did it. I wouldn't look at her stories on Instagram because I didn't want to see. Ignorance is bliss right? My friend Amanda hiked the Y with me to help me train...and then I hiked it one or two other times by myself because I thought it would help me. I don't know what could really help you prepare for that hike. ha ha.

Each week that passed got me closer and closer to leaving for this trip. I have NEVER had this much anxiety before a trip. Melanie was feeling the same way because she hadn't done ANYTHING to prepare, not even the little that I did. The night before we left for our trip we drove to park city to pass off our dogs to Melanie's mom who was kindly going to watch them for us wihle we were gone for 2 weeks. We were both almost in tears saying goodbye to our fur babies. I don't think it was just because we were going to miss them, but also because we were having so much anxiety for what was to come. Doesn't seem like a hike should be so scary, but it is 4 days of intense hiking. My cousin Lisa was in town that night and I told her I would stop by and say hi on my way home. I ended up staying until 1am and still hadn't packed yet. Packing was overwhelming because we were going to be camping. You also had a weight limit. Then we were going to the amazon after. It felt like packing for 2 different trips and I struggled to pack and didn't go to bed until 4am and my alarm was set for 7am so I could shower and do some last minute things before driving to Melanie's house.

With only 3 houts of sleep travel day came. I drove to Melanie's house and left my car there and she drove to her boyfriend's house and left her car there and he drove us to the airport and our journey began. We flew from SLC to NYC which seemed so dumb to me, but it was the cheapest ticket we could find, so I guess that is on us. Then from New York to Lima. That was an 8 hour flight and I was stuck in a middle seat so squished for 8 hours and don't think I slept at all. I tried, but I was so uncomfortable. So we arrived in Lima and I have now had 3 hours of sleep the last 2 nights combined. We got our bags and then got on another flight to Cusco. We were there a day before everyone else (not that we knew any of them, they were just a bunch of phone numbers in a group chat to me). So Melanie and I hung out in Cusco for a couple of days shopping and trying not to think about the hike. There was a HUGE festival in Cusco when we got there called Corpus Christi. So it was SOOOO crowded. Like it gave me anxiety to walk around in that crowd. It was nuts. We finally met everyone in our group as we went to pay the rest of our money for the hike. The remaining $660 in cash to hike. $860 total. The extra $60 was because we rented the hiking poles and sleeping bags and sleeping pads. I had no idea who any of these people were so it was interesting to meet them. I had only talked to Paula on the phone. She is the one that arranged the entire thing. Melanie and I were the youngest ones of the group. Most of the group were in their 50's. Oldest was 63. They were all super nice. We had a group of 11. When we met them all we found out that one of the couples had dropped out of the hike because he didn't think his back was up for it. So we were down to 9 hikers.

That night we met at the hotel that everyone was staying at (except for Melanie and I who stayed at a hostel because it was $35 per person for 3 nights... not 35 per night, 35 for all 3 nights while everyone else was paying 100 something per night to stay at their hotel) and we had a run down from our guide of what to expect on the hike. My anxiety was through the roof. Everyone else seemed totally fine and was laughing and joking around while I was over here tapping my foot over and over wondering if I could do this. I had paid, it was too late to back out now. After going through what was going to happen the next 4 days (which started with the most important thing was a positive mindset... which you know its going to be hard if they have to tell you that) they then gave us a duffle bag that we could fill half of with up to 7 lbs of our stuff that the porters would carry. So we went back to our hostel to pack and were going to be picked up at 4:30 in the morning to leave. Melanie and I tossed and turned and could hear each other breathing... just awake with anxiety. We both didn't sleep... like at all. If I am being honest, I really didn't sleep well the last two nights before that in the hostel either. So if we are keeping track of the amount of sleep I had at this point is was maybe a total of 9 hours in 5 days. Not a lot. Not a great way to start a difficult hike. 

We got picked up at 4:30 and then they picked up everyone else right after. We had an hour and a half or so drive in the dark. A bunch of us were car sick. We stop somewhere where all the porters are. We grab a sleeping bag to put in our bag and the porters take our bags. We get our hiking poles and they feed us breakfast and then we are back in the car to drive to the start of the hike. My anxiety is through the roof. I have no idea when I will see bathrooms so I go whenever I see one. I was prepared as I could be but still carrying as little as I could. I had filled up my bladder the night before with water we had bought from the store and I when we were leaving it had leaked all ove and my backpack was wet. Awesome right? I guess it would be wet with sweat soon anyway. We all stuck together pretty well in the beginning of the hike. The first few hours actually werent bad and we stopped a lot so they could tell us different things about the Incas and plants on the trail. So I thought, hey, if this is what the hike is like, this isn't bad. I can do this. It wasn't super steep.... just up and down dirt trail. What they call "Inca Flat". That is as flat as that trail gets...which isn't flat at all. Then the sun came out and it was hot. I looked at what the temps were going to be on the trail and I saw 70 degrees. Thats not bad. However, we were high elevation and close to the equater. The sun was hot! I had to explain to everyone that I am like an engine. I get overheated and lose all energy and need to cool down before I can keep going. So the sun really slowed me down. And then the trail started to really go uphill. We started to spread out more and I was hiking alone. I was towards the end, but I wasn't the last one. We had two guids for our group. One was with the people in the front and one was with whoever was in the back. Darla was in the very back and was struggling more than I was. Paula (our other guide) was with Darla in the back. So I was by myself a lot... taking lots of stops in the shade anytime I could find it to try and cool down so that I could keep going. 

We had started hiking at 8am. I made it to our lunch spot at almost 2pm. I was SO tired at this point. I wanted to be done hiking. I was hot, I was drained, I was so tired. I should have been starving, but I didn't want to eat... even though the food was always delicious and there was always a ton of it. They started us off with hot soup. I took a couple bites and that was all I could do. I ate more of the other food, but really just wanted to lay down. At lunch Darla decided that she couldn't make it and was going to turn around and go back. Yvonne was crying that they weren't going to finish the hike togehter. I asked Ivan (our guide) if I could go with her because I seriously felt done and that I couldn't do anymore. He just laughed and said no. I got to lay in the shade for a while after lunch. Darla got a horse from a nearby village and Paula (our other guide) left with her to go back. We wouldn't see them again until the end at Machu Picchu. We were now down to 8 hikers and 1 guide. This definitely made things more tricky for Ivan having to go back and forth from the front to the back to make sure we were all taken care of. The Darla gone, I was now the one struggling in the back. We had 3 more hours of hiking before we would make it to camp, but those 3 hours were all uphill. I was so tired. My thighs were chafed and hurting. I'm postitive that I wasn't drinking enough water because I hate the feeling of it sloshing around in my stomach while I workout and usually drink most of my water when I am done. Not what you should be doing on a hike like this. Ivan told me to start using my hiking poles (I hadn't at that point because I don't usually hike with poles so they feel in the way to me). I started using my poles and that is when I don't take as many pics because I am holing poles instead of my phone. At that point I don't care. Ivan is having to be a positive voice in my ear to keep me going... telling me we are almost there, to keep going, that I am a super hiker and a champion. We pass a couple other camps that were not our camp. Everytime I was so sad... why can't that be our camp? I wanted this hike to end so badly. We FINALLY reach our camp as the sun is going down. Everyone claps for you as you make it to camp. It seems so silly, but it makes you feel so proud and so happy that you finally made it. It feels good that people are supporting you when you feel like dying. The clapping and seeing Melanie cheer for me for making it got me emotional and I started crying. I couldn't stop myself from crying. I felt so stupid for crying but I had so many emotions built up that I couldn't help it. I was glad that Melanie didn't make me feel stupid about it. She just rubbed my back and told me it was ok to cry because there were a lot of emotions and it was hard and I made it and she was so proud of me. Everyone was so supportive. I am so thankful for that. Ivan was so patient with me. I appreciated that SO much. I needed it all to keep going. I was excited to take off my shoes. They gave us a bowl of warm water to wash our face and hands and feel as refreshed as you can with a bowl of water before we all sat down for dinner. Knowing I was done for the day, my spirits lifted and my attitide changed. I laughed and smiled and could eat my dinner and enjoy being with everyone. Up until we were getting ready to go to bed and discussing the next day... which was going to me much longer and harder than that day. Yvonne was slower like me and suggested that she start earlier than everyone else so that she wasn't so far behind. Ivan said that was a good idea and that I should join her. He said that he would wake us up at 4:30 and we would start hiking at 4:45 and they would bring our breakfast for us at the half way stop. I was not looking forward to this, but I knew that was the best plan. That night Melanie gave me the best life hack that saved me the rest of the hike. Putting deoderant on my chafing. I can't tell you how much that helped me. Then we tried to sleep, but again, I still had anxiety for the next day and on top of that just didn't sleep well camping. So it was another night of hardly any sleep. 

Day 2 of the hike was the doozy. Melanie and I told ourselves, if we could get through the first 2 days, then the rest of the hike would be a breeze. Yvonne and I got our early start. It was still dark and we had one of the porters that didn't speak english leading us on the path. 10 minutes after we left camp I was already tired and out of breathe. That is when I knew this was going to be so much harder than I could have even imagined. Yvonne and I became quick friends on this journey on our own. She opened up about her life and we dove into deep conversation (which was mostly her talking because I am so out of breathe hiking up hill). I could not have been more thankful because it was the best distraction from the hard thing we were currently doing. We took lots of little breaks to catch our breathe and have little snacks, but Ivan told us never to stop more than a couple of minutes because your legs will stiffen up and it will be harder to continue to hike. So we tried to stick to that and kept trekking along. We stopped right before the hal way stop, not knowing we were right by the stop. After we had been there 5 mintutes or so the rest of our group caught up with us and we all took a break together half way up the highest peak of the trail. Melanie told me that she was starting to feel dizzy and that her eyes couldn't keep up with her head. Altitutde sickness is super common on this trail and especially day 2 because you are climbing straight up. There is literally nothing flat, you are climbing stairs for hours and gaining a lot of altitude. Even though I ddin't struggle with altitude last time I was in Peru, I brought liquid oxygen from work just in case. I was putting it in my water and sharing it with Melanie, but I think it was too diluted, so I told her to squirt it straight into her mouth. She did and felt better instantly. We continued on with the hike to make our way to the top of the mountain. We were all together for a while but Yvonne and I fell behind once again as we climbed up. I honestly don't know, I don't like feeling rushed and I don't think rushing is smart either because you can easily twist your ankle on this trail. In fact we met a couple of people in different groups that did. NOT something I wanted to happen. Ivan was with me the last bit up the mountain, making sure I was ok, telling me I was almost there and that it was ok to take my time and again telling me I was a super hiker and a champion. Bless him. I felt like I would never make it to the top, but I finally did. The highest point of the trail, Dead Woman's Pass which is close to 14,000 ft. Its no joke. Everyone cheers for you when you reach the top. Everyone on the trail is super encouraging which is also really nice. Melanie waited for me at the top to cheer me on and was waiting there with the oxygen to pour in my mouth at the top and I almost cried again when I got to the top, but I held it back. Maybe a few tears escaped. We took pictures and celebrated and I had a snack while everyone else moved on and continued down the mountain. The views at the top were amazing.

 It was now time to go downhill. I was excited for downhill. However I got over that feeling quickly. Downhill is easier on the lungs, but harder on the knees. They are steep big rocky steps the entire way down. You have to use your poles. They save you. At the bottom of the mountain was lunch. Again... you get to lunch and you feel done for the day, but you aren't. You still have to climb up and then down another mountain, but its not as big... but still! We had a yummy lunch and we were all exhausted so Ivan was kind enough to let us nap after lunch for a half hour in the lunch tent on sleeping mats. It was hot... but it felt so nice to lay down for a while. I really didn't want to get up and start climbing again, but I didn't have a choice. I was slow going, but thankfully there was more shade climbing up the next mountain (and because we started so early that morning, most of the climb up the first mountain was also in the shade, which also saved me). I still was sluggish and tired. Ivan and everyone else was always checking to make sure that I was drinking enough water and reapplying sunscreen. Ivan couldn't just stay with me the entire hike (nor did I expect him to or ask him to) he had to check on the people in the front too... so he took my backpack from me so that I didn't have to carry it while I hiked up hill (also didn't ask him to do that, but what a peach) and told me to keep going and meet them at the next ruins. So step by step I made my way up the next mountain. I kept telling myself...slow and steady wins the race. It is all about the positive attitude remember? ha. We finally reach the top and then have to work our way back down again. At this point my legs are sore. Even though day 1 was hard, I wasn't sore. I felt like my legs were prepped for uphill, but not the downhill. Again, the views were stunning and there were some really cool parts of the trail that you went through tunnels under rocks and it was cool to watch the vegetation change as we changed elevation. As the sun was setting we finally made it to camp for the night. Again everyone clapped for you as you got there. This time I didn't cry, I had a huge smile on my face and put my arms up in the air as I walked through everyone clapping for me. I was SO happy to be done with day 2. The hardest day. What an accomplishment. We were at a higher elevation, so it was much colder at night. We had llamas at camp which was kind of fun and the views were pretty awesome, especailly when the stars came out. It was so dark and the starts were so bright that you could see the milky way... enough so that I could capture it with my phone. Once again dinner was great and we were all excited to take our shoes off and wash our feet in the bowl of water they provided us. That night I caught up with Melanie since we were not hiking together and then decided to try and sleep with earplugs in thinking it would help me sleep better. You would think after 2 very intense days of hiking that I would be tired enough to sleep.... but sadly no. I slept a little but really not a lot. Just a lot of tossing and turning. 

   

Day 3... I woke up to starting my period. Really... like throw me a bone would you? Could you not wait until after my hike was over so that I didn't have to worry about this too? I guess I am glad it didn't start on day 1 or 2... but it still sucked. Day 3 we got to sleep in. We were woken up at 6am. I love how that is sleeping in... but so far on this trek, it is. However, Day 3 is supposed to be the easy day. Compared to the first 2 days, it was... but it still wasn't easy. Mostly because I am now going on a week of little to no sleep and my legs are sore and I have multiple sunburns and my body is just tired. If I were hiking this day by itself in normal circumstances, it would have been a breeze. Like I said, compared to the first 2 days it was easier. It was mostly downhill, we were stopping and seeing a lot more ruins and we were done with hiking by lunch time and just got to hang out. I was in much better spirits than day 1 or 2. The ruins were awesome, our last lunch our chef made cute animals out of food to display on each tray of food. We had an amazing view from our tent for our last night because they put our tents right next to a cliff. We were 10 minute walk away from mini machu picchu which was SO AMAZING, it is right up there with machu picchu and the lighting was perfect and we pretty much had it to ourselves. What an amazing experience. At this point I am loving being there. I even brought my flower press so that I could take some flowers and leaves from the trail to remember this crazy journey. Dinner again was amazing and our chef even baked us a cake... on the trail! Not only that be he decorated it and it said welcome to Machu Picchu and drew mountains on there. It was all so impressive and we all loved it. 

Again the stars were lovely and it was so cool to see the stars from the southern hemisphere. Ivan pointed out the southern cross that we don't get to see from back home. Then it was early to bed because we had to get up at 3am for our last day so the porters could pack up camp and make it down the mountain to catch the first train back home. I wish I could tell you that I slept that night. I didn't... not one minute. I was hot because we were lower elevation now and I just wasn't comfortable and I was dirty and I was on my period. I didn't sleep for one minute and I just didn't know how I could go on functioning with no sleep. I don't think I have ever been this sleep deprived in my whole life and then over exerting myself day after day. What can you do? You just have to keep on keeping on. Everyday Ivan would ask me how I slept and everyday I would tell him that I didn't really and he would just gasp. So I think I really understood why it was extra hard for me. No sleep, the way the heat drains me, plus the hard hike... it was just a different kind of hard. 

Day 4. Wake up call was at 3am. Except that I didn't need to be woken up, I hadn't slept. In fact, I got out of the tent a half hour before wake up call to use the toilet before everyone else because I was on my period so it takes longer and I wanted to be ready on time. We packed up our stuff and they gave us a sack of food for our breakfast to eat when we want. We then walked over (5 minutes) to the gate entrance to hike the last few miles to Machu Picchu. The gate was closed. It wouldn't open for another couple of hours, so all of the groups sat by the gate in the dark for 2 hours and waited for it to open. Once it opened each group got to go in the order that we got there. We were the 3rd group there. The trail was narrow which is why we had to go one group at a time and in single file. Ivan told me specifically that I needed to keep up with the group. Ouch. ha ha... fair though. I did my best, but it felt like a race and I felt like I had people on my tail and my automatic reaction is to move over and let them pass because I want to go at my own pace. We finally got to a point in the trail that it was a little wider so I could let people pass me. It isn't a race to me. Plus, I have been to Machu Picchu before. I was SO SO tired. My body felt so done. The trail was so beautiful and I saw how beautiful it was but felt like I couldn't appreciate how beautiful it was because of how I was feeling. We got to the point where it was just me and Ivan hiking together again. We spent A LOT of time together on this trail. ha. It wasn't all just him encouraging me and telling me to keep going, we also got to know each other and had a lot of intereting conversation about my life, his life, cultural differences, different experiences he has had with people on the trail. We always sat next to each other at meals at the end of the table too. I felt like we really bonded and were good friends by the end of the 4 days. I appreacited that so much. Ivan is seriously the best. I felt so lucky that I had him as a guide. We met a girl in another group that twisted her ankle and did the entire hike that way and was always by herself and her guide was never with her. She even told me how lucky I was that Ivan stuck with me to make sure I was ok. She was right. I was lucky. Ivan sometimes even stayed behind to help the girl with the twisted ankle even though she wasn't in our group. That is the kind of guy he was. We made it to the gringo killer stairs.... which you basically have to rock climb straight up. Ivan took my hiking poles so I could do it. I'm actually surprised my body let me climb with how tired my muscles were. Then we reached the sungate. Your first glimpse of Machu Picchu after all that hiking. Ivan made me take a picture there eveb though I didn't want to. I stopped wanting to take pictures. THAT is how you know how tired and done I was. It really was so beautiful, but we had an hour more of going down stairs. I took it nice and slow. One step at a time... what I had been telling myself the entire hike. This part of the hike would have been so easy for me if my body were not already burned out. We finally got to Machu Picchu. It was all familiar to me like I had just been there even though it had been 10 years. Melanie and I took lots of pictures. We took our llama ponchos that we had bought in Cusco just to have them to take pictures with at Machu Picchu. Silly, yes, but we loved it and have no regrets. We got group pictures and then we had to exit the park and then come back in to have our tour. We had a couple of hours there. Ivan had so much to say and for us to learn, and I was happy to sit and listen, but the sun was hot and draining me. Then he wanted us to walk around and tell us more... but walking around required us going up and down more stairs. I did it for a while, struggling with every step. We were all so tired, but I seemed to be more done than most. Then we got to a part where he wanted us tp climb up a flight of stairs. I looked at it and just said no and sat down. Everyone in the group looked at me and said "Tracy, it's one way... you can't go back" and I said, I don't care. I'm not going up those stairs. So Paula (our other guide that was with us again) went up and told Ivan she would take me out, So she walked with me out of Machu Picchu and we sat in the shade for 10 or 15 minutes until the rest of the group came out too. I had almost made it to the end but not quite. I didn't miss much... in fact, they should thank me because I was saving our spot in the bus line. Everyone was checking on me to see if I was ok. I was ok, but at the same time I kind of wasn't. Ivan was handing me my bus ticket and I told him I was sorry that I left early and I just started crying. ha ha... I couldn't help it and couldn't hold the tears back. I felt bad for leaving early but I just couldn't do anymore. He told me it was ok. Probably was thinking how ridiculous it was that I was crying but is too nice to say anything. ha ha. I felt so stupid for crying but also couldn't stop. Meet sleep deprived Tracy! I cry over everyone and nothing at the same time. I don't think I have ever quite felt that way before. I have never been THAT sleep deprived before and on top of that my body being so sore and tired. I physically and mentally didn't have anything left to give. I was done. 

After riding the bus a half hour down the mountain, we had lunch as a group. I had an alpaca burger. After lunch we got on a train back to Cusco. The train was a couple of hours and it had windows everywhere, even on the ceiling to show off the beautiful views. Got off the train and into a van for another hour or so back to Alpaca Expeditions to get the rest of our stuff and say goodbye to Ivan and then we were taken straight to the airport to fly back to Lima. I wish we had a break inbetween. We still hadn't showered from our 4 day hike. I felt bad for the guy that had to sit next to me on the plane. In Lima we got a hotel just to shower and rearrange our stuff before going back to the airport and getting another plane to take us to the Amazon. Just adding another yet another night of no sleep. Are you hurting for me yet? I really don't know how I was functioning. That is another part of the trip though so I won't go into that. This post is all about the Inca Trail hike.  

This is a REALLY long post, but I had to write down all the feelings I had because I never want to forget any of this and there is so much that I didn't even include. It is really hard to capture a trip like this. All the emotions of the good and the bad and the funny... it bonds people together in a way that is hard to explain unless you also went through it. It is one of the experiences that I woud actually consider getting a tattoo to represent it. Melanie and I talked about getting matching tattoos of the trail. I'm sure she will actually do it but I don't know if I really would. I will say, now that it is over, I can say that I am glad that I did it. In the moment I was asking myself why I was putting myself through this. Those first 2 days were the longest days of my life. I really wasn't sure if I could make it and there were plenty of times I wanted to quite but you really can't once you are in the middle of it. That is a good thing, because I need to show myself that I can do hard things. Like cold plunges (which I have also recently gotten into), it is mind over matter. Our bodies are capable of doing amazing things. I am super thankful that my body was able to do this challenging hike. Even though I was huffing and puffing in the back, it really was challenging for everyone. Everyone I talked to said it was the hardest hike they had ever done. It wasn't just me. The hike really is difficult. That makes me even more proud that I did it. I know some people that wouldn't be able to do it, but I did. It was a good reminder that my body is strong. Just like when I did my 2 half marathons and sprint triathlon without training. My body is strong and capable of amazing things. I really am thankful for that. I am thankful for the adventure of it. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to go because you have to book way in advance and have to have a group. Who knows if I would have ever gotten around to doing it later. It was an experience I truly will never forget. 

Do I recommend it to others? If you feel up for the challenge... then yes. It really is a unique opportunity and such a beautifu trail. Would I ever do it again?  Absolutely not! ha ha. Once was good enough for me. thanks. ha ha