Inca Trail Day 2 ~ Roaming Rocks

We started our second day at 5:30am with some Coco tea and breakfast. Once we finished and got on our way we had a steep 2 hour hike to summit Dead Woman’s Pass which took us to 13, 779 feet in elevation. There was definitely a sense of accomplishment once I got there. I will say my breathing was challenged and I did need to take several breaks to catch my breath. I could feel my lungs expanding but it didn’t feel like there was any air in them. Below is the view of what we had just hiked:

We did get some rain which helped to keep the temperatures down. It also made beautiful waterfalls that would flow down the sides of the huge mountains that we were climbing.

We stopped at Pacaymayu for lunch …

and then started our hike up our second pass, Runkuracay Pass. It was very steep and I was breathing challenged once again. At times I could only take 20 steps and then need to rest a minute. We were told it was 1427 stairs in 3000 steps. Half way to the top we stopped at a ruin site and Elio asked us to grab a small rock and carry it along with us to our next stop. We arrived at a small lake and Elio guided us thru a symbolic offering to Pachimama, Mother Earth while we each made a wish for ourselves. He also played his flute which really set the atmosphere and made they ceremony special.

We summited and headed back downhill to our campsite. On our way we stopped at Chaquicocha, another ruin site. Ed our guide narrated a story about what the site could have potentially been. I will say that he is such a natural storyteller. We held on to every word he said and thoroughly enjoyed his recreation of his version of history.

We got to our campsite in time to catch an amazing sunset. When we got to our meal tent we were very happily surprised with a Mothers Day cake that was absolutely delicious. How they managed to get to camp quickly enough to bake a cake for us amazes me. Our Porters are AWESOME!