January 12th – The (supposed) Easy Day

We get to sleep in to 7:00 today, as this day is supposed to be the easy day. In would turn out to be easier than Day Two, certainly, but still featured our 3rd pass to summit followed by a 3000 foot elevation drop within 2 miles to finish our day.

The drop was mostly a series of stone staircases, which makes things easier in some regards (less slipping in mud), but it's awfully tough on the knees and takes a lot of concentration not to tumble head first down the stone.

Regardless, the lure of our first hot shower and cold beer in three days kept us going as we wound our way through the rain forest. The scenery the 3rd day was very beautiful, and it only took us 4 hours to reach the campsite (owning to the fact we had done the extra mileage the day before).

Still, the 3000 feet of elevation loss was a killer, as over 2000 feet of it came almost entirely in consecutive stairs. This is the section of the Machu Picchu Trail that the guide books like to warn people about. Carrie’s knee ached during most of it, but she just gritted her teeth and busted her way down the mountain.

The camp we arrived at was the most civilization we had seen in the past couple of days, as it featured a hotel where the 2-day Inca Trail travelers crash and eat. The hotel also offered the hot showers and cold beer we had been promised as incentive.

We enjoyed both before eating lunch in, and then had the next 4 hours to enjoy ourselves before Ozzie took us on a hike to the nearby Inca Ruins of Winaywayna. Winaywayna was by far the best Inca Ruin we had seen so far, and it featured both many structures and an insane amount of farming terraces covering the entire mountain side.

Ozzie (pictured here) lead us through the city while giving quite a lengthy lecture on the various contemporary theories on Incan Life, their societal organization, and their fall from power (since the Spanish rewrote the history books after their conquest, mostly all that remains of the Incas are theories and ruins at this point).

After viewing the ruins, we returned for a short nap before dinner. After dinner, we joined our new friends for several beers and cards on the outside patio of the hotel before calling it a night. We would be woken at 4:00 a.m. the following morning for our triumphant march into Machu Picchu, and with that thought firmly in our head we lay down to sleep. As soon as our heads hit the pillow, the hardest rain we’ve experienced thus far begins in earnest, thereby setting the stage for the final act of this drama…