Hi Friends! Let’s chat today about the Inca Trail and how the hike broke down by day.
For background, we trekked with Alpaca Expeditions on their 4 Day/ 3 Night group tour. We chose them due to their fantastic reviews, community involvement, promotion of women throughout the company, and the fact that they bring toilet tents to the camps. If you choose to not go with Alpaca, there are toilets available at camp, but they tend to be very dirty/muddy and you will probably need your own toilet tissue.
If you are looking for ideas on how to spend your time in Cusco, check out this post, and if you are interested in how we trained and packed for the trek check out this post!
Day One
Hoo-boy, this was an early wake-up call! We were scheduled to be the last people picked up (another benefit of staying at the Hilton Garden Inn!) at 4:30am. We woke up at 3am, showered, and tried to get hyped for the day. By 4:10am we were in the lobby checked out and waiting for our group. Quick note: we chose to return to the Hilton Garden Inn after the hike so they were kind enough to store our luggage in the meantime.
At almost exactly 4:30, our tour group arrived and we were on our way in the van! Our first stop was a couple hours later at the Alpaca Expeditions homebase in Ollantaytambo where the porters and guides stay in between treks. Here we had the chance to eat breakfast, use the restroom, and meet our group and guides. Our group had 12 people and we had two guides (Nelson and Toro).
After breakfast, we drove to the checkpoint where we started out trek! The first hour or two start very easily. It’s nearly all flat and relatively even terrain. After 2 hours or so we stopped for lunch, prepared by the wonderful porters and cooks.
After lunch, we continued onward. Honestly, this is where the altitude started getting to me. It’s nearly all uphill and I am way to used to sea level! The important thing is to just keep going, take deep nose breaths, and make sure you enjoy the scenery as it really is beautiful.
We arrived at camp after a few hours, tired and ready for dinner and bed! Since my husband and I were the last group to camp, so we were warned that we would be getting an early start the next day. Honestly, this did not bother me at all! If waking up 30 minutes early means I can go at my own pace, sign me up!
Walking distance: 8.7 miles/14 km (6-7 hours)
Campsite altitude: 3300 meters above sea level
Fitbit Recorded Steps: 27,932
Day Two
We were up early today! Our call time was 3:30 and after packing up our gear, we set out for the day. It was just my husband and I leaving early and I will tell you, that extra time was nice because this was the toughest day for me (spoiler alert: tomorrow is the hardest day for my husband!). We are heading up, up, up to Dead Woman’s Pass (4215 meters/13829 feet). SO. MANY. STAIRS.
After Dead Woman’s Pass, we head downhill for another 1.5-2 hours where we were able to rest and have our lunch break. Our lunch breaks are generally about an hour and every minute of just getting to pause and enjoy the view is thoroughly enjoyed!
The second half of hiking today (this is our longest day by far!) was ascending the second pass in a couple hours to get to the ruins of Runcu Raccay, descending an hour to the Inca site of Sayacmarca, and then a relatively quick 30 minutes or so to the campsite for rest and food!
Walking distance: 9.94 miles/16 km (7-8 hours)
Campsite altitude: 3600 meters above sea level
Fitbit Recorded Steps: 20,904
Day Three
Now THIS is what I’m talking about! As I mentioned, day two was really tough for me, but day three was the challenge for my husband. It is mostly downhill, but down very steep and large rocks serving as stairs. We are so glad we opted to rent hiking poles, especially for this portion.
The first two hours of today are at a gentle(ish) incline, or as our guide Nelson referred to it, “Inca Flat”. The incline takes us into the jungle (aka Cloud Forest), and over the last pass of Phuyupatamarka (3600 meters). And now we start our descent.
The views from this area though are insane and, as we head to camp, we pass two Inca sites Phuyupatamarka (Town in the Clouds) and Intipata (Terraces of the Sun).
After a relatively short day of hiking, we are at the campsite for the rest of the night! We get to eat lunch and rest for a bit before an excursion to nearby ruins.
We head out for our very short walk to the nearby Inca ruins of Wiñay Wayna. This site is gorgeous, the views are amazing, and fact that this was built so far from anywhere else is just mind boggling.
The rest of the evening was spent visiting with our group mates, eating an awesome dinner (and birthday cake for me and another group member who had a birthday on the trail!), and an appreciation ceremony for our porters and rest of the team. It is during this ceremony that we provided them with tips for their hard work. Honestly, the more you can tip the better. You will quickly realize how hard these folks work when you are struggling on the trail and then realize they make the same trek with 50lbs of equipment, and they do it faster.
Walking distance: 6.2 miles/10km (5 hours)
Campsite altitude: 2.600 meters above sea level
Fitbit Recorded Steps: 21,474
Day Four
It’s the day we’ve all been waiting for… Machu Picchu!!
We woke up very early, this was another 3:30am wake-up time, to break down camp and have a quick breakfast. Then it’s hurry up an wait as you stand in line until the checkpoint gates open at 5:30. This is a great time to make sure your jacket is accessible! It’s very cold this early in the morning, especially since you’ll probably be sitting on the dewy ground.
The hike this morning is pretty easy, an Inca Flat hour or so to the Sun Gate. This hike is pretty take as far as incline, but there is one area in particular referred with nearly vertical stairs (I believe these are lovingly referred to as “the Gringo Killer” by locals) that I highly recommend climbing like a monkey using your hands and feet.
After you reach the Sun Gate, it is a pretty easy peasy downhill walk to Machu Picchu. The only trouble spot of this area is sharing the trail with the folks who bused into Machu Picchu and are heading up to where you just came from.
Once we made it to the ruins, our guide took us on a tour and explained the mythology and history around the ruins. I will say, the one downside of having hiked the Inca Trail to arrive at Machu Picchu, is that the ruins are a little underwhelming once you arrive. You will have already seen a half dozen other sites along the way so, for myself, the magic has worn off a tad. It was still absolutely worth doing, and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone, but I’m just sharing my honest opinion with no harm meant.
We were in Machu Picchu for about two hours before our guide rounded us up to head into the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. We took the bus down and had lunch in a restaurant as a group. Unfortunately, after lunch we didn’t have time to explore town, and had to head to make our train.
The train back was a relaxing 2 hour ride with wine available, if you were so inclined (spoiler alert: I was). Once at the station, we were met by drivers for Alpaca Expeditions who loaded us onto buses based on our hotel. Back at the Hilton Garden Inn, we collected our bags they had stored for us, and ordered a well deserved pizza!
