10/25: Our Ascent of Huayna Picchu!

After spending a couple of hours seeing a good chunk of Machu Picchu (MP), we arrived at the entrance and control gate for our ascent of Huayna Picchu, the mountain towering over MP, at our reserved time of 10 as only 250 people are allowed up at either 7 or 10 for the day.

A view of Huayna Picchu, the mountain we had committed to climbing:

For months and months we had been looking forward to this moment but, now that it was upon us, there was also a healthy amount of trepidation wondering if we may have bitten off more than we could manage.

There were lots of steps down before the beginning of the mountain’s ascent.

A 'traffic jam' as there was only one way up and down! We figured that the hikers returning then must have started later than 7 or had stayed at the top of the mountain for a long time before deciding to start hiking back.

There wasn’t a lot of talking on the trail as people just needed to conserve their breath as they and we huffed and puffed our way onward!

The trail followed an ancient Inca path leading up to the sugarloaf hill in front of MP.

While the path was steep, it was in good shape.

Seeing this, I must have spoken and written too soon as the path began getting more challenging!

Steven, God love him, had spent a lot of time spraying all our clothes with Permethrin in anticipation of our trip to Machu Picchu and especially of our hike that morning up Huayna Picchu because of all the mosquitoes that we 'd heard were so vicious. I had gotten badly bit while hiking just the day before but neither of us luckily encountered any biting insects while at Machu Picchu or while hiking the mountain.

You can tell how high we'd climbed seeing this view of the terraces at Machu Picchu!

Another rough patch:

When we finally reached these ruins, we thought we'd gotten to the top.

However, that wasn't the case as we all too soon discovered we still had a ways to go.

Narrow parts like these gave me the willies, I must admit, as I am no fan of heights.

It was an incredible experience hiking on Machu Picchu's retaining terraces built by the Incas and even up the arduous, narrow, Inca-carved stairs to the summit of the adjoining mountain that day.

The last 20 meters included a steep rock slab that had to be climbed using a ladder and a rope.

I was one happy lady having climbed to the top with nary a sprained ankle or anything worse that day, let me tell you!

There was a waiting line at the very top for the perfect place to take photos overlooking the ruins. Though there weren't many people in front of us, we waited forever, it seemed, as once people finally reached the rock, they wanted innumerable photos to capture that moment in time and prove they had hiked all that way!

We had plenty of time to take more photos of the ruins so far below!

Because there was a line of people wanting to be exactly where I was, we made sure that our time on the rock was short and sweet.

The road up the mountain to Machu Picchu from the town at the base! The $48 round trip cost on the bus for both of us was worth every penny rather than choosing to walk up or down!

At the top was a shrine built by the Incas. Human remains were found in the caves.

The hike from the MP ruins to the summit of Huayna Picchu, 290 meters above MP, was approximately two kms round trip. The splendor of Huayna Picchu was the breathtaking view of the entire complex which spread out like a map in front of the summit.

Seeing so many colors of rocks, plants and flowers throughout the hike was a huge bonus.

Looking back, we could see people on the trail before it looped to the far side of the mountain.

It was weird but neither of us remembered having gone through a bamboo forest at the beginning of the hike! I guess we must have just been hyper-focused on the trek ahead.

It took us three hours to hike up and down including lots of stops for photos as well as catching our breath!

When Steven signed us out at the hut at the bottom, he noticed he was the oldest one to make the trek in our session that began at 10 as everyone had to list their ages! Since he'd be 70 in January, he had been adamant that we not put off this trip to South America any longer because of concerns hiking Machu Picchu. Luckily, his worries had been groundless.

We were both pretty pumped we'd made the trek and even looked forward to discovering more of the fantastic sights at Machu Picchu after taking a much needed break.

Next post: Tour of Sacred Valley, Peru

Posted on January 7th, 2017, from Littleton, Colorado.