It’s cold this morning. Above freezing, but damp and the fog is thick. Hot coca tea was brought to our door promptly at 4:20am. Sergio wants us to be on the trail in an hour, it’s going to be our hardest day and he wants plenty of time.

I liked the way he pulled us together last night, a family group on a trek. We have trekkers Emma and Harry (ages 29) from Australia, and David (a bit older maybe) from San Francisco. Sergio, the guide, is I think 38 years old and has been guiding for 10 years. Alfredo is the (super) chef, Juan and Santos are our two porters, and Gomersindo is our horseman for the next couple of days. Patricia and I are the old people at ages 70 and 62. It’s shaping up to be a nice family I think. Plenty of people to carry us out, hahaha!

I’m bleary-eyed this morning and running a tad late. Watching the stars last night may have slowed me down. With the mountain weather, it’s taking time to decide which clothes to carry and then get the duffels packed, we won’t have access to them until camp tonight. At breakfast, we are humbled by what a master chef can do with a two-burner propane stove and we welcome the hot food, muña, and coca teas. And there is always instant coffee with powdered milk! I notice that Gomersindo is fast asleep in his bag on the floor in the corner of the dining kitchen. He seems unbothered by the activity, and his important role comes later so he’s taking advantage of the extra minutes.

One thing we’re asked near the end of every meal is how much water we will need until the next. It will be boiled and ready for us by the time we’re ready to hike. I do not like being low on water, dehydration in the mountains is not good. The blood gets thick, the joints don’t lubricate, and energy to the muscles is impeded. For this morning, 5 liters for the two of us.

The early morning climb up to Humantay Lagoon totaled about 1500 feet in elevation. Six of us (the five trekkers and the guide) separated from the Alpaca team at Soray for the climb. The others are going on toward the pass to set up for lunch.

Family! Slowly! Slowly!

We’re struggling with the altitude and it is steep, slow going. But once we get there, we have it to ourselves. It’s quiet and serene. It’s a sacred place for the Quechua. Sergio pulls out a flute, and we have a few sublime minutes of reflection and thankfulness. The middle picture above is linked to a short video pan of the lake with a bit of Sergio’s flute accompaniment. 

It’s only 8am. What a day already!

Conveying the scale and steepness of the these mountains is a challenge. In Soray, we see blue domes of glass as we walk by, available for tourists to rent. When we look again from Humantay near the lagoon, we see just how far we’ve come.

There were quite a few places with lodging and cabanas like this. Soray can be achieved by some vehicles, and certainly by horseback, so the lagoon is a popular hike. But for us it’s a waypoint, and we move back down the talus slope to reconnect to the Inca trail and begin the bigger climb to Salkantay Pass.

Things get real…

On the pull toward the pass, Patricia is beginning to struggle. The Diamox has been a mixed bag. While it helps prepare you for the altitude, it also has side affects. We both seemed to suffer mild headaches and a little nausea, and David quit taking it because of his nausea. Even with that, we should have started taking it a little sooner I think. It actually takes weeks to fully acclimate. I stopped taking it last night and Patricia took her last dose this morning. We’ve been going hard for four days and it’s all catching up with her. I see her get a little unsteady and am keeping a close watch.

Sergio sees it too and asks me how it’s going. He mentions there are a few options. There is a location up ahead where we can get a horse to carry her to lunch and then the pass. And she can go all the way to camp, and even to the valley tomorrow by horseback if necessary. These are good options to have! The guides always carry an oxygen bottle too, as well as satellite phones.

We agree to get a horse for her to ride to the lunch spot. We’ll see how she feels after that.

“But,” I say, “it’s got to be her decision.” He nods in agreement.

Right now we’re at a little way station taking a break. It’s drizzling and everyone is wearing their rain jackets. As I come up to her I can see her lower lip trembling under the hood. She doesn’t say, “my legs hurt” or “I’m so tired.” No, she says,

“I don’t want to quit.”

“You’re not quitting, you’re adapting. It happens all the time on treks and expeditions.”

“Besides, it’s only a small piece of what we are doing.”

She grudgingly agrees and Sergio asks Gomersindo to bring us a horse. But not here, we’ll meet him on the way. In a few minutes I look up, way up, and on the mountain slope is Gomersindo and the horse, coming down an incredibly steep zigzag trail. We connect and Patricia gets situated. While these mountain horses are small, a rider is still pretty tall in the saddle, and this is rough, rocky trail. And Patricia has to be careful with her back. I’m a little nervous, but I can’t think of any other option than to go back down the way we came. “Are they going up the way they came down?” Sergio responds, “No, they’ll be using a lower trail.”

Time to put faith in the team, they’ve done this a few times. But…the horse is not happy with the situation and no amount of tugging is getting him to move up the trail. Adjustments are made, but nothing is really working. Gomersindo decides to go get one of his own horses.

So we’ll walk a little further (slowly, slowly) to a new meet point. On the way, I’m surprised to see Harry coming down. “You’re going the wrong way!” I tease. “I want a horse!” he says. The altitude is working on everyone and Harry seemed a bit underdressed this morning with shorts and a light jacket. So Gomersindo puts him on the uncooperative one. If it works, Harry can ride it back to where the other horses are and Gomersindo can pick up one for Patricia.

In the composite photo above, you can get an idea of the trail, working its way up to the right. And if you look off to the left a little over half way up, you’ll see a tiny green dot representing Harry in his poncho (inside the red circle). The horsemaster has figured out the problem and they’re going back up the steep zigzag trail that works its way up above those rock outcrops. Pretty wild.

In a few minutes Patricia is on a new horse and all seems agreeable. They get a head start and in less than an hour, we all meet up again for lunch. Along the way, I seem to have a break through. I find my lungs and my pace. Maybe it’s the mountain energy.

Lunch is just grand and the food just keeps coming! We get a chance to recharge and everyone is in good spirits. Patricia is feeling a little better but decides to ride the horse up to the pass. She’s learned to relax into its stride. After that we’ll be descending all the way to camp. Besides, the entire horse ride up only amounts to about a mile of today’s trek! Harry is hiking again as well. We make the pass around 3pm.

In the clouds and mist, the pass was just mystical. Sergio gathered us all and introduced us to a thanksgiving ritual using three coca leaves. Prayers to Pachamama (earth mother), thanking her for all of trek family and all that we’ve been given. After praying, we blow across the leaves and then find a personal spot to bury or place them under some rocks. A physical way to connect and be enriched. It was a special and emotional moment today.

Bring it on home.

On the way down, Sergio points out rock that has a white cast to it. About two years ago, a landslide pushed a massive amount of water out of the Salkantay Lagoon. The water rushed down the mountain, causing the collapse of 300 houses, multiple bridges, with at least three confirmed deaths. We’ll see more evidence of this later on. There’s no wonder the locals are in awe of these “mountain masters.”

It’s pretty important to turn around from time to time.

Tinkering around with Google Earth after I got home stateside, I was surprised to see the detail it has for Salkantay. It was a big day. You can see today’s route. And if you look way over in the upper right corner, you’ll see I’ve placed a marker on Machu Picchu, our trekking destination….