Captain Blackfoot On Foot

Here's a quickie on the first peg-leg of my journey in Peru, which was a 5-day high altitude hike to Machu Picchu on the Salkantay Trail.

The night before the big hike, the group met with our guide and soon to be savior Jose for a briefing. All I remembered was that there was delicious hot chocolate. After he started explaining the afternoon of Day 2, I was completely out of it. Who can remember all that stuff when you're so psyched? Afterwards, I had a brief briefing on the Amazon trip I was taking the day after I got back to Cuzco from Machu Picchu and met up with Bardo, Mike, and Dan for some fancy dinner that cost triple my room rent. But there was great entertainment, so what the heck! It's not like I'd be spending any moola on the trail!

Good-bye Luxury: After dinner, we contemplated going out to a club but thought packing was probably more important. I went to see their room - check out the difference! Mine (left) was $9 - Theirs (right) was $90 (split in 3, so $30 per person). I guess I wasn't really saying goodbye to luxury afterall!

I woke up at 5:30am after a night of packing, my last shower, and testing my new cheap alarm clock, not to mention having to get up in the middle of the night for an impromptu toilet fixing – it kept running and it was so damn loud! I got my stuff together, went to the Hotel next to SAS Travel to drop off the things I wouldn’t be taking, and met the bus. Everyone was there except Bardo, Mike, and Dan! They finally came right before we gave up on them, and me and Bardo chatted about how awesome this trip was going to be while Mike and Dan snuggled in front of us. =P

Breakfast and Bumpy: After some driving and picking up extra supplies, we stopped for some breakfast, which was delicious. Little did we know that almost every meal after that would be…delicious! (We tipped our cook well.) Then we loaded onto a truck like a bunch of Mexicans (it’s a joke!) and swerved and bumped our way to the jump-off point to the Salkantay Trail.

Finally on the trail, we start our 5 day hike! Let me explain the group.

The group consisted of 17 people from America, England, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. Some were couples, some friends, one pair were brother and sister. Our front guide was Jose, and our back guide was Angel. We had a cook, 3 porters, and 3 horsemen. All but 5 of us hikers used the porters to help carry their stuff. Of course, yours truly was not into having someone who is already carrying my tent and food carry more of my crap. But for sure, some people can really enjoy the hike a lot more if they aren’t horrible weighted down. Little did I know that the sleeping bag they provided which was good for sub-zero temperatures would be as big as my bag and about as heavy. Well, anyway, I lugged all my stuff the whole way! Yay!

Group Shot Before the Hike: This is our shining faces before we set off. We walked about 6 hours per day. The beginning was flat, then it went straight up and down for days. I don’t think I smiled the whole way…matter of fact, I remember thinking, “I PAID for this??” But in my heart, I was super happy!

Break Time: What a beautiful first day. Although we were exhausted (I don’t think we really understood what “exhausted” meant yet though) we were in good spirits. We camped right below the Salkantay Mountain. It was stunning. And freezing. The altitude was about 4500 meters.

In the Still of the Night: There’s us in our dining tent (so fancy!) trying to stay warm. After awhile, we went outside to proclaim the largest rock around ours, and sat watching the stars. We got a little loopy (maybe from the altitude, maybe just cuz we are who we are) and had a fantastic time looking at the Milky Way and watching the moon rise from above the surrounding mountains.

Bedtime was a bit difficult, since my roomie Rosie from Tasmania (Australia) accidentally slept in the middle of the tent and I couldn’t get my sleeping bag to stay closed around my face. Any draft of air that touched me was freezing! I ended up snuggling a bit on Rosie…hehe…ya gotta do what ya gotta do. When I was actually sleeping and not fussing, I was OUT. I knew what lay ahead. Jose told us the second day was the hardest and we all tried to ignore the fact that from the campsite, the trail went straight up the mountain in switchbacks. Tomorrow would be one hell of a day!

Stay tuned.