NOTE: This is a five part post which will be made over the course of the next few days. I have uploaded photos of the whole trip to the Picassa site.
The main reason for coming to Peru was of course to go to Machu Picchu. Way back when we were planning this trip we looked into the costs of the Inca Trail and discovered that we would need to book way back when and pay way back when and in full. Since we had no real timeline for when we would be in Peru we were adverse to this. My friend Jonathan told me about the Salkantay trail (pronounced “sahl-kahn-tie”) and this appeared to be a much easier trail to book on the fly once we were in Peru. The only problem left was which trekking agency to use – there are really only a few but there are tens if not hundreds of people offering said treks, sort of like airline ticket consolidators.
While in Lima studying Spanish we met a fellow student and his wife who had trekked with United Mice and highly recommended them. Once Graham arrived in Peru we looked into the company and after a few emails got an itinerary and a trek set up for just the three of us!
Day one was described thus:
Early morning pick up at your hotel then a private bus ride from Cusco (3400m) to Soraypampa (3,800m), on the way we can appreciate the vast green farmlands with native crops, and half way going briefly stop for breakfast at Limatambo or Mollepata, and afterwards we carry on our bus journey to trailhead at Soraypampa(3,800mt)
We start the day with a gentle ascent from the head of the valley enjoying a breathtaking view of the snow capped mountain Umantay(5,700mt) to Salkantaypampa, then the trail goes steep uphill and comes to a series of zigzags, to get to Lake Soirococha where we stop for lunch.
Rejoining our hike we finally arrive at the highest pass of Umantay(4,600m), from where we can have a stunning scenery and an impressive view of the sacred mountain in the Peruvian Andes Salkantay (6,271metres), that will compensate the great effort for reaching the top which is marked by a pile of stones that grows daily as each traveler adds his pebble to thank the Apus (mountain spirits) for a safe trip and good luck. This night we will camp just below the snow line of southern second highest peak sacred mountain of Salkantay at Huayracmachay (3750m).
The reality wasn’t far off. The bus was a crew-cab pickup truck with just enough space for four passengers and our driver. The guide and the cook hopped in the back and snuggled down under the tarp for the 120km to the trail head. The pickup was at 4am and we stopped in Mollepata at 7:30am for breakfast then headed along a very narrow and in some instance new (thanks to landslides) dirt road with occasional precipitous drop-offs into the river canyon below. We arrived at Soraypampa at about 9:30am and met our two muleteers.
I should digress a bit here: UM had given us a packing list and we had made a trial pack the morning of the 15th in advance of our briefing. We had been told that on our last day of trekking we would have to carry our own packs, all of our own packs, as the mules/horses weren’t allowed on the last bit of trail which was another portion of the Inka Trail. Graham and I each packed about 1 kilo of socks,a spare shirt and a few other things in addition to our day bag with our waterproof gear and water. This of course meant that we weren’t really bringing a lot of warm gear. We had been told it would be about 20-25C during the day and on the first night possibly –4C. As we were driving up we could see snow, snow, snow and swirling clouds – it looked bloody cold and G and I were a mite nervous.
OK, back to the story: After 20 or 30 minutes of pfaffing around, sorting out what was going on the mules and abluting and such we headed up the trail. Within a few minutes we were all puffing and sweaty. The first challenge was to cross the stream that tumbled down the valley:
With that accomplished off we went with many breaks to enjoy the incredible scenery and catch our breaths, particularly Sandy who had been corralled into joining our group even though she had only just arrived in Peru/Cusco on the 15th (day before we left!) so she had not acclimatized to the altitude at all – she really toughed it out though. She and Darcie were well matched as were Graham and I in our paces and cardio capacity and our guide, Edwin, was kind enough to stick with the lasses while us lads forged ahead.
The weather was chilly and gray, perfect for hiking up a steep slope. Of course it soon started to rain and we all piled on our jackets and trousers and covered our packs in whatever we had to render them waterproof. I was beginning to feel the cold but unwilling to put on my one thermal layer unless I was actually cold. Our first real stop was for lunch near an alpine lake in a meadow surrounded by huge boulders, left by a retreating glacier, and towering snow and ice-clad mountains. The bowl we were in was sunny and warm while we ate and we were able to throw off our gear and dry out.
As soon as lunch was over though the clouds closed in, the temperature dropped and we all piled on our warm gear and wet weather gear and off we went for the final push to the pass at 4600m (15,500ft). This was a real lung buster, switch backs all the way up, many breaks. Graham reached the pass first with me close on his heels and we goofed around a bit waiting for Darcie and Sandy to join us. By the time they did it had started snowing and us boys were definitely feeling a little chilly.
We piled our rocks onto the enormous pile left by other trekkers and headed down, down, down. It was quite a scramble in places, rocky, lumpy, steep, muddy but at least it was no longer raining or snowing and the temperature warmed up to the point that G and I felt vindicated in our minimalist approach to packing.
The trip down to our campsite for the night was a bit long and we were all tired and in some cases sore (knees and ankles mostly). We were very dismayed to find that we were camping in a soggy, soupy-soggy, field with mine-fields of dung to navigate around on our way to the magic rock (aka natural toilet) and the small shack where the drovers, cook and guide were sleeping and where we were to eat our meals.
Our cook and the drovers prepared and cooked the meal in almost total darkness in the shed – they had one candle with which to peel, slice, dice, fry and so on. Despite this the food was plentiful and tasty – some of the best trout we have had on this trip. We carefully picked our way to bed and slept like the dead until 6am. I did get up at 3am or so for a visit to the magic rock and was awed by the stars that had come out when the clouds rolled away. Before I fell asleep again I listened to the sounds of a big avalanche or rock slide way up in the mountains. I could see no evidence in the morning but the sounds were amazing.
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