We arose fairly early and had a quick breakfast. We all wanted to get an early start towards "Dead Woman's Pass". Susan M. and Anne were feeling quite a bit better but Susan G. was still not doing well. In addition, Gary, Jim S. and Mike were added to the Inca Revenge list. A 5000'+ climb and a 2000' descent, was enough to make the well people sit down and cry but the people who were ill had a terrible time. None the less, we all made it over the pass to camp. To add to our misery, rain, which didn't stop for a couple of days, began a couple of thousand feet before we reached the pass. We had planned to re-group there for lunch, but by the time we reached it, the wind had picked up and the rain had turned to sleet. It was impossible to stop for more than a moment and we quickly started down the Inca stairs. It was still raining hard when we arrived at our Pacamayo River campsite. Fortunately, there was still space for our tents. In groups of two and three, chilled and sometimes near hypothermia, people set up their tents quickly as they reached our dreary, wet campsite. We were all in camp and settled in our tents within a few hours of each other. David seemed to have excess energy that day and visited each tent delivering rolls to fuel us until dinner. Since it was still raining intermittently, we elected to dine on our missed lunch. We knew Susan was feeling better when she was able to chow down on smoked oysters. However, several of us were still not up to par.
To our great delight, the morning dawned clear and we were able to cook breakfast. A porter had joined us during the night and we invited him to share our beans and rice. He had apparently been sent ahead early without food to secure the campsite for a commercial group that was behind us. We enjoyed beautiful views through the swirling clouds as we climbed out of the valley to the Runkuracay ruin site half way up the second pass. When we dropped over the pass, we entered the rain forest and the vegetation changed radically. We started seeing more flowers, lush vegetation and birds. There were many bromeliads blooming along the trail and as we went on, a few orchids. Jim L. and Susan L. were able to identify some of the orchids, the most common being a yellow Dancing Lady, but many of the plants had never been seen by any of us before.
By the time we reached the Sayacmarca ruin site, the clouds had closed in and we were in fog again. We were above and in clouds much of the day, the scenic wonders lining our path obscured by dense, ever-present fog. The campsite at Sayacmarca was small, so we forged on looking for a larger site on the Inca terraces before the Inca tunnel. In the fog, we missed them, passing through the tunnel and on to Puyupatamarca. We arrived there to find the camp full to the brim with people. The only space open to us was the least protected spot at the very top of the hill. Most of the groups were commercially guided. One person we talked to had paid $2000 for twelve days, five of which were on the Inca Trail. Their group of 35 people had two porters per person. Some of these clients were using hard Samsonite suitcases for their belongings and we saw ridiculously uncomfortable porter loads consisting of tents, heavy kerosene stoves, fuel, food, and their clients' personal belongings.
Hostal Campsite
Below Salcantay
Sun Gate
