My dream of hiking the Inca Trail and going to Machu Picchu has been fulfilled. I have done some crazy things in my life (like biking across America in the 80’s), to bungee jumping and skydiving. But hiking 30 miles and 3 mountain passes at 57 years old has got to be the winner. With back brace, hiking poles and lots of Advil, I managed to make my wish come true. I arrived at the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu at 6:00AM after 4 days of hiking.
It was a surreal experience from the start. We had 11 hikers from 4 counties and 14 porters. The second day we hiked 12 hours from 6:00AM to 6:00PM and crossed “DeadWoman’s Pass at 14,000 feet. It had been a long time since I slept on the ground in a tent. However, I was so tired each night I quickly fell to sleep.
The last day we woke up at 3:00AM and had to be on the trial by 3:30AM. We hiked in the rain in the dark with our head lamps. I truly felt like I was in the army on patrol sloshing threw the jungle in the middle of the night. We waited in the rain with a hundred or so other hikers at the control access gate to start the final push up to Machu Picchu. We arrived right at sunrise on the morning of July 4th. I am glad this was a once in a lifetime adventure, because I am not sure I could do it again.
Thanks for watching and reading my story.
Best to you from Peru
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