13,000 feet, part 2

13,829 feet to be more exact (Vieve's head is blocking the "4" in 4,215 meters). this is Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point on the 4-day Inka Trail hike and less than halfway through Day 2, our most grueling day of the trek. more than arriving at Machu Picchu, reaching this point still feels like the greatest accomplishment of the trip. but that's the middle, let's go back to the beginning.

Machu Picchu was one of those see-it-before-i-die things, and now i'm convinced it should be on everyone's bucket list (even if you don't get there the way we did). it's been on my mind for a couple years, and last fall i sent out a call to friends and family to join me on the trail. Arti, Genevieve, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Phil answered quickly and Arti finalized our travel and trek details a few weeks later. Quinton joined up a few weeks before the trip, completing our posse.

i didn't really think about it enough to have many expectations for the trip. generally i like it that way, which is also why i don't read movie reviews. things i knew to expect: we would see Machu Picchu. i would be with friends and family, which would be fun. we would hike 26.7 miles over four days, reaching an altitude of almost 14,000 feet. i would be sleeping in a tent for three nights. i would find out how much of my Spanish vocabulary was left from high school (no mucho).

everything else was a wonderful, amazing surprise.

i didn't expect to be so taken with Cusco and the people there. sure, i'm happy to wear a clean outfit and brush my teeth with tap water again, but part of me wants to be back there, sitting on the Plaza de Armas.

i didn't expect to find Fallen Angel, the most unique and wonderful restaurant i've ever seen, and fall in love with the art of Richard Peralta, a Cusco native.

i didn't realize how indispensable coca tea would be.

i didn't know it was going to be so grueling. the 1 1/2-hour descent from Dead Woman's Pass was twice as hard on me as the 4-hour ascent, and i arrived to camp at lunch wasted and in tears. i also didn't know that, in that state, after barely eating, i could put a 35-pound pack on my back again, start back up a mountain, and hike another 3 hours before dinner. (thank God for Gu and for Quinton.)

i didn't expect to be so taken by the story and spirit of the Incas (as told by our guide, Saul). listening to his earnest stories, i developed a reverence for the path we were walking and the places we saw along the way, and i feel gratitude toward those that destroyed the trail when the Spanish arrived in Cusco.

maybe it was delirium from the 8 1/2 hours of grueling hiking on the second day, but i had a singular moment in the Incan site before our campsite that night, standing alone, looking out through a stone-framed window at the sun sinking above a forest in a cloud. pictures can't do it justice (just as well because my camera was broken at the time).

i figured Machu Picchu would be impressive, but even in the rain and obscured by mist and clouds, it was far more beautiful than any picture i'd ever seen of it.

lastly, i didn't fully grasp how amazing it was going to be to share this experience with people dear to me (and those that became dear to me). i can't thank you all enough for your company and your humor, for celebrating with me, and for putting up with me and helping me when i was at my worst.

so, where to next?

(for the rest of my pics, go here.)