I have zero interest in hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu. During this season there would be fewer than the maximum of 500 people per day starting the trail, but I still can't stand the thought of the hullaballoo, dust, jaded guides, haughty tourists, poor Spanish, poor English...ugh. Instead, give me Ecuador's own Inca Trail, where on the day I started from Achupallas, bound for the ruins at Ingapirca 40 km away, there was exactly nobody else on the trail. Armed with three mortadella sandwiches, three peanut butter sandwiches, water purification drops, and my lightweight camping gear, I set off into beautiful countryside:
After an hour and a half I got to the head of the valley, where it closed into a rocky defile with a waterfall. This was the way through. Good thing I'm a skinny dude with a small pack.
Above, the valley opened back up. Now I was at about 12,500'. The actual Inca Trail, remains of the Incas' road from Cusco to Quito, followed on contour about halfway up the mountain on the right. I followed cowpaths in the dell below and met up with the real trail a few miles farther along, near the mountain you can see in the distance.
At the valley head there was a small lake with beautiful red algae (pictures didn't come out well; I wished I had John Warner's talent) where I got water. Then the trail climbed up to this saddle, complete with cairn.
From there it climbed to a ridge at about 14,500' with stunning views on both sides and a fierce wind from the east.
The clouds spit a bit as I hiked, but never properly rained until late in the night. By that time I was camped in a little sheltered bowl on the side of the mountain. It was freezing cold. The rain froze into a sheet on my tarp, but I stayed warm enough in my super-lightweight sleeping bag to sleep through most of the night, barely. I can attest that sleeping in cold weather at high altitude makes for some crazy dreams.
The view from my camping spot in the morning. The sun couldn't arrive fast enough! The lake in the distance was called Little Serpents.
Soon after hiking past Little Serpents Lake I arrived at these Incan ruins. The stonework looks ramshackle compared to the famous photos of Macchu Picchu, but inside there were beautifully crafted niches in the walls for storing what-have-you.
Soon after this photo it started to rain again and I put away the camera. I hiked for about three hours in the rain, through more
páramo (moors), past ingenious
acequias (aqueducts dug into hillsides), and then on dirt roads through a lightly settled area until I finally arrived at the ruins of Ingapirca, totally spent. 40 km in two days at high altitude with one bad night of sleep = serious fatigue. The ruins cost $6, it was still raining, and there was a bus leaving for Cuenca immediately, so for me the choice was obvious: time to be a bad tourist yet again. I skipped the ruins, catching only a glimpse through the bus window as it pulled out, bound for a hot shower and a bed.
After an hour and a half I got to the head of the valley, where it closed into a rocky defile with a waterfall. This was the way through. Good thing I'm a skinny dude with a small pack.
Above, the valley opened back up. Now I was at about 12,500'. The actual Inca Trail, remains of the Incas' road from Cusco to Quito, followed on contour about halfway up the mountain on the right. I followed cowpaths in the dell below and met up with the real trail a few miles farther along, near the mountain you can see in the distance.
At the valley head there was a small lake with beautiful red algae (pictures didn't come out well; I wished I had John Warner's talent) where I got water. Then the trail climbed up to this saddle, complete with cairn.
From there it climbed to a ridge at about 14,500' with stunning views on both sides and a fierce wind from the east.
The clouds spit a bit as I hiked, but never properly rained until late in the night. By that time I was camped in a little sheltered bowl on the side of the mountain. It was freezing cold. The rain froze into a sheet on my tarp, but I stayed warm enough in my super-lightweight sleeping bag to sleep through most of the night, barely. I can attest that sleeping in cold weather at high altitude makes for some crazy dreams.
The view from my camping spot in the morning. The sun couldn't arrive fast enough! The lake in the distance was called Little Serpents.
Soon after hiking past Little Serpents Lake I arrived at these Incan ruins. The stonework looks ramshackle compared to the famous photos of Macchu Picchu, but inside there were beautifully crafted niches in the walls for storing what-have-you.
Soon after this photo it started to rain again and I put away the camera. I hiked for about three hours in the rain, through more páramo (moors), past ingenious acequias (aqueducts dug into hillsides), and then on dirt roads through a lightly settled area until I finally arrived at the ruins of Ingapirca, totally spent. 40 km in two days at high altitude with one bad night of sleep = serious fatigue. The ruins cost $6, it was still raining, and there was a bus leaving for Cuenca immediately, so for me the choice was obvious: time to be a bad tourist yet again. I skipped the ruins, catching only a glimpse through the bus window as it pulled out, bound for a hot shower and a bed.
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