Trip of a Lifetime – Machu Picchu

Our team had a vast array of hikers – an age range of 40 years and an experience range from multi-week adventurers and Ironmen/women to some people who were new to the trekking discipline all together. Some team members had trained together for a decade while others had never met until the trip had been arranged. This lack of history together, though, was hard to believe after viewing the team cohesion right from Day 1. From the moment we boarded our shuttle in Cusco, Peru, there was a sense of trust and determination that would carry on throughout our adventure.

We knew that Day 1 of the hike would be the easiest so we used it as a great opportunity to take in the sights and continue to build our team bond as we travelled through the rolling hills of the Andes. We were even surprised by an unexpected, breathtaking series of Incan ruins we saw before lunch. Night fall came early, around 6pm, so we all took time to become better acquainted with each other over some card games. Little did we know that we had just started nightly crib and hearts tournaments that would last the remainder of the trip. We then retreated to our slanted tents in an attempt to get a good night’s rest before the most challenging day of the hike.

Shortly after our 5 a.m. wake-up call, we realized that all eight of us had had a terrible night’s sleep. Day 2 began with a gruelling 1200 m. ascent to reach the summit of Dead Women’s Pass at 4215 m. elevation followed by a quick 700 m. descent into our campsite. All of this was completed before our lunch at 2 p.m. Many of us ate lunch quickly and then tried to catch up on some much needed rest with naps. The card tournaments filled the rest of the evening. Personally, I had an amazing night sleep and enjoyed the hot coca tea that was part of our daily wake-up call.

We all are familiar with the phrase, “What goes up…must come down”.  Well, that is exactly what we did on the third day. We descended nearly 3000 irregularly-shaped Incan stairs which proved to be an extreme physical and mental grind for us, but we were nearing our final destination of Machu Picchu. As knees ached and blisters formed, we embraced our last night on the trail. We shared our common desires for our first night back in Cusco and discovered that wishes for a real toilet, peanut butter, and a hot shower was on everyone’s mind.

The first three days of the hike had blessed us with near perfect weather. We had avoided rainfall and were not threatened by the extreme heat which can be harsh at those elevations. We may have spoken too soon, though, because as we gathered for dinner on our last night on the trail, the skies opened up. We were hit with a heavy downpour that even compromised the integrity of our dining tent.  That night, in our tents, we were all worrying about a very wet entrance to the ancient ruins. We awoke at 3:30 a.m. in an attempt to get an early start on the trail since we wanted to be able to experience Machu Picchu devoid of the hundreds of tourists who take the daily bus rides in to view the site.

The morning had both dry spells and showers, but we were quite pleased when the rain stopped as we neared our destination. As we climbed up the “monkey stairs” and entered the Sun Gate, there was a mystical fog blanketing the ruins. We were unable to view Machu Picchu until we gained more ground. As we entered the magnificent wonder of these ruins, the clouds would rapidly pass by and then reappear, pass by and reappear. This gave us plenty of opportunities to wander the site and experience amazing photo opportunities all while being inside a mystical fog. Our team all agreed that the foggy environment had given us an experience that wouldn’t be able to be experienced from our photos but will last in our own memories for a lifetime. The final few hours at Machu Picchu, we realized that the site, as spectacular as it was, was not the real pinnacle of our trip; it turned out to be a wonderful destination but our 4-day journey together was the real prize of the trip.

For some of us, this was our most difficult physical adventure to date; for others, it was the completion of a dream to be at a historical landmark that had been of intense interest to us for many years. For all 8 of us, though, this was a true team effort that built a bond that we had never expected but will never forget.

The final few days of our trip left us time to enjoy Peru’s capital city, Lima. This was the icing on the cake for our team. It was true relaxation and we could be found napping poolside or gallivanting through Lima’s famous water fountains as if we were ten years old again. The inevitable long trip home was bittersweet – the end of a life-changing adventure and also the start of friendships that we plan to carry on throughout our lives. We may have begun the trip not knowing many of our teammates, but we finished by looking toward our next group adventure. Pictures and words can never give full justice to the memories that we gained through this trip.