Salkantay Trek - Day 1

The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived. At 4am i am usually deep into my REM cycle, but not today. I cant sleep. Knowing i have to be up in 30 minutes only makes me more anxious. Our trekking guide is scheduled to pick us up outside out hotel at 5:30am where we will saddle up for a long 3 hour van ride to the trail head high above Cusco. We all do one final check of our gear, make sure we have brought everything we need while trying to maintain light packs. I have a duffel bag provided by Chaska Tours that holds my sleeping bag, extra cloths, and a spare pare of boots that the Mules will carry for us. In my day pack i have the essentials. Toilet paper, camera, batteries, head lamp, coca leaves, Rain jacket and rain pants, North Face fleece, and extra tshirts and socks packed into a stuff sack that will double as my pillow for the next 5 days. I throw the pack on and am excited at how light it is, but also curious. I must have forgot something. This doesn't feel right. Of course its not. I forgot to fill my camel pack with water. Tack on another 5lbs.

The van finally arrives and we load up. Here I meet our Trekking guide and other travel companions for the first time. The other guys had met them 2 days before at the trek briefing. Our guide is a Peruvian native named Hubert (pronounced You-bear). An Englishmen named Nick and an Aussie named Beck were traveling together and had been all around the world the past 10 months. Both were in their mid 30s. Steve is a Kiwi who has been traveling South America for about a month (may have been 2 months). He looks to be not a day older then 18, and i consider him to be a funny man when he tells me he is 32. He was telling the truth. I am glad there fellow trekkers joining us on the great adventure as I am always interested in learning about other cultures and meeting new people. Yet at the same time, I almost feel bad for them. They have no idea what they are about to get themselves into traveling with 5 young American males. Here is where I offer my official apology to America. I am sure we managed to repeatedly pour salt on the bleeding wound that is the worlds view on Americans. Countless stories were told on the trail that visibly disturbed our foreign travel companions.

After a 3 hour nauseating van ride up and over the pacific side of the Ande's, we finally arrive at the trail head. Here we meet up with our 3 Horsemen and 4 horses that will be joining us on the trail. Oh yea, and our personal Chef and his assistant who will cook us 3 full course meals a day. Luxury hiking at its best.

While the horsemen are loading up the horses, our chef prepares a quick breakfast for us. Bread, Jelly (or Jam), granola, yogurt, and tea. We are all beginning to feel very good about the trek and as we are gearing up to head out we see a group of people come struggling up the mountain to our site. Struggling is a bit of an understatement. These people are roughing it. They looked like utter hell, trying their hardest to catch a deep breath, sprawling out on the ground cursing to themselves. I think i heard one of them say he wanted to kill himself. Not the best sight for us to see as we head out.

The trail starts out easy, giving us a chance to soak in the sights. The pictures just flat out do not capture the full beauty of the Ande's Mountains. We are currently around 10,000 feet above sea level, giving us panoramic views. The mountains around us are so big that they looks to be a stones throws away, but many of them are miles in the distance. We get about 30 minutes of light trekking before Hubert diverts us on a "short cut" in which we climb 600 feet nearly straight up. He gave us a taste of what we are in for. If you have never been on a high altitude hike before, its hard to imagine how quickly you lose your breath. I tell myself I better get used to this, and fast.

We trek a total of 6.2 miles on day 1 ending in a vast green valley surrounded by snow capped mountains. Our tents are already set up for the night, thanks for the horsemen, and dinner is being prepared by the Chef. We have about an hour left of daylight so we all sit around in the grass and soak it all in. Absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever camped in. Actually, its probably the most beautiful setting I have ever set foot in. As the sun goes down, the temperature drops dramatically. You can feel the cold air filling the valley off the Salkantay Glacier. How can it get any better then this? After dinner, a fight with a stray cat, and a few humiliating stories of our college days, we all sac in for the night. Its cold, around 25 degrees. And windy. At times i would say we had gusts of 50 mph. And 50mph wing off a glacier is COLD! I thought the tent would blow away at some point in the night. Thanks Mountain Hardwear, for making a great high altitude tent. Tomorrow starts the longest day of the trek, a 12.3 mile journey up and over the Salkantay Pass. I better sleep well tonight.