Peru: Hiking the Inca Trail

Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life, by far. We knew that it was going to be a rough 4 days on the trail, covering a lot of ground each, but we didn't realize it would actually be that taxing on us. We were all in good shape, and I even ran stairs for the past three months to prepare for it. And it still kicked my trash. But in the end, it was worth it.

Here is our group at the trail head of the Inca Trail. Yes we are carrying our packs, which we found out we would be doing about 1 hour before hiking. Not our idea of fun, but the show must go on. So we strapped on our packs and hoped for the best. I'm actually incredibly proud that we hiked with our 30 pound packs for two days, seeing as how we really weren't prepared to.

Here is a view from the first day of hiking. Incredibly beautiful and breathtaking. Pretty much every day was this good or better.

Here is proof that I am hardcore. I'm carrying my backpack, bed role, sleeping bag, day pack, and two water bottles. It was HEAVY, but I can take it.

We hiked past several Incan ruins each day, which was a great chance to rest and enjoy the history of Peru. Here Zack, Jocelyn, and I are surveying the view of the valley below.

On Day 2, we got up early to hike up the next mountain, and about 1-2 hours into our hike the clouds rolled in below us, which made for some beautiful pictures. I couldn't get over how lush the mountains were and how incredible the view was.

The group taking a break on Day 3 on an overlook. Here you can see just how far up into the mountains we were. We climbed across and over three mountains on Day 3, which was the best day of the hike.

On Day 4 we got up at 4 am to hike to the Sun Gate and then down into Machu Picchu. Here you can see me and Katie hiking down the 1-2 hour hike into Machu Picchu.

We spent the entire day exploring Machu Picchu. I may or may not have stolen Todd's camera and taken a million pictures. His camera was incredible, so it was a lot of fun to take really incredible pictures (some are featured below).

This is one of my favorite pictures of Machu Picchu, which I took of course. It really was this beautiful and breathtaking.

I also took this opportunity to catch Jocelyn being sassy after she accidentally dropped Todd's hat into a sacred fountain. Oops!

Yes this is me next to a llama. Yes that is Machu Picchu behind me. Yes we are on an overhang and I thought the llama was going to kick me off.

While exploring with Jocelyn and Todd, we found this incredible overhang. Don't I look hardcore!