May 2016 - The Incal Trail

After years of talking about it, we finally made it to the Inca trail! It was both the hardest and most rewarding hike we've ever done, featuring mountain vistas, Inca ruins, and lots of birds. This gallery has the pictures from the first two days, in which we climbed from 9,000 feet to a peak of 13,780 feet, before settling in for the night at 11,000 feet. Days 3 and 4 featured less vertical change, but still beautiful views and a number of Inca ruins - you can see them here. At the bottom are a panorama and video from the highest point, Dead Woman's Pass, at 13,780 feet.

The Inca Trail!	The hike starts off in Arizona	An alternate universe Arizona that also has a glacier
The Inca Trail!	The hike starts off in Arizona	An alternate universe Arizona that also has a glacier
	It sprinkled for about 15 minutes, just long enough to get our panchos on	Supplies making their way down the trail
	It sprinkled for about 15 minutes, just long enough to get our panchos on	Supplies making their way down the trail
An old Inca tomb, high up on the mountain side	A pretty awesome Inca platform area	A large set of ruins down the hill
An old Inca tomb, high up on the mountain side	A pretty awesome Inca platform area	A large set of ruins down the hill
		The scenery fairly quickly changed to become much more green
		The scenery fairly quickly changed to become much more green
	After hiking up to a higher point in the valley	Camp 1
	After hiking up to a higher point in the valley	Camp 1
The whole group	A band-tailed seedeater bird eating fruit for breakfast	A sparkling violet-ear hummingbird
The whole group	A band-tailed seedeater bird eating fruit for breakfast	A sparkling violet-ear hummingbird
The dead woman's pass, way off in the distance - our main objective for the day	Hiking along
The dead woman's pass, way off in the distance - our main objective for the day	Hiking along
Waiting for a lone donkey to pass	A nice forested area around a river
Waiting for a lone donkey to pass	A nice forested area around a river
		A red-crested cotinga showing off his crest
		A red-crested cotinga showing off his crest
Hiking through the forest
Hiking through the forest
Quite the flower	A creamy-crested spinetail, sporting a bleached mohawk	Really showing off his style
Quite the flower	A creamy-crested spinetail, sporting a bleached mohawk	Really showing off his style
Another creamy-crested spinetail		Possibly some sort of seedeater
Another creamy-crested spinetail		Possibly some sort of seedeater
	Climbing into the mountains	Our first llama sighting, it was very exciting
	Climbing into the mountains	Our first llama sighting, it was very exciting
An incredibly ugly insect	The long stretch of stairs up to the pass
An incredibly ugly insect	The long stretch of stairs up to the pass
Taking a breather		The top of dead woman's pass, at 13,830 feet the highest point I've ever been to
Taking a breather		The top of dead woman's pass, at 13,830 feet the highest point I've ever been to
The view looking back from the pass - we had started the hike that day at the very bottom of the valley	The other side of the pass	Catching our breath at the top
The view looking back from the pass - we had started the hike that day at the very bottom of the valley	The other side of the pass	Catching our breath at the top
	The trail heading out the other side of the pass	Literally miles of stairs
	The trail heading out the other side of the pass	Literally miles of stairs
	A white-winged cinclodes	Hiking our way down!
	A white-winged cinclodes	Hiking our way down!
The clouds rolling into the valley	A shining sunbeam hummingbird... I think	Enjoying some nectar
The clouds rolling into the valley	A shining sunbeam hummingbird... I think	Enjoying some nectar
In action!	A waterfall off the trail
In action!	A waterfall off the trail
Moonset
Moonset