Day 2 Inka Trail - Peak at 4200m (13,776 feet)

Day 2 of the Inka Trail is the most physically challenging of the four days. Although our team only hiked a rough total of 6km this day, those 6km are, for the most part, straight up...all day. Within the 5 hours trekking up, we'll have hiked over 1000 metres in altitude. And of course, then we still have to climb down for two hours.

We rise at approximately 6am, and snack on a quick tea and granola bars. We are advised by our wise guide that we will have breakfast at 9am once we reach the porters, and after the first 3 hours of our climb. It's easier to hike when you've eaten less in the early morning hours, and a good hearty breakfast will keep us going for the next 4 hours of the day afterwards.

And so we begin the trek. Not much talking, if any at all, is going on between our normally energetic group. Today's focus is the climb. The first 3 hours pass, and although the trek is upwards, it's not dauntingly so. This part of the trek takes place within the trees, in the shade, and is quite enjoyable.

However, after our breakfast of a Peruvian porridge (oats and quinoa), that all changes. The next two hours are straight up, no coverage, no beautiful wildlife to look at and directly in the sun. All you'll want to do is just get the hell up to the top, and in many cases, as I looked upwards to our goal, I thought: there's no way in hell I'll ever get there. But of course, I did.

The altitude, for myself, took a toll at this point. Once at roughly 4000m, I found my heart began to race a little faster than normal, deep breaths were harder to take, a strong headache began to set in, and worsened on the way up the additional 200m. All this seemed best to ignore really, and just go at your own pace. These symptoms, I found, quickly subsided once we began to make the trek down the other side of the mountain.

As hard as it may seem when you're in the moment, after it was all said and done, I would've gone back immediately and done it over again.

We reached camp early on Day 2, around 2:30pm, and therefore had the day to rest and relax. As my one team mate informed me around 8pm, and I think most of us agreed, "my legs haven't stopped shaking until about 30 minutes ago..."