What doesn´t kill me pisses me off. Machu Picchu trek day 2
Gina. Cusco, Peru.
Day 2 of the Machu Picchu trek… What can I say about you?
You suck.
I went into this trek knowing full well that the second day was the hardest. You climb over a mountain, there are stone steps, etc, etc. The reality is that you wake up pretty early after hiking a good bit the day before and sleeping (or in my case not really sleeping) on the ground in a tent at high elevations. It´s cold. In my case I´m also sick and I think losing a bit of weight. I started off the day poorly. I was nervous, my stomach hurt and we had to stay together as a group for the first bit until we got to the check point. The rest of the group walks fast. I walk slow. I walk especially slow at 6:30 in the morning when I´ve just eaten a pancake and the trail starts off uphill. I was sad. It was going to be a very long day.
We made it to the checkpoint a good deal behind everyone else. Which means we also left the checkpoint a good deal behind everyone else. One of my big things going into the trip was that I didn´t want to be last because I didn´t want people to have to wait for me. The second day being a free for all made me feel a little bit better about being last, so that was a small mercy. After the checkpoint I was doing okay. It was freezing cold because we were pretty high up in the Andes and we were walking in the forest, so there was no sun. Steve walked behind me so that he wouldn´t leave me behind which made me feel a bit better. He naturally walks faster than me, so if we´re not careful he can get pretty far ahead without realizing it. We walked at a slow and steady pace. Most people would pass us and then we´d pass them a little bit ahead while they were resting. We didn´t really stop for most of the way up the mountain. It was so cold out that even though I was sweating and walking up steps the whole time my legs still felt freezing to the touch. So if we stopped even for a bit it was hard starting again to get the muscles warmed up.
I was in pretty good spirits until we stopped about 2 1/2 hours in for a break and a snack in the first sunny spot we encountered. There was a pretty view and a couple of kids from Boston who passed us on and off were stopping there too, so we had some company. Everything was okay until we were getting ready to start again and then I got sick. I´ll spare you the details. After that I was completely drained. And I knew I still had a long way up to go. I was sad. I was very sad. I tried to think of happy things to get myself in a better frame of mind, but thinking of happy things just made me realize even more how miserable I was. So instead of thinking happy thoughts I got pissed. And I realized that anger is a very powerful thing. Anger got me over that stupid mountain. Anger and my walking stick.
I want to take a moment to say just how important that that stupid 4 sole walking stick was for this trek. It was indispensable. The walking sticks and my awesome hiking boots got me through it. (And anger, of course.) If you do a Machu Picchu trek, buy a walking stick or bring one from home. You won´t regret it.
It took a long time, and a few terse words to Steve (he very sweetly and stupidly would ask how I was doing, but I was so pissed that I would just get mad at him… poor guy!), but we made it to the top of the mountain and even took a couple of triumphant photos before starting down. I usually like down much better than up. I don´t get out of breath, I can do it fairly easily… it usually doesn´t bother me. And for the first 45 minutes this down was a God send. But then it turned into its own sort of torture. Going down a mountain on a path of stone steps that are various widths and steepnesses after already exhausting yourself and your legs going up the mountain is very hard on the legs (and the knees and the ankles). But we made it. I was last, but I was there. I don´t think I´ve ever eaten so quickly in my life. After lunch I passed out–or rather zoned out–in the tent until dinner, and then it was back to sleep again.
It was a long day. It was a bad day. But I made it. I don´t think I ever want to do it again, though. I´m not particularly proud of myself. I don´t feel like I overcame anything. I was stuck in a situation where I had to climb the stupid mountain, so I did it and I was damned pissed about it. I didn´t feel triumphant. I felt tired.
Tags: Liz´s Explorers, Machu Picchu trek, Peru
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