You can barely see our lodge down in the valley.
The day began with a drizzling, cold rain. We dressed warmly and left the lodge wearing our rain gear. Thank goodness we did, because we had either rain, sleet, or snow all day! And this was an 8-hour day!
After about 4-1/2 hours into the trek, we made it to the top! The Salkantay Pass (15,200 feet). Our two traveling companions set the pace for the group by staying in the front all morning. As we neared the pass, Richard and I caught up with them (as painful as it was) and the four Alabama trekkers arrived at the pass first. No trophy, but we did share a flask of Captain Morgan private stock rum.
The rest of today's trek was all downhill. Everyone walked like a bunch of horses, headed back to the barn! We were to stop along the way for lunch, which was served under enclosed tents and cooked onsite by a group of Mountain Lodges of Peru staff. But before we could get there, Richard and I, who were in the middle of the pack, were briefly separated from the group when we couldn’t see anyone in front of us, or behind us because of dense fog! We came to a place that the path seemed to split and opted to stop and wait for the others to catch up, rather than to continue in uncertainty. It was only a few minutes before our assistant guide (at the back of the group) sent the mule driver and mule to lead us to the lunch spot. We had hot soup and pasta and cocoa tea, which warmed us up. At that point, everyone was pretty wet, tired, and ready to get to the lodge. We finally arrived around 4 p.m. Everyone was pretty quiet at dinner due to pure exhaustion. The good news is, we get to sleep in and are not leaving until 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. So back to our room to dry out our clothes, repack, and get ready for another day of adventure.
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