Inca Trail - Day 3, The Longest Day

I think it is safe to say that most of us felt a bit of relief after completing day 2. If there was any day to be worried about, that was the day. Gerson, our Inca Trail guide, said day 3 was considered more difficult by some because it was the longest mileage day on the trail. The first part of the day would take us up and down two more passes there were not as high as Dead Woman's Pass. The first part of the day would once again be uphill.

Stephanie with another inspiring lady we met along the trail who had major surgery just 7 months previously. Since multiple groups had the same timeline, we would often see the same folks many times along the trail and get to know them.

Just an idea of what the porters carried
while hiking  up and down the mountains

Team Loco: Mary, Me, Gerson, Jo, Zeo,
Stephanie, Matt, Marg, (Ines taking the pic)

During the morning portion, Gerson would give us stopping points so we could regroup, and he could give us more info on the Incas.  

Mary at some Inca Ruins

I spent much of the morning hiking along on my own and waiting for the group at the meetup point.  Unfortunately my Garmin also ran out of juice shortly after the hiking began. I started out the day feeling less than stellar. My day began with a headache, and "altitude anorexia" was taking its toll. Even though we were hiking for hours, I would feel completely full after only a little bit of food. It was nice to get out on my own for a bit. After all, I did grow up as an only child. :-) After a lunch that I mostly fed to Matt, Jo gave me some migraine medication which really did the trick.

Mary and Marg on the trail - lunch ahead!

Right about this time, the downhill began. Marg and I are both downhill types. When I am running trails, I fly by folks on the downhills. Often times, they catch up to me on the uphills. With no more headache, I was feeling great! Marg and I flew down that mountain. I have no idea how many folks we passed, but we went by quite a few. It felt really great to stretch the legs.

One little fella we passed on the trail.

Look!  More downhill!

Marg and I were enjoying the downhill so much, we opted for the long route when we came to the fork in the trail where we could choose a shortcut or more ruins.We arrived at the next campsite very late in the day after a 10 mile journey. Once the rest of the clan arrived, it was time for dinner and prep for the next day. My day started out really rough, but it wound up being one of my best days on the trail. The next morning would bring a 3:30am wake up and the the final day on the trail ending at Machu Picchu!

What it looked like before the Garmin died.