4day 3night Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

I hiked 4 day's with my "big camera" to capture some awesome photos on the trail so I thought I would share some here! (these are a mix of iPhone/camera shots) We did the 4 day 3 night trek to Machu Picchu with Alpaca Expeditions. I highly recommend them, they run the mountain. It was a hard hike but we had the best guides and such a unforgettable experience!

Day one we started the trail after a yummy breakfast at the porters house. (the place the porters pack everything up and finalize things for the trip.

Then we headed off with our group of 15 hikers, 2 guides and 26 porters.

Day 1 was moderate, but man we were still winded. Terrane was dusty, dry with lots of cactus.

We saw our first archaeological site.

Made it to camp and the amazing "green machines" aka the porters had set everything up for us. There was a dining tent, sleeping tents and a kitchen tent. All carried up by the porters.

Day 2: Spirits were high until we realized how long we were going to be hiking. 2 passes and 10+ hours of hiking and it was brutal to say the least. High altitude hiking is HARD!

You can see our campsite way down there in the photo above^

We made it to Dead Woman's Pass (named that because of the shape of the mountain)

No view because of the clouds so I rested and looked like a dead woman..

These were amazing spots to take a break from hiking! Our guides would give us motivational speeches and teach us all about the archeological sites while we took a breather.

Down there you can see where we stopped for lunch and where we stopped for a break. Off to the second pass of the day. ONE small step at a time.

Made it to the second pass and then it was mostly flat down to our campsite with one more archeological stop on the way. It was a extra 100+ steps UP but it was worth it.

Then we finally made it to our campsite!!!

That feeling when you see you tent and you can lay down and rest your feet.

Time for happy hour with our group! Happy hour consisted of freshly popped popcorn, hot chocolate, coca tea and sweets. It hit the spot after the long days of hiking.

Day 3: We had breakfast and then we thanked the porters for their hard work! Then we set off on our easiest day of hiking only 5hrs.

We couldn't of done it without all of these people! Our 2 guides, 26 porters and our new hiking friends.

The porters were amazing carrying up to 50lbs on their backs and absolutely killing it on the trail beating us to each campsite and setting everything up. They carried tents, tables, chairs, food, cooking equipment, sleeping bags, clothes, toiletries and all the necessary things. Truly legends!

Our guides would call this "Inka flat" when we asked how flat the hike was.. up and down. We were soooo sore and our knees were killing! But we were still smiling!

One archeological site after another! They were so beautiful and such a great spot to take a break.

When you finally get to camp and you are trying to figure out what tent is yours so that you can lay down immediately and rest your sore feet!

The best feeling and the best views!!

Lunchtime! Our meals always started with a soup first. Potato, vegetable, asparagus, quinoa soups. They were divine after hiking in the cold. Then shared plates were passed down the table. I didn't get the best food pics but we had stir fry, pasta, rice, mango ceviche, 12 different types of potatoes and vegetables. All of this food was carried through the duration of the hike by porters and cooked by the chef. It was absolutely amazing and delicious!

After lunch we hiked to this beautiful archeological site that was right near our campsite (15 min hike) and it turned out to be one of our favorites! It was stunning.

We enjoyed touring this site and taking in the mysterious views. Then we had our first llama sighting! In the campsite. It was very exciting!

Then we had our last dinner together and the chef made a cake and it was delicious!! It said welcome to Machu Picchu!!

Then we went off to bed early because we had a 3am wake up call for our last day of hiking to Sun gate and then Machu Picchu.

5am we were off! Not without some more killer steps to make it to sun gate.

These steps were killers after 4 days of hiking.

We made it to sun gate and took in the views!

Machu Picchu is to the left of us! (another 1hr hike away)

Machu Picchu!

Never could of made it without our knowledgeable guide who has does the trail 600+ times!

This photo spot was just for the hikers that made the trek to Machu Picchu! Our guide told us it was because we stink haha. But it was really cool to have a secluded spot just for us.

We were so thankful that the clouds were rolling in and out and we got to see the amazing unobstructed views of Machu Picchu! We were worried it was going to be cloudy.

After the photo opportunities at the top of Machu Picchu our guide gave us the full tour!

The llamas are the lawnmowers of Machu Picchu!

Then we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes(the town under Machu Picchu) to grab a well deserved drink with our group and lunch!

After lunch and thanking our guides we headed off to catch the 2hr train ride back to Cusco. This was an unforgettable experience! It was hard but rewarding and absolutely beautiful. We kept pinching ourselves that we were hiking in the Andes. It was a bucket list trip that is for sure!

Then back to Cusco!! We loved Cusco as well. So much history and culture. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful streets and eating all the yummy foods.

The end.