We woke up in the morning to light rain and clouds. As I just mentioned, this actually added to the experience. I know in past blogs I've written a lot, but this time I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking. Take some extra time in each photo to look at the details and realize what you're seeing, imagining what it must be like to have seen this in person. Pictures never really capture the full experience.
The previous and next picture are sights from the first small pass and archeological site with the same name, Runkurakay, situated at about 13,000 feet. It is believed that this small oval structure purpose's was a watchtower. We descended towards Yanachoca (Black Lagoon), entered the cloud forest, and finally arrived at Sayacmarca. The steep staircase picture onward was taken at or near Sayacmarca...which was probably the most impressive area of the entire hike not counting the final day at Machu Picchu.
We then continued up an easy climb to the third mountain pass and archeological site, Phuyupatamarca. This name means "town over the clouds". We then followed the trail father down to Winaywayna, another impressive Inca complex and near our final campsite of the trip. A special note about the last two pictures. At one point near the end of the day we came upon a very cool looking spiral stone staircase. The last two pictures were taken from the top and bottom of the stone paved stairs. I couldn't help but thinking the last picture reminded me of something straight from a Tolkien epic made into a movie. If you look extremely close, you can actually see Frodo Baggins hiding in one of the many shadows...
