Highest Point on Inca Trail: Peru Day Seven

Last Updated on January 24, 2024 by Tori Pines

The Inca Trail is a 4 day hike at a very high altitude in the Andes Mountains. The hike is beautiful and difficult both physically and mentally. It’s emotional and so much fun. And it ends at the incredible Machu Picchu. The altitude starts around 9,000 feet above sea level but the highest point on the Inca Trail is Dead Woman’s Pass located 13,828 feet above sea level.

My sister Ally and I planned a ten day trip to Peru, 8 of which were spent on a tour with G Adventures. I journaled all along the adventure to share with you, the stories of our experience. Today, we are on day two hiking the four day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu.

If you haven’t read days 1-6 of our adventures around Peru, I encourage you to do so first and then come back here to read about how we conquer the highest point on the Inca Trail.

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This morning we woke up in our warm tent to the “knocking” of our porters around 5am. They woke us up with a soft “Buenos Dias” and a hot cup of coca tea. We groggily wake up and start to prepare for the day. In 30 minutes, we have to get dressed and be ready to go before breakfast.

We slept well, despite it being 20 degrees outside and sleeping on the ground. And, we both woke up once and went to the bathroom, it was pitch black and a little terrifying. I could just picture the pumas jumping out of the woods at us. (Yes the pumas live in the Andes mountains. Yes, I don’t love the idea of that. But honestly, when you’re just trying to make it along this trail, everything else seems so much less terrifying. I kind of didn’t care at all by the end of the trail.)

When we open the flap the air is freezing cold and there is dew covering our tent. Brushing our teeth on the trail is interesting, as we are doing it with our water filter bottles and just kind of stand off to the side by the woods. I camped a lot growing up, but it was mostly at girl scout camp or a campsite where we had facilities. While I fully expected these things, it was still something to get used to.

We all met for breakfast as the porters packed up our tents and got everything ready to go for us. They served us an incredible meal of oatmeal (or something similar, still not 100% sure what it was) and crepes. They even drew fancy designs on them, just look at that condor made out of chocolate!

I don’t think I’ll ever get over how impressed I was with the food on the trail. The chefs are so talented and very good to us. For more info about Peruvian food, read my article, Peru Food Facts!

As we ate, our guide Gerry chatted with us about the day ahead. Today would be the most difficult day. We would be hiking to the highest point on the Inca Trail. They call it Dead Woman’s Pass.

They call the highest point on the Inca Trail Dead Woman’s Pass because the shape of the mountain looks like a woman laying down. I told Gerry that I didn’t like the name, as we were women and I fully intended on not dying on this pass. So, I suggested something a little less terrifying, Sleepy Woman’s Pass. Gerry laughed and agreed, and wouldn’t you know he referred to it as “Sleepy Woman’s Pass” the rest of the trip. He is too funny.

We sipped our tea and coffee and got mentally prepared to begin the hardest part of the entire trail. I was nervous, but mostly just excited to get it over with and on to the best parts of the hike. Day 3 is supposed to be the best day and by far the most beautiful. (Spoiler alert: Day 3 was most certainly gorgeous but it was not a walk in the park like everyone makes it out to be…I have a very strong opinion about day 3 that you won’t want to miss. So join my email list to hear all about when day 3 is posted to the blog!)

And just like that we were on our way. We left just before 7am. The minute you leave the campsite you are hiking straight up. It’s so early that it is still incredibly cold out, so you begin all bundled up in several layers with your gloves and hat on, but within minutes you’re sweating from the treacherous hike and stripping off your warm clothes. But the most important part is to have a warm, fleece lined hat, because no matter how hot you get hiking, your ears remain freezing cold.

The morning hike is through a new terrain, starting to look like a jungle. The river is flowing hard next to the trail and the jungle and foliage thickens. You can hear birds in the trees and the air feels slightly wet and cold on your skin.

The hike is difficult and we have to stop to catch our breath every few minutes. I don’t mind having an excuse to stop and take photos either.

It’s at this point that we start to see other groups hiking the trail alongside us. A group of older English people spend some of the morning hiking near us. They are kind and it’s nice to see more people working together to complete this incredible feat.

We stop for a long break after a few hours where there is a bathroom and a little stand with drinks for sale. We use the bathroom because, like I said yesterday, we will take advantage of every toilet possible because very soon we will not see another one along the trail. But stopping means we immediately are cold and have to throw some layers back on. It’s around 8:30am and we are on the shaded side of the mountain.

After 5 hours of hiking, at 11am, we make it to the last bathroom stop before camp. It’s also the last place where we see a real toilet. And, the last drink and snack stand along the trail. It’s quite remarkable that they haul all of these goods up here to sell to us. But, it gives them an opportunity to earn a living, so some people in the group buy some things. Prices go way up the higher you go, and at this stand they are 4 times what they charged at the beginning. But, it was still only like 12 soles, or 3 dollars for a Gatorade which really is not bad at all compared to prices in the states.

We rest here for a while, and other groups relax here as well. There’s a puppy who lives up here in this tiny village. The thought that she might have climbed all the way up here at some point is wild. But she looks so much like my sweet pup at home it made me miss her.

From here, we have another two hours to hike up to the highest point on the Inca Trail, and then 2 more to hike down. At camp we will finally get lunch, tea time and dinner.  So to say snacks were a necessity today would be an understatement. We are burning so many calories hiking that we have to fuel up often. Good thing I brought lots of yummy treats.

We started on the last two hours up, little did I know they would possibly be the hardest of my life. The jungle disappeared behind us and it was just huge stone steps, some as high as 2 feet. The sun was out in full force now and we were sweating as we climbed. The air was getting incredibly thin, and my lungs were struggling. I was stopping constantly.

Not only was it hard on your legs and lungs, the altitude also made me very lightheaded. I would get so dizzy. Now, to really paint the picture, we are hiking along the side of a mountain. To the right of us, the trail ends and other than a few measly bushes, it’s straight down.

So I’m standing here out of breath and dizzy, AND imagining myself passing out and falling down the mountain. So its safe to say I stopped a lot to make sure that didn’t happen. Okay so the trail isn’t that dramatic, but I would get hurt so I was being careful.

My sister Ally would be mad if I left out the part about how throughout these two hours I had the phrase “I hate this” on repeat with each step. It was really really really hard, and yes, I probably hated those two hours. But I would do them again and again for that experience. And I definitely will do it again!

But also note this. You’re exhausted, hot, out of breath and all you want is to sit down for a minute and catch your breath. But your only options are a hard, sharp rock. For four days, you can’t sit on anything soft. It’s quite remarkable how much you end up missing your couch of all things.

But alas, we finally make it to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass (I mean Sleepy Woman’s Pass, obviously), the highest part of the Inca Trail. There’s a marker at the top of the mountain signifying the pass and the altitude. And man I clung to that thing with dear life. I was so happy that the worst was behind us. Or so we thought…(read all about day 3 for that story)

We sat at the top of the mountain taking in the view, taking photos and celebrating as a group our achievement. We climbed up to 13,828 feet above sea level, the highest point on the Inca Trail!

Then, two female porters arrived at the top of the mountain. These porters were with another group. They asked our guide to take their picture. That’s when we found out it was their very first time hiking the Inca Trail! It was so cool seeing them dressed in their beautiful traditional clothing. They were so proud and excited.

After our break enjoying the views, we began the descent to camp. The stone steps were incredibly steep and uneven, you have to be so careful. I have runners knee, where my kneecap in my left knee is out of place and grinds against my thigh bone (Yes I’m 26 and falling apart, lol) so going down was especially hard on my knee. But my lungs were happy and I just was so glad to be going down and not up. 

My sister and I hung with our two group mates Aaron and Traci most of the hike. About an hour of slowly making our way down some of us had run out of water. Gerry called up ahead to camp using their radio and some of the porters hiked back up the trail to meet us with water and a sandwich. It was the sweetest gesture. The service here is seriously 5 stars.

The sandwich was the best I have had my whole life. Maybe it’s because I was in the middle of the Andes mountains and I was exhausted but I still dream about that sandwich.

Finally at 3:30pm we arrived at camp. Lunch was ready and waiting for us, so we sat down and devoured our meals. We rested in our tents for a while and enjoyed our gorgeous view of the mountains.

Before dinner, we met with the porters and chefs and they introduced themselves to us. Gerry translated everything so we could learn their names, what village they are from, how old they are and how long they had been working as a porter.

We then introduced ourselves to them in our best Spanish. We told them our names, where we were from, how old we were and what we do for a living.

Ever since that point our sweet porter Mario called us by name and greeted us with the sweetest smiles. We loved Mario.

After dinner, Gerry sat with a group of us and taught us a little about the stars. Since we are out in the middle of the woods, the stars were so incredibly bright and you could see thousands of them. I also thought it was cool how in the southern hemisphere, you can see totally different stars and constellations than we are used to seeing at home.

Be sure to download a constellations app on your phone before you leave in case your guide doesn’t have one! And, bring a power bank to charge up your phone along the trail. There may not be service out there, but you’ll want to take a thousand photos and look at the stars at night. This is the power bank that I adore and bring everywhere with me.

We went to bed, again in 20 degrees, but were cozy in our little tent. I laid there thinking about how proud I was that I conquered the highest point on the Inca Trail. I also laid there thinking about how glad I was that it was over. Until next time, of course.

Tomorrow we take on the longest and most beautiful day of the Inca Trail! Be sure to read tomorrow’s journal when we experience the effects of the Inca Trail altitude sickness during day eight of our Peru trip, and read all about the rest of our adventures through beautiful Peru!