May 7.

We were awakened at 530 am with freshly brewed, very strong coffee as well as a bowl of warm water with which to do our limited morning “freshen up”. All was in preparation for what was to be the big day. This was the day I was most concerned about. I felt I could manage the distance, having been walking and hiking a fair distance in preparation, but not at this altitude. Coupled with my slight anemia I was worried about my oxygen carrying capacity combined with the reduced partial pressure at altitude.

Today we are going to go over Dead Woman’s Pass at 4215m. Only hiking a distance of 10Km but with a vertical gain of 1577m!

But first the morning stretches!

Along the way we got regular glimpses of the pass which surprised me. I expected to be only able to see it as we got close but we were offered regular at times frustratingly tantalizing views. Often it seemed so close, yet we knew it was so far.

As we ascended up into the cloud forest the flora changed. Lots of summer wildflowers adorned the path.

Today was also when the path transitioned from the mostly gravel road that linked the small communities along the path to the true Inca paved pathway. Comment is often made about the number of steps. What I found trickier was the paved parts that were still at a considerable incline. Harder to climb and more inclined to be slippery.

We were warned to watch out for the beguiling large, smooth flat rocks which could quickly become slippery. Thea would also call out any loose ones in my path.

Lunch (at 10am!) was at Llulluchapampa at 3760m where we started to emerge above the forest.

It was then the last push over the top. It was here that I discovered my “oxygenation limit” was at about 4000m. The last 200m of vertical was slow going. I would walk 10 to 20 paces, my heart rate would jump to 150, I would pause to let it come down a bit, and then walk 10-20 more.

Normally we would hike a 12-15 min km. For the trail I was expecting to take 30 min per km. Well on this last section it was 45-60 min per km.

The initial  5km-ish hike to lunch at  Llulluchapampa (with many sight seeing stops along the way) took about 3 hours. The last 2km to the pass took over an hour!

All morning the mist threatened, intermittently obscuring the pass from view, but our luck held and upon arrival the mist cleared so we could marvel at our ascent. But also look agog at the descent ahead of us to our camp below down at Phakaimayo (3596m). When the mist cleared even more we could also see the steep ascent up to Runqurakay (3970m) we were going to have to manage the next day.

We lingered long enough to make our offering of coca leaves to the mountains. But not too long as all that exertion, fluid intake to stave off AMS (and maybe the coca leaves?) meant we were all aiming for the stop just a few hundred metres beyond the summit.

Are these possibly the highest flush toilets in the world?

The descent was also what I was a bit worried about as my tight hamstrings tend to bother me on downhills. Also the risk of slipping was higher. But all was safely negotiated. 

In all 10.5km with 1577m elevation gain. 

An expected bonus at camp was showers! Now before anyone gets too carried away these were water straight from the mountain river icy blast showers. So if the exhilaration of altitude, hypoxia, tachycardia and a little bit of coca wasn’t  enough then this icy spray certainly made you feel alive. 

Many have wondered, as had I, what the derivation of the label “Dead Woman’s Pass” was. In particular was it recognition of the fate of an unfortunate pilgrim? Apparently the Inca trail builders felt the rock configurations at the top, when viewed from certain angles, reminded them of a dead woman. 

All seems a little grim. I mean one could consider she might have just been resting to recover from the arduous climb. The retired Midwife in our group and I thought the formation had a more maternal configuration. In fact you could imagine she was well into second stage given the angle of the neck and chin and the evident hormone induced organ hypertrophy. 

So, maybe, Labouring Woman’s Pass?