After having better sleep than the previous night, I woke up before the porters came knocking on the tent at 5:15am. The waterfall our tent was next to put me into a trance and allowed me sleep soundlessly through the night. It was much needed because the day ahead of us was to be the longest hike so far.

We had been very lucky that the only rain we had experienced up until Day 3 was pretty mild. But we didn’t get away that easily on this day. It was already dumping by the time we ate breakfast and started our trek at 6:30am.

The starting point of Day 3 is at the bottom of the valley between Dead Woman’s Pass and Runkuraqay, called Pacaymayo. Our guide told us only later that it was once used as a burial ground. Good thing he waited until the next day to tell us that because we were all instantly spooked.

The hike immediately started with an up hill battle. After climbing up stairs for five and half hours the previous day, I never wanted to see another stair again. But here I was, pushing myself to keep going and climb higher.

The rain really did not help. Not only was it pouring, but it was cold. The only way to stay warm was to keep moving so my body temperature stayed up, so it felt more like a shower. My waterproof shoes turned out to not be so waterproof, but I’m sure most would experience a similar outcome with the trail we were walking up. It was raining so much that the stairs turned into a waterfall.

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After climbing for a little over an hour, we reached our first Inka sight for the day, Runkuraqay. This sight is considered to be the Sun Temple. The positioning of it overlooks the burial ground we slept at the night before and has a direct view of Dead Woman’s Pass across the way.

From this sight, we kept climbing up and up. I swore at some point we were going to reach the heavens. The only way I was able to distract myself was by searching for the tropical flowers, that during the spring and summertime, cover the land. I was lucky to see a few different species of colorful flowers.

Finally the trail started going down, and then we ran into another Inka sight, the Mother Earth Temple, or Sayamarca. To walk around the ruins, you have to walk up some of the steepest steps I had encountered up until this point. Not only were they steep, but they were very narrow that really only one person should be walking on them at a time.

It wasn’t until about 1 o’clock that we made it to our lunch site. I was so beyond hungry at this point that I stuffed my face. The snacks that I had packed for that day were long gone, so lunch was my saving grace. It restored the energy I needed to keep pushing ahead to get to our final stop for the day, which was about three hours away.

In-between lunch and our final destination, we came upon a couple more Inka ruins. Only a short distance from our lunch spot, we walked downhill to reach Phuyupatamarka, The City in the Clouds. These ruins were gorgeous. The Inka’s brilliantly mastered creating terraces on the side of mountains in order to build temples or even cities. This site was primarily used for a constant water source for miles around.

I somehow managed to hurt the back of my heal on Day 2 and had been struggling with it the whole day. Going uphill was really only an annoying feeling, but it was the going downhill that it felt worse. The path from Phuyupatamarka to our campsite was a mixture of ups and downs and the only way that I seemed to feel fine was by basically jogging. Part of me wanted to slow down and take my time and enjoy the views around me, but the other part, my nagging foot, begged me to just go quickly so it would be over faster.

Although I sped my way through this part of the trail, I still managed to stop and appreciate the gorgeous views that the jungle offered. Since we were up in the Cloud Forest, a fog hung over the trail most of the time. It gave off this spooky, Halloween feeling that I enjoyed capturing.

Before reaching camp, the last Inka sight of the day was Intipata. This sight was used primarily for agriculture. The many different terraces were thought to be used for growing different crops. This sight was visible from Phuyupatamarka and was monumental even from that distance. However, it wasn’t until walking through it that it’s size was massive. Each terrace wall was at least two of me high, and they went on forever. The pictures truly do not do this sight justice for how breath taking it was. In order to reach the bottom, you have to walk through the site and down steep stairs. This was probably my favorite Inka sight along the trail. It was truly impressive.

I would have stayed and stared at this sight forever, but my feet were nagging me to get to camp and relax. Luckily, it was only another 10-15 minutes to our campsite. I had spent nearly 10 hours hiking Day 3, so my sleeping bag was calling my name for a nap.

When dinner came along, we feasted for the last time as a group and had our porters and cooks join us to celebrate making it through the last three days. We ate cake and drank wine as we went around the table giving our thanks and appreciate to the hardest working men I have ever met in my life.

With a full stomach and a happy heart, I snuggled into my sleeping bag knowing that it was the last time I had to sleep on the ground before my final destination, Machu Picchu.