day 6 - the most beautiful day

The guides had told us that the 3rd day of the trail was the most beautiful. They were not kidding!

Again, Snoopy and I got a head start since there were two smaller passes to cross and today was going to be a long one. Snoopy and I set out about 45 minutes earlier than the rest, despite my altitude sickness.

In the distance, it looks like clouds, but it's the glacier capped mountains peeking over the clouds 

water falls

glacier capped mountains in the distance

landscape on the way to the 2nd pass

an Inca well

Inca ruin on the way up to the 2nd pass 

Because I had such little precious time,  I kept going and Snoopy snapped pictures while he could. My instructions were to look at the sites, get pictures and keep moving. I couldn't stop. 

Landscape on the way to the 2nd pass

The ruin from a little higher

Squee! We made it to the pass! There was another sign, and I nearly kissed it too! I hated the climbs! 

On the way down from the 2nd pass 

We started encountering tunnels on the 3rd day

Look out point, landscape after the 2nd pass

We came across this Inca ruin, but I couldn't stop. Snoopy could have gone up, grabbed pictures and then caught up to me, but we didn't realize how much progress we had made. We kept going. 

From the Inca Ruin, we could see more down below. We would pass it on the way to the lunch site. 

We made it down, and were crossing the bridge 

We keep on trucking and then BAM! There is a llama, right there on the trail! We arrived at our lunch site very early, but enjoyed the break. 

After a quick bite to eat, we set out again before the group. Here is a waterfall from the distance. 

This is what the trail looked like for a lot of the 3rd day. Trail, then drop off of a cliff. I usually stayed mountain side. 

tunnels!

View from the 3rd pass. The 3rd pass was a lot easier. But it was followed by the Gringo Killer.  A lot of people struggled on the Gringo Killer, but I did all right. As I said before, descending is easier for me than ascending, but this is the reverse of most people.

The Gringo Killer takes you by another ruin. I enjoyed watching the Condors fly as Snoopy took as many pictures as we could. Same instructions, I had to keep moving. Snoopy was good  

Snoopy climbed up to get some good views while I watched his pack below

The Gringo Killer... continued...

winding staircase on the Gringo Killer 

This cave had such steep steps, I had to sit on the steps and slide down like a child. I got my butt really dirty!  

We made it to the Intipata ruin overlooking the river. The rest of the group caught up and we took fun pictures of each other over this river. 

Llama hanging at the bottom of the terraces

Machu Picchu is on the other side of that mountain. 

On the way to our last campsite, we came across more llamas!