Another early wakeup, 2:30am. This one slightly earlier than yesterday’s. But today’s was much more difficult but absolutely work the struggle in the end. Today we hiked to the top of Rainbow Mountain, standing 16,500ft above sea level. Upon waking up, we all rushed to put on layers and prepare for the cold and high altitude that would come for us. At 3am our journey began, and we were driven 3hrs to a location just outside the entrance to the hike to have breakfast and mentally prepare for the hike. We fueled up on bread and coca tea and were ready to go. We started the hike around 7:30am at 14,000ft above sea level. The area was beautiful, we were surrounded by alpaca’s eating in the distance, snowcapped Andes mountains on one side, and part of the Rainbow Mountain mountain rage on the other. We were told the hike was 6km in length, would take roughly 2 hours to get to the top, was 70% uphill. It wasn’t easy to breathe and 20 minutes into the hike we already needed a break to catch our breathes and drink water. Along the hike there is an option to take a horse to the top because of the difficulty. Proceeding onward, our group began to split as some proceeded at faster paces than other and our guide brought up the rear with her oxygen tank if anyone needed it. I learned during this hike that it is as much a mental struggle as a physical one. And what worked for me was to take it slow very slowly and breathe consistently. Nearing the end, you can see people at the top of the final hill who have already made it and are enjoying the view. This motivated me to give it all I had and push the final feet to the top. When I reached the top at around 9am, the view was incredible and reaffirmed that the hike was worth the struggle. Right in front of you is the 7 colored Rainbow Mountain and its range extending behind it into the distance. It is unlike anything I’ve seen, and our guide told us that the colors come from copper, zinc, sulfur, and iron in the mountain.
Opposite the mountain we saw the Andes and they too we incredible to see. It was very cold at the top and we had to reapply the layers we shed during the hike. Nonetheless, we still stayed at the top for an hour taking pictures and enjoying the views before hiking down. The hike back down was not nearly as difficult as the way up and we were back at the bottom in about 45 minutes. Afterwards, we got back in our van and headed to get lunch at the same place we had breakfast. Some of us were beginning to feel the symptoms of altitude sickness from the hike and were uneasy and not feeling well. The 3 hour journey home consisted of a lot of sleep and the rest of the evening was spent recovering and nursing sore muscles. Although we were not ready for the difficulty of the hike, it was well worth it and a great way to end our time in beautiful Peru. Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain were both great rewards for all the hard work we did volunteering the previous weeks in the jungle and I am very grateful for such an amazing experience overall.
-Chris Hudson
EGL Family Abroad 