The morning arrived overcast and damp. Catching the first bus up to Machu Picchu at 6:30, I wandered up to the north end of the site briefly to take a few more photos under vastly different lighting conditions from the afternoon before. The clouds, mist and fog that drifted over the site leant an appropriately mysterious air to the scene. Temperatures were comfortably in the 60s (F) but the occasional mist and drizzle lobbied for a waterproof shell. The approach to the trailhead is visible in this photo, between the two thatch-roofed shelters in the center left, in front of the rocky ridge leading south to Huayna Picchu.

The trailhead itself is through a gate in the fence in the lower center of the photo to the right. A small hut is normally occupied by a worker who requires that you sign in and out from the trail (so they can notify the next-of-kin, I suppose). The trail opens at 7:00, and when I got there about 7:10, the gate was open but there was no sign of a worker nor a sign-in book, so I left a business card stuck between two boards of the counter and headed onto the trail.

About five minutes after passing through the fence, I met a British family who had started down the trail but turned around after about ten minutes in, having been spooked by the exposure along a knife-edge ridge that must be traversed between Machu Picchu and the start of the climb up to Huayna Picchu.

Shortly after meeting the British family, I could appreciate why they might have been spooked. The trail ahead dropped 100 feet and the exposure to one side was significant, although the trail was comfortably wide and not particularly threatening, unless you don't like looking 1,000' down to a jungle river.

Once past the ridge, the trail rises steeply up the slopes of Huayna Picchu, alternating between switchbacks and stretches of Inca or modern steps. The steepest pitches are provided with either rope or steel cable handrails for stability. With the morning drizzle, the rocks were wet and a bit slick, so the handrails were appreciated for safety's sake as well as assistance in the climb.

Near the summit, there is a grotto formed by several house-sized boulders leaning together. It takes a bit of hands-and-knees crawling to traverse the grotto, and you are then left in a gap among the summit boulders. The scramble to the summit itself involves a couple of third-class moves, mantling up on a 20° sloping slab of granite with several hundred feet of air under its downhill edge and then scrambling up to the perch carved out of the summit boulder itself. It is a comfortable seat, probably carved by the Incas so a lookout could stand there and survey the whole of Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail leading down from the Sun Gate in the saddle a couple of miles north of Machu Picchu.

I ran into three other intrepid souls, variously from Britain, Singapore and Germany, at the summit, so we shared photo duties (and a hand to the least-accomplished of the three, who was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of sliding off the slick stones). The weather then closed in for a while, totally obscuring Machu Picchu, so we headed back down.

Shortly after leaving the summit, you run into the only other third-class move of the climb. A large boulder bisects the trail, and passing it requires hanging onto the shoulder-height edge of the boulder and swinging a leg around the corner to the continuation of the trail, with your nether parts briefly hung out in space. Not the spot to let go, but merely a sporty spot to overcome.

The trail then meanders around the far side of Huayna Picchu until you reach this Inca storehouse. The view down into the Urubamba valley is outstanding.

Just below the storehouse is the toughest pitch of the whole trail. As evident from the two people climbing up from below in the photo to the left, it is steep, with six-inch-wide steps having eight to ten inch vertical spacing. There is no handrail on this pitch and I was happy to have my hiking staff along. Descending the steps required side-stepping because they were simply too narrow to walk straight down, especially still wet from the occasional mists.

The steps then widen out a bit and the rest of the trail becomes easier, but still exposed to one side. The United Nations flair to the eclectic mix of climbers was further enhanced as I met a young man from Kenya on his way back down from the summit.

The Kenyan outpaced me on the way back to the knife-edge ridge. The cloud-forest nature of the area was emphasized by this moss-laden tree and the lupines which grow at this altitude. Interestingly, the Incas took advantage of the different microclimates at varying altitudes and with different solar exposure. At the level of the Urubamba river, below, it is quite tropical, making cultivation of bananas possible. From there upwards, the crops were matched to the changing conditions, with corn, then squash and finally potatoes grown on the terraces at different levels.

Once again back safely to the trailhead. I had started at 7:10 and reached the summit of Huayna Picchu at 8:05, so just under an hour on the way up. We had waited a while on the summit for the weather to clear, but it wasn't promising. I returned to the trailhead about 9:45 after several photo-op stops and conversations with other folks just setting out for the summit. One of the resident lawn mowers greeted me upon my return, posing nicely for a photo after her(?) morning dust bath.

With a handful of third-class moves to punctuate an otherwise first and second class route, Huayna Picchu was an enjoyable first climb of the year. If you have the opportunity to visit Machu Picchu, try to arrange an itinerary that, like ours, includes an overnight stay at Aguas Calientes. The opportunity to see the ruins early in the morning before the hordes of tourists invade is worth the early wakeup call. Plus, the second day affords the opportunity to see the site from the top of Huayna Picchu. Happy climbing!!