Inca Trail Difficulty: The Hike to Machu Picchu

Our Group – If We All Can, You Can

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If you thought only young, super-fit, marathon runners or cross-fitters completed the Inca Trail, then you’ll be surprised by our group. With an average age over 35, three people over 50 including one lady who was 70 and a guy with a heart condition, we weren’t exactly your stereotypical hikers. But unlike a lot of hikes, the Inca Trail is more ‘interested tourist’ than ‘ironman’ and unless you have a serious medical condition, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to make the memorable journey. If we can, you can.

If we can, you can… We had the gear, but not much else.

The Distance

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The Inca Trail difficulty starts with the distance. It’s 45 km (26 miles) in total, covered over 4 days and 3 nights. Every tour operator is slightly different but the hike is generally broken down into:
Day 1: 11 km (6.8 miles).
Day 2: 12 km (7.5 miles).
Day 3: 16 km (10 miles).
Day 4: 4 km (2.5 miles)

For each of the first three days, you can expect to walk for between six and nine hours. The final day is around two hours of hiking before you reach Machu Picchu. For most, including our group, the distance wasn’t an issue. It’s the altitude that really tested some… including me.

Inca Trail Altitude & Distance: The Hike to Machu Picchu.

Altitude and the Challenge of Dead Woman’s Pass

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The altitude is the most difficult aspect of the Inca Trail for many people. If you have never hiked at altitude before, then you know that the lack of oxygen can cause even basic exercise to seem tricky at first. Almost everyone who hikes the Inca Trail will be affected by the altitude to some extent. If you have spent two to three days acclimatising in Cusco beforehand, the altitude on most of the hike will not cause you any issues. If you’re worried, make sure you read our post on How to Prevent Altitude Sickness Naturally HERE.

The biggest challenge of the Inca Trail is the infamous Dead Woman’s Pass. At 4,215 m (13,828 ft) it is the highest point of the trail and by far the most gruelling. As the trail gets higher, there are less trees and you become more exposed to the elements – think hot sun, cold winds or torrential rain. Climbing over 1,000 m in the space of four to six hours will definitely take its toll on the body. But the stunning views and sense of achievement at the top are well worth the effort.

I had a cold at the time so was struggling to breathe and needed to stop and have a breather every 10 or so minutes. But I made it to the top fairly easily thanks to my rest-breaks. If I can do it with exhausted adrenals (a story for another day), a parasite and a cold, then I really believe you can do it too. You healthy human!

Me pretending to be a dead woman… And by ‘pretending’, I mean actually feeling like a dead woman.

The Stairs

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For all you healthy peeps with great cardiovascular fitness, the stairs might just provide the biggest challenge. Whether it is the never-ending staircase up to Dead Woman’s Pass or the uneven downhill challenge of the famous ‘Gringo Killer’ steps, every day will feel like leg-day on the Inca Trail.

With uneven steps that vary in narrowness and height, trekking poles are a huge help. You might only use them on the downhill parts, but if it means you don’t roll an ankle, it’ll be well worth the small investment. They’ll also help save your knees from the repeated pounding, stair after stair, with the full weight of your body and pack pushing your joints to the limit. But with the right technique and a suitably slow pace, the stairs will be but another step on your journey to Machu Picchu (pun intended!).

I was really lucky in that the steps didn’t bother me anywhere near as much as the altitude did. But Jesse has slightly dodgy knees and he struggled with the downhill steps (pictured below) the most out of all the Inca Trail challenges.

Gringo Killer Steps… the stairs only add to the Inca Trail Difficulty.

Inca Trail Weather

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The weather can make a big difference to your Inca Trail difficulty. Heavy rain, freezing nights, blazing sun and howling winds are all possible on your four day hike to Machu Picchu. If you pick the right months though (see below), the days will generally be warm and dry, and the nights mostly above freezing. Just make sure you pack warm clothes for the evenings and a decent sleeping bag.

Aim for the dry season if you can (May to October) and the weather should not cause you too much trouble. We went in May and had brilliant weather. There were a few small showers as we passed over Runquraway Pass, otherwise just lots of sunshine.

Follow the sunny symbols and ease the Inca Trail difficulty… a little, anyway.

Camping

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For avid campers, it’s a walk in the park. But, for anyone more familiar with a hotel room than a dome tent, camping for three nights straight with limited facilities is going to be difficult.

Sleeping on a yoga mat, no proper (flush) toilets and no showers for three days can be a bit of a shock to the system for a lot of hikers. A lot of tour companies will have the porters set up and take down your tents, prepare your meals and wash your dishes. So, it definitely could be worse.

We have had a bit of camping experience spending most holidays at home camping on our beautiful Australian beaches or in the bush so we thought the Inca Trail was really nice. I can see how rain would make it a very wet and muddy experience but again we were so lucky with the weather that the sites were well maintained and the equipment comfortable and dry. Not to mention you’re pretty tired from all the walking, that the dome tent feels like a comfy glampsite once you can get horizontal…

Camping can be tough. But with views like this, the Inca Trail difficulty can be quickly forgotten…

Toilets

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What to say about the toilets… Expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed. They were by far my least favourite part of the hike. I mean, I know I have toilet issues but these were hideous little cubicles of disease-causing human waste. So I mostly used the bush, toilet paper (which you have to put in the rubbish) and my SHEWEE. And I know it’s not the healthiest option, but I avoided doing a poop on the trail completely. So I really can’t comment about how that would go. I blame the altitude, which actually slows down your bowels.

My advice: wear your headlamp so you can see what is going on, always have your own toilet paper handy and a plastic bag for waste, roll up your pants so they don’t drag through the mess on the toilet floor, use copious amounts of sanitiser afterwards and please have a plan for storing your shoes so they don’t come into contact with your stuff when you have them inside your tent at night. We used an old towel that was designated ‘door mat’. It was rolled up each morning and kept in a separate plastic bag. I wasn’t taking any chances with poop-contamination.

The Weight You Carry

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Here’s the good news: you don’t have to carry a huge weight, if you don’t want to. If you hire a half porter (included in most tours), they will carry 6 kg / 13 lbs of your personal items for you. This will usually include your; tent and sleeping bag (2.5 kg / 5.5 lbs), mattress (1 kg / 2 lbs) and change of clothes (2.5 kg / 5.5 lbs). All your food and cooking equipment will also be carried for you on most tours.

That just leaves you to carry a daypack with personal items you need throughout the day. Water, snacks, camera, sunscreen, poncho, etc. It is recommended that you keep this amount below 6 kg / 13 Ibs to make the hike as easy as possible.

Gotta love the Porters – these guys are a saviour!

Why we hiked the Inca Trail with G-Adventures

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We hiked the Inca Trail with G-Adventures and couldn’t recommend them highly enough – you can find the tour we did HERE. We chose this company for a few reasons:
> They are the largest tour operator on the Inca Trail, with around 10,000 permits for the Inca Trail every year so we knew our tour date was guaranteed.
> Their commitment to supporting the local community – including a number of social enterprises in the villages from which the guides and porters come from.
> All the positive reviews we read online – which gave us just another level of comfort about choosing G-Adventures.

The stairs of London’s Hyde Park Corner Tube Station were great training for the steps to Dead Woman’s Pass.

The reward is so worth the challenge

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I don’t care what people say, a day trip to Machu Picchu by train or bus just isn’t the same. Walking the path of the Incas, arriving through the Sun Gate and approaching the ancient ruins from above is an incredibly magical experience that the standard tourist route just can’t compete with.

And for anyone who needs a little reminder about the beauty that awaits at the ending of this gruelling four day hike, these shots are for you… For me, these make the Inca Trail difficulty oh so worth it.

The walk from the Sun Gate down to Machu Picchu.

Watching the sunset over Machu Picchu after hiking the Inca Trail is a memory to last a lifetime.

Watching the sunset over Machu Picchu after hiking the Inca Trail is a memory to last a lifetime.

Have you hiked to Machu Picchu? What did you think of the Inca Trail Difficulty? Let us know in the comments below.