Rob Kroenert
Qonchamarca in the Clouds
Each of the four days of the classic Inca Trail hike is different. The first day is relatively easy, with a gradual uphill climb. The second day is the most physically demanding, as you struggle up almost 4,000 feet to Dead Woman’s Pass and then make a steep descent to the campsite. The third day, when this photo was taken, is the longest. You hike over two more passes and enter the Peruvian cloud forest, passing one incredible Inca ruin after another. The ruin of Qonchamarca is in the bottom-right of this photo, and from the spot where I took this shot the trail turns left, runs up to another ruin (Sayaqmarka), then curves back down again and takes you right past Qonchamarca.
The weather here changed constantly. By the time I made it to that ruin, the valley had cleared completely and then over the next hour it clouded right back up again.
Qonchamarca in the Clouds
Each of the four days of the classic Inca Trail hike is different. The first day is relatively easy, with a gradual uphill climb. The second day is the most physically demanding, as you struggle up almost 4,000 feet to Dead Woman’s Pass and then make a steep descent to the campsite. The third day, when this photo was taken, is the longest. You hike over two more passes and enter the Peruvian cloud forest, passing one incredible Inca ruin after another. The ruin of Qonchamarca is in the bottom-right of this photo, and from the spot where I took this shot the trail turns left, runs up to another ruin (Sayaqmarka), then curves back down again and takes you right past Qonchamarca.
The weather here changed constantly. By the time I made it to that ruin, the valley had cleared completely and then over the next hour it clouded right back up again.