Hey, everyone! It’s McKenna again, with one last blog about a memorable moment in Peru. I’d like to take you back to “The City in the Clouds” for a quick visit to a special spot nestled in a narrow notch on a mountaintop overlooking Machu Picchu.

After exploring and shooting pictures for hours in the marvelous ruins of “The Lost City of the Incas,” and after eating a quick buffet lunch at the Machu Picchu restaurant, many members of the expedition, including myself, decided to take on the challenge of a 45 minute hike about a mile up the Inca Trail, a long, twisting, ancient stone path made and used by the Incas. Our destination? The Incan Sun Gate.

The length of the trail we traversed curves up the side of the mountain and overlooks the grand city of Machu Picchu. It was an amazing experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were walking on the same stones the Incas used to trek. But, overall, the trek wasn’t all that easy.

The stones of the trail are jagged and serrated, and one misstep at certain places could have caused us to tumble down the steep precipice of the soaring mountain. YIKES! At 8,000 plus feet in the sky, it was sometimes tough to get the oxygen we needed to climb without breathing pretty hard at times. And, being ever so high in the sky, we had to be on guard to avoid getting sunburned. We were told that, at that height, even if it doesn’t feel like you are getting sun, if you aren’t careful to wear sunscreen or cover up, you are likely to get sunburned–even on the tops of your hands!

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