Hiking Machu Picchu Photos

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Catholicism is integral to the local culture in Cusco, a city of 350,000 at over 11,000 feet elevation in Peru's Andes Mountains. Cusco was the starting point for a journey covered in Traveler's May/June 2009 issue in the article titled "The High Road to Machu Picchu."

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Participants in the organized tour acclimated in the city's thin air for two days, sightseeing and shopping, before undertaking a climb to even higher elevations.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Shops line narrow walkways and streets in Cusco. The city, named a World Heritage site in 1983, attracts almost a million visitors annually, many who come to experience the local culture, which is heavily influenced by its Inca heritage.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

In a traditional home in Ollantaytambo, a town dating to the 15th century, guinea pigs are raised for food for special events. The animals were domesticated in the Andes region more than 3,000 years ago. The town was a stop on the tour to Machu Picchu.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler. See more in our Faces of Peru Photo Gallery.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

In the market at Chincero, locals sell produce and textiles and put on weaving demonstrations. Children in the market also accept tips for having their photographs taken, sometimes with their llamas, alpacas, and huarizos. Chincero was one of the stops on the road to Machu Picchu featured in Traveler's special tours issue, May/June 2009. "I got there just before dawn," recalls photographer Aaron Huey, "while merchants were still arranging their wares."

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Hikers wind along a steep mountain trail en route to their first night's lodge on the Camino Salcantay (pronounced sahl-con-TIE), the high road to the famous Inca ruins. "For Machu Picchu trekkers, this is truly the road less traveled," says writer Scott Wallace, who was returning to Machu Picchu for the first time in 30 years.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

In an alpaca poncho and hand-crocheted hat, Enrique Umbert, Sr., could easily be mistaken for a local shepherd. He's actually a savvy commodities trader and the CEO of Mountain Lodges of Peru, which runs the series of four well-appointed inns along the trail.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Early in the hike trekkers pass a sign pointing to the high pass they will reach on the second day of their six-day journey through the Cordillera Vilcabamba range of the Andes.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

The first lodge on the trek is Soraypampa, offering hot showers, candlelit dinners, fine wine, and, best of all, down-feather beds piled high with alpaca wool blankets. Its common area also provides an uncommon view of an Andean valley. "Like most of my traveling companions, I've reached an age where I prefer a certain level of comfort," says writer Scott Wallace. "Add that to arduous hiking, and you get one of the latest trends in adventure travel, called 'flashpacking.'''

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

The trekkers spend much of their time in the shadow of Nevado Salcantay, a 20,551-foot massif, the highest in the Cordillera Vilcabamba.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

En route to Salcantay Pass, hikers pause near a mountain pond.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Hikers stop along the trail to meet Carmen Alvarez, age 100, sitting next to his great-granddaughter. The toddler's mother runs a kiosk at Cedropata, offering snacks and soft drinks to hikers. "The family is proud of Carmen's age," writer Scott Wallace says.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

As in one of those old lithographs depicting the lush forests of the New World, the lower reaches of the trail lead through lofty tunnels formed by overhanging boughs heavy with Spanish moss, orchids, and bromeliads.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Inkaterra is a luxury hotel in Aguas Calientes where trekkers stay after completing the lodge-to-lodge hike along the Camino Salcantay. "It is a fantastic place, built into the side of the mountain with channels of water running along the walkways, in the manner of what ancient Inca engineers would do," says writer Scott Wallace.

Read more in "The High Road to Machu Picchu" in the May/June 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler.