Humantay lake

We hiked 4+ miles today, with elevation change of 1200 ft., to reach 13,900 ft. at the lake.  The weather was spectacular - clear, sunny and with only a light wind.  During the hike, one of the local men performed an offering ceremony to his gods, and "cleansed" us and blessed us on our journeys.   We then had 3 condor sightings, so we felt that was an auspicious sign.

The blues and the greens in the lake were breathtaking, as well as the glacier above it.   I was kinda disappointed that the glacier just looked "dirty", rather than the icy blue you see in other places.

The edge of the glacier

Another section of glacier

We were so lucky in our trekking group.  There are only 5 of us, besides the guide, while other groups we've seen have been 12-14!  The other couple are from Manchester, England and are in their late 60's.  They've been hiking all over the world, including the Dolomites (in Italy), Nepal and China.  Our fifth person is a single gal named Lisa from Texas, who is Steve's age.  The guide walks nice and slow uphill, and all of us are walking about the same speed - pretty well matched.  We were afraid that there'd be some 30-somethings who'd walk much faster, or get really bored with our pace.  No altitude issues for any of us, other than the expected panting up steep parts.  As I get pictures of the group from others, I'll post them.

The rocks around the lake were gorgeous in their striations of color. 

Steve finished the afternoon in the jacuzzi (with wild llamas grazing nearby) while I got a massage.  Tomorrow is our really big day, up and over Salkantay pass - hiking 8-9 hours!

Besides llamas, there are hummingbirds just outside the main gathering room window - a beautiful iridescent green one, and a giant one with an enormously long bill (unfortunately, couldn't get any pictures of him).