800px-Wayna_Picchu__Peru-27Oct2009.jpg
Huayna Picchu Peru
This is a photo of the top of Huayna Picchu that I got from the internet. It was taken on a much clearer day than the day I was there (and probably with a much better camera and lens than I will even own).
As you can see, even the top of this peak is dense with terraces and structures. The building on the left is the one that shows up in the previous photo. Part of the trail they want you to take going down is on a series of stone staircases that run along the right-hand edge of the stack of terraces on the left side of the photo. I'm not sure those stone stairs are visible in this photo, unless you know what to look for.
I believe the trail they direct you towards while going up runs across one of the terraces in the center (going left to right) and thru the structures in the upper center portion of the photo, just below the peak. These split, "one-way" trails exist only near the very top of the mountain (possibly because the trails are so steep and narrow there). Most of the way, there is only one trail with two-way traffic on it. The split in the trail is someplace near the bottom of the stack of terraces on the left hand side.
The peak itself is a jumble of large boulders. There seem to be two or three people standing there in this photo. However, again, they may be hard to spot unless you been there and know where to look.
I found this photo after returning home from the trip. I'm not sure if I would have been hesitant about going up here or if I would have been more excited about going if I'd seen it prior to the trip. Also, after looking at how steep things look in this photo, I wonder if going up in on a cloudy day (with clouds BELOW me, in addition to above me) made it less scary than it would have been on a clear day.
The original caption of this photo called the peak Wayna Picchu. The photo is dated 27 Oct 2009
