I just got back from an overnight hike up a local sacred mountain, Apu Pitusiray, above the town of Calca near where I live. There are ancient legends concerning an Inca princess who was turned to stone and a puma. They can be seen as huge shadow profiles projected on an immense cliff face on and around Oct 1 every year. I wanted to see this phenomenon for myself and hiked straight up the mountain for seven hours with a friend. It was a challenge for me as I fractured my ankle in a motorcycle accident some months back and it is still not 100%. But I took it easy, stopped a lot and finally made it to our campsite, a rock overhang overlooking a high mountain lake called Pawaray which was set in front of a spectacular backdrop of very rugged cliffs and peaks. We shared the campsite with Walid Ode who has written several books about his investigations into ancient Inca legends and he filled us in regarding details of how our present location had been a ceremonial site for millenia before relapsing into obscurity for 500 years with the arrival of the Spanish.
We got up very eary in the morning to see the legendary shadows but unfortunately the cliffs were obscured by clouds. We had to make do with looking at a video that Walid and another friend Jose had made the previous day when there was a clear sunrise. Some snow started to fall as we packed away our tents and we headed back down the mountain. I didn't feel disappointment at not having seen the shadows, I just made a resolution to come back next year. The site alone is absolutely spectacular, I felt an easeful elation the whole time I was there.
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