As the sun rises and the mist settles, we make our way over Inti Punku, the Sun Gate Pass, and get our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas, nestled deep within the Andean mountain range in Peru. The descent past ruins, terraces and sacrificial altars is the culmination of a four-day and three-night backpacking trip over three mountain passes and 26 miles.
There are two ways you can get to Machu Picchu. You can backpack the Inca Trail, which is part of a 14,000-mile network of roads and trails built by the Incas stretching from Colombia to Argentina, or you can take a bus and train. My wife and I thought about it — walk or ride. We could hike on a 600-year-old trail, passing through native Peruvian villages, seeing ruins you would never see in a travel book, all while dodging llamas on the trail used to transport goods to market, or we could take a bus and train.
The answer was easy. We hiked. We thought that the opportunity to combine adventure, culture and history while hiking with people from other countries would turn out to be a trip of a lifetime. We were right.
To say we backpacked to Machu Picchu may be a bit of an exaggeration. Our group consisted of 34 — 13 hikers, 19 porters and two guides. The porters carried the food, tents and provisions. For a small price, they also carried our personal gear, meaning all that we had to do was carry a day pack with some snacks, a camera, rain gear and water. All meals were prepared by a gourmet chef.
I am Jeff Clark, founder of Internet Brothers, publisher of Meanderthals, and a passionate hiker. I live in western NC near the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests are just out my doorstep, so the content will focus on these areas, but let me know what you would like to see on the site. 
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