INCA TRAIL IN DECEMBER
If you plan to hike Inca Trail in December, you will be visiting in the rainy season. The thing is that it can rain four or five days in a row and after that, the rains cease for a week so you should be prepared with good rain gear hiking Inca Trail in December.
As the year comes to an end, and with the holiday parties on Christmas and the new year around the corner, the Inca trail gets moderately crowded but not as in the peak season nor emptier as in the low season. Machu Picchu Park also gets crowded at this time of the year due to many Peruvian tourists who set off on family trips either by train. Before or after Christmas and new year, the number of visitors on the Inca trail gets down.
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Things to know
- All vegetation turns into a more greenish color that mantles the valleys along.
- Crowds are low during the first 2 weeks of December and very high over Christmas and New Year. The long lines or large groups of travelers you typically find during high season(May-August) in Machu Picchu are nonexistent at this time.
- If you are not the rainy type of person then hiking to Inca Trail late in the year will not be the best option for you.
- The trail and steps get pretty slippery because of rain, so wear proper trekking shoes.
- As a result of rain waters, a variety of plants come into blossom and thrive beautifully at the trail sides and beyond.
- Generally, the weather pattern in December is that heavy rain comes in the afternoon and during the night. Mornings are often still dry.
- the visibility may be low especially on day 03 because of the clouds that cover the mountains.
- Rain: On average, rain falls 21 days of the month.
- Temperature: It ranges between 2 and 23-celsius degrees. (35 and 73 ° F).
Pros
- There are good days after the bad days are over.
- Going to the Inca trail in December without poor weather conditions is phenomenal.
- Orchids and hummingbirds are commonly seen along this spectacular section of the trail high above the Urubamba River.
- Chance to get Inca trail permits, sometimes even upon arrival to Cusco.
- Water cascades to see from mid-hike.
- Witness some incredible Rainbow phenomenon.
Cons
- Machu Picchu is often shrouded in clouds.
- There is less chance to see Machu Picchu from the sun gate.
- The Inca Trail is often steep and gets quite slippery with the rain.
- Heavy rain falls throughout December will ruin your trip if you are not prepared with proper rain gear.
- low cloud cover reduces the visibility of the mountains.
Recommendations
- We definitely recommend you to bring hiking poles, rain cover for your backpack, rain poncho, and rain pants.
- The trail gets slippery after the rain, Shoes with good lug soles are highly recommended.
- Rain suits and trekking poles will be your companion.
- Bring a plastic bag for smartphones and other devices.
Do you have a rough idea of when the permits for December sell out by?
Most of the time, the Inca Trail permits for the last 2 weeks of december run out 1 month in advance, because of Christmas and new year vacation for peruvain and for people who live in south America so they come to hike Inca trail. However for the first week of december the inca trail permits never run out.
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INCA TRAIL IN DECEMBER VIDEO
This video will show you what the landscape looks like in December day by day. Also, you will see some days are foggy and some days the sun comes out. But something that this video doesn’t show is the Rain. As a tour guide who has done the Inca Trail more than 500 times, I can see in the video That the trail has water, so it was raining.