I strike out from Cusco, in Peru, across the Sacred Valley of the Inca, to begin one of the world's great treks-the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. The past is present in this beautiful valley, in high noon towns like Pisac and Ollantaytambo, still a long way from the modern world. Manicured cornfields and carpets of blue and white wildflowers line both sides of the road in this sleepy hollow. I cross the restless Urubamba River, also sacred to the Inca, and drive past thatched Quechua huts and farmhouses with red tile roofs. Here and there alpacas are grazing on hillsides. And all around are muscular, snowcapped peaks, sentinels of this South American style Yellow Brick Road.

The Inca Trail is 25 miles long and takes about five days to trek. Each step is like turning a page farther back into history. The byway visits several ruins of incomparable beauty and winds through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery anywhere. And as if that weren't enough, the gods sprinkled a blaze of colors along the way with many varieties of birds and flowers.

The trail lends itself not only to wonder, but to great speculation. It seems the stunning combination of natural and man-made beauty was laid out by design, like a cathedral on an inconceivable scale. The purpose, as with any great cathedral, was to elevate the soul of the pilgrim on his spiritual quest. The Inca must have intended that those who passed this way would reel in awe as they scaled the heights and descended the canyons. Each crest and trough is greater than the last, building to a grand climax-Machu Picchu, fabulous lost city of the Inca.

It's hard to be a legend, to live up to hype. Will we be disappointed? The trail from Winay Wayna clings for two hours to the girth of Machu Picchu Mountain, penetrating ever deeper into the enchanted forest, to the base of a final steep scree slope. At the top, hidden from view, is Intipunka, the Gate Of the Sun, and gateway to the land of Oz. I take a deep breath and a first step..... (next photo)