Phutuq K'usi

This guide to Phutuq K'usi in Aguas Calientes opens with a question: why does the free mountain across the river from Machu Picchu have no ticket booth, no ranger, and no crowd limit. It follows the wooden ladders bolted to bare granite, the Quechua name debated between happy mountain and budding squash, and the 2011 rains that tore the staircase apart before workers rebuilt seven ladders by 2012. Local Quechua families still call the same slope an apu, a living sacred peak.