After the humanitarian mission ended, Lisa, Lauren and I stayed in Peru, and Uncle Tom and Steve flew in. We had a couple of extra days in Cusco for the guys to acclimate, which was fun because we were able to show the guys all the great places we had found in Cusco.
Unc was on a mission to find coca leaves to chew on the hike, and was thrilled when he was finally able to obtain some!
Finally, the day came that we were able to start our hike. We went with the Enigma Adventure Tours in Peru, and had 12 hikers in our group with 2 guides. Porters carried tents and food. Most of the group also hired porters to carry their packs, so they just had daypacks with water and snacks, but "Team Sea Level" was tougher (or dumber?) than the others, and we carried our own packs with sleeping bags, clothes, etc.
In our group, there were 2 guys who do Iron Man races and triathlons. One gal who is a crossfit trainer, two nice British ladies (one quit and turned around within just a few hours of starting the hike) and two German guys (a father and son pair--the father trained with a personal trainer for a number of months just to prepare for the trek) and then us--Team Sea Level.
Before we knew what we were in for...
This hike was NO JOKE. It was the hardest thing I think I've ever done in my life. That said, it was AMAZING. Again, I took thousands of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.
This hike was a 4-day, 3-night trek. We hiked 10 hours a day on the
first 2 days, with our highest elevation being on the 2nd day (Dead
Woman's Pass 13, 870 feet). The last two days were shorter hikes, but
poor Steven hurt his knee on the downhill steps in the afternoon on the
3rd day, which really slowed us down. Despite being in a great deal of
pain, however, he did finish the hike. (The alternative was to let the
porters carry him out, and there was no way on gods green earth he was
going to let that happen).
Dead Woman's Pass
Scarlet-Bellied Mountain Tanager
You might recognize this place from Peru 1.5--Machu Picchu!
Celebrating our triumph over the Inca Trail with a great meal and good people.
And some last-minute shopping in town before leaving to come back home.
That's Peru in a nutshell!
Cheers.
2 Comments:
It really looks beautiful and hard. Not crawling with tourists, either, I see. You must have a clear intention to hike there, I guess!
Also, I admire "Team Sea Level" for seeing it through to the end. You can really be proud of yourselves for this achievement, and it looks like Machu Picchu was its own reward.
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