Our Path to the Inca Trail

My husband and I are so good for each other.  We had known each other for a long time but had never imagined we would one day be married.  Early in our dating relationship Jeff invited me on a trip with him.  He had planned to hike Half Dome in Yosemite. I wasn’t sure I was up to it but I had always wanted to visit Yosemite.  For a variety of reasons we opted to do something else instead; we signed up to hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim.  And so started what I believe is going to be a lifetime full of adventures.

If you ever want to really get to know someone start hiking with them.  We quickly learned that neither of us would go into an adventure like this without being prepared.  I’m not going to lie.  I was mildly terrified when I agreed to do that trip.  I hadn’t been camping in years and hiking eight to ten miles a day sounded daunting.  But my husband helps me to put aside many of my fears and helps me to push myself to be more than I ever was without him.

I have always enjoyed nature activities.  When I was a young girl my favorite times were spent exploring the “creek” at the end of our alley in Dallas.  My very favorite times were when my father would go with me.  I was always coming home with treasures from these adventures.  I have no idea how many minnows we raised over the years.  Being a city girl this concrete drainage ditch was my oasis.  Now if you were really feeling adventurous you could go under the bridge to the “natural” part of the creek.  And yes I did.

I liked to find nature hikes to go on. My dad was always willing to accompany me. One of my favorites was a night time hike that ended with star gazing through telescopes.

I took an amazing field ecology class in high school that was taught at the Museum of Natural History.  We went on many field trips that included camping.  Sometimes we were hunting for fossils.  Sometimes we were seining ponds to do wildlife counts.  I loved it.

When I got to college I knew I would be going to vet school but I didn’t want to be like every other pre vet major.  If I didn’t get in I wanted a major I could find a career in that I could enjoy and I didn’t think that was in biomedical sciences.  I started with a major in biology but it didn’t take me long to gravitate to wildlife biology.  I soon found myself surrounded with many outdoors minded friends.  The difference that I did not realize until recently is that they were all hunters or fishers.  Well I enjoy fishing so that was great.  And though I don’t hunt I always managed to find my way to tag along – I mean it still got me out.  So without even realizing it my bird watching and mini hiking slipped away from me.

I had just joined an adventure club when Jeff and I started dating.  One of the activities that kept drawing my attention was hiking.  Well Jeff entered my life just in time and so a new lifestyle of health and adventure began for me.

We started hiking every weekend.  We started with short jaunts and quickly increased to eight to ten miles a day.  Then we started to do back to back hikes.  We tried to find trails with elevation changes and terrain similar to what we could expect in the Grand Canyon.  And of course the heat was easy to replicate here in Texas – actually it may have been a little worse with our humidity thrown in.  In the end all of that training paid off as we found ourselves in the best shape of our lives and able to completely enjoy our trip.  I’m not going to say this hike was easy but it was definitely easier than it would have been!  And nothing prepares your body for hiking but hiking.

So four days hiking and camping in the Grand Canyon from the south rim to the north rim really bonded us.  We experienced some amazing things.  We survived the heat and the hike!  And we learned a lot about each other’s character.  We thought we were in love before the hike now we knew this was for keeps.

We spent our honeymoon in Belize at Caves Branch Lodge.  I had found this wonderful gem the previous year and had wanted to take my daughters there over Christmas break.  I would have had a nice time with the girls but they would have been nervous about doing many of the things Jeff and I did.  We had an amazing adventure filled trip.  We spent most of the trip in caves climbing and exploring.  One day consisted of a grueling jungle hike to repel 300 feet into a black hole.  We then continued into a cave exploring with two guides until they sent us off to “follow the candles” to our honeymoon suite underground.  Caves Branch gets to know all of its visitors so guests can be guided to tours that are physically suitable for them.  Jeff and I were so happy when we were told that we could handle any of their tours.  We met so many wonderful people on this trip. It was in Belize that we decided we had to move Machu Picchu up on our list of future trips.  We weren’t getting any younger and we knew that Machu Picchu would be physically taxing.

We continued to have adventures but Peru got pushed back.  First we increased travel with our daughters.  We managed to have some pretty adventurous times with them – zip lining and rafting in Costa Rica, snorkeling in the Caribbean, hiking Antelope Canyon in Arizona – I wouldn’t trade those trips for anything.  We did get sidelined for a while with health issues as well.  I was tired of travelling to tropical destinations so when we were finally able to take a big trip last year I talked him into Italy with two of our girls.  Even there we managed to hike the Cinque Terre and Mount Vesuvius. Sometime after that we decided that this year was the year we would head back south – to Peru we go.

With the decision made I started my obsessive trip planning.  My family laughs at me but I know they secretly appreciate my vacation planning. When we went on our cruise I developed a spreadsheet with shore excursion choices to make decisions from.  When we went to Italy I made a PowerPoint presentation to pick how we would travel to Pompeii.  Of course my husband could expect a detailed presentation on our choices to visit Machu Picchu.  I had heard many people say that the train is amazing and the way to go.  The more I researched the more I knew we have to do the Inca Trail.  Jeff and I would never feel that we had truly experienced this wonder of the world if we didn’t do the trail.  So now a whole new obsession developed.

Peru limits the number of people allowed on the Inca Trail to 500 per day.  The country also requires that any visitor to the trail is escorted by a Peruvian guide.  This is where things began to get interesting.  There are a lot of guide companies out there.  I started my research with andeantravelweb.com.  It appeared that if you choose a company like REI to book a trip with they are still going to outsource the trail to a Peruvian company so I saw no reason not to book directly with a company in Peru.

There are several companies to choose from and no matter which site you are on the itinerary looks the same so now what?  I narrowed my list down fairly quickly based on internet reviews and price.  A universal truth seems to be the need to hire a porter to carry the majority of your things.  Some companies provide this as part of the package and some charge extra for it.  I chose a company that includes a porter in the cost of the trip.  I of course printed my final choices and highlighted important information on each company’s offerings so Jeff and I could decide who to choose.  I had already decided who I liked the best but still I had to obsess some more about the final decision.  Basically any blog or story I have read about the Inca Trail talks about the public toilets.  While improvements have been made they are still quite atrocious or so it sounds.  Suddenly companies that provide a toilet for camp sounded so much better.  One in particular rose to the top of my list.  And I only found good reviews for them so we have booked with Alpaca Adventures.  Let’s hope it was a good choice.

Guide company booked, airfare secured now it was time to obsess about training.  I may have been mildly terrified of the Grand Canyon but terrified of being unprepared for this hike seems completely justified.  I didn’t think too much about it when we were discussing it and planning it.  It was after we booked it that the reality of what we were taking on hit me.  We live at 630 feet of elevation above sea level.  Day one doesn’t sound so bad.  The itinerary even says that this is a moderate day that starts out the first two hours with a relatively easy trek and will eventually end at our campsite that sits at 3300 meters.  That doesn’t sound so bad.  This will be a 6-7 hour day to hike 8.7 miles and end at 3300 meters.  Wait how many feet is 3300 meters? A quick Google search says that is the equivalent of 10,826 feet.  Well that is a much bigger number.  This doesn’t sound nearly as pleasant now.  But that’s ok; I’ve hiked at around 10,000 feet before and been ok.  No big deal, we’ll be acclimated before that.  After all we plan to spend three days in Cusco before the hike just for that reason.  Cusco sits at 10,000 feet.  Day two sounds far more daunting.  The itinerary actually says it is considered “top day (you will have survived the two highest passes). “  Well that’s not listed as moderate or challenging but as “you will have survived.”  This is starting to sound much more challenging.  The highest pass on the trek is called Dead Woman’s pass.  Here they actually convert the 4215 meters for you.  It is 13,829 feet of elevation.  Wow.  I’m thinking there may not be much oxygen there.  And why is it called Dead Woman’s Pass?  Do only women die at that altitude or are they sacrificed so the gods will let the men pass?  I am a woman and I really want to survive that pass!  Ok what exactly did we sign up for?  Let’s add into all of this the anticipated weather – cold and rainy.  I do not do well with the cold.  How many clothes should I take?  I do not want to be cold.  The good news here is that our campsite is at 3600 meters for the night or 11,811 feet.  This should be easy. So according to the itinerary if I survive day two it is literally all downhill from here and day 3 drops to 2600 meters or 8530 feet.  It is also the shortest day; 6.2 miles in 5 hours. Of course Day 4 takes us to Machu Picchu.  We of course have signed up to climb Huyana Picchu when we arrive as well.  I mean why not, right?

So basically I now know that whatever we did to train for the Grand Canyon would pale in comparison to what I would want to do for this trip.  My computer now boasts bookmarks of sites like https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/14er-mountain-climb-goal-training.html and http://www.incatrailreservations.com/machu-picchu/get-fit-to-hike-inca-trail.html .  Strengthening my knees would become a priority as well.  I injured a knee right before our canyon hike.  It occasionally acts up on me but now it seems to be misbehaving more than it has in a long time.  Could it be psychosomatic?  I will overcome it that much is certain.

I have read posts from many people who have done the trail. I’ve even spoken to a few friends who have done it. The one thing they all have in common is that Day 2 is hard.  I haven’t heard or read anything from a single person saying differently.  I have also read accounts from people who freely admit that they were not in shape to be tackling this adventure and the guides helped them get through it.  I have no doubt I will make it.  I just want to accomplish this hike with minimal pain and have a chance to enjoy it.  I have even visited a cardiologist recently to put my family’s mind at ease about my cardiac health prior to the trip.  I have a family history of heart disease but I have no issues that I am aware of.  I will be most unhappy if the stress test and echo discover that I do.  However, it is just good sense to get checked out before we go.

So after months of rigged preparation we are now being slowed down by somewhat unbearable heat and humidity.  I will give you an account of our training hikes soon.  This is all to lead up to the big trip when we will learn if what we have been doing was enough or overkill (doubtful!). I am so looking forward to this.  Aside from the physical challenge I can’t wait to experience the spirituality of being in God’s majesty on this trail.

Thanks for reading.