Torres del Paine - Day 6

Waking up to another day of rain and wind, we accepted the fact that witnessing the amazing views a short hike up the valley wasn´t going to happen. We settled for a 10min walk in the morning to catch a glimpse of a nearby glacier and saw some snow cascading off of the mountain. Guess we´ll just have to come back again. Oh darn...

We put on our wet clothes, packed up our damp tent and hiked the first part of the day in a light rain. After a short break at a refugio at 11am, we were soon out of our rain gear and hiking with the wind at our back under a partly cloudy sky. Little did we know what the wind had in store for us. About 5 miles from the end of the trail (or the beginning depending on how you look at it), we were experiencing winds we have never experienced before in our lives. It started with me trying to catch up to Graham on a hill after taking a picture of the scenary. I quickened my step and jogged up the steep hill. Just as I was taking a leap onto a rock, the wind picked me up and threw me on my knees right smack into a rock. I managed to crack open my knee and send blood running down my leg. We quickly bandaged up the wound, not knowing if I´d need stitches or not and carried on. The wind was so strong that on occasions we would be bracing ourselves and with our feet planted firmly on the loose rock and we would be moving over the surface of the rock as if we were on a conveyer belt. It was really weird not knowing how far the wind was going to carry you. One minute we´d be standing at point A and the next we would have the same stance one foot away without having moved a foot. Rocks were flying in the air and the lakes had waves like the ocean. We took advantage of the breaks in the gusts and quickened our steps but would begin bracing ourselves as we heard the wind approach from behind us.

We arrived back where we had started with an hour to spare before the bus would pick us up. Graham retrieved a jar of Nutella out of a trash can that someone didn´t clean out all the way, and polished it up while I layed behind a birm out of the wind in the sun.

While we experienced snow, hail, rain and some of the fierced wind I have experienced in my life, we are both glad we did it and are very glad to be in a warm hostel where plentiful food awaits.

Torres del Paine - Day 5

After having a clear night, I was hopeful that the following day would bring more blue skies and warm hiking. Apparently the weather Gods misinterpreted my request because we had the exact opposite, rain and lots of it. We awoke in the morning to a light mist and wind, but since our tent was the only one perched beneath a tree, we remained dry whereas the other tents were already damp. We packed up quickly to avoid a wet tent, and threw our stuff in the small lean to shelter where we made breakfast. Then it was on with the rain pants and jacket for a hurried day of hiking. We tried to hike fast to stay warm and stay warm we did, but it didn´t help the fact that we were still soaked. I don´t even recall what we saw during the day. I was mostly looking at my feet trying to avoid puddles, rocks and roots.

We stopped at a gigantic resort-like refugio to get out of the rain where a catamaran picks up hikers and walking into a small store at the resort, I stopped in my tracks, eyes wide open when I discovered heaven...PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our savior. Heaven. Period. We ate it by the spoonful.

Arriving at the base of the last leg of the W we needed to complete, we pitched our tent and hoped that the weather could clear so that we could get views of one of the more scenic parts of the trail. Luck was not with us on this evening. We ran into Rok again (I swear he´s stalking us). It poured all night. By 5pm we had a stream of water running under our tent. Thankfully, our tent held up just fine and we stayed dry. The problem was drying our gear and clothing that was already wet. We played a lot of cards this night.

Torres del Paine - Day 4

It was ridiculously windy last night. We were both very thankful to be camping in a stand of trees and not perched on an exposed ridge somewhere. When I removed the ear plugs from my ears and listened for the sound of rain in the morning, I was disappointed to hear that the wind really hadn´t let up. BUT miraculously, the tent was DRY! We packed up in a hurry so as to avoid another wet tent, gorged on some breakfast and hit the trail hoping to get over the pass before conditions worsened. As we often do on mountain adventures, we got extremely lucky. Yes, it was windy but not nearly as windy as we would exerience on the last day of our trek. With a few snow flurries in the sky, we made it over the pass without a hitch and descended the knarly backside. The backside was a series of steep muddy stairs littered with rocks and roots. Yuck.

The reward for making it down the backside? Incredible(!) upclose views of the Grey Glacier. Wow. Seriously. I´ve seen some pretty impressive glaciers in Alaska and this one was definitely up there with some of the best I´ve seen. For the first night on the trail, we had blue skies and a great campsite beside Lake Grey albiet a crowded one with over 50 people. Go figure, it had a refugio (shelter), showers, flush toilets, amazing views, offered cooked meals to those who paid and it was part of the W trail. We were getting back to the touristy side of the park and while Graham loves mingling with people, I itched to get back on the backside where the camps were a lot more intimate and private.

Torres del Paine - Day 3

The third day was definitely the longest day. We trekked over 18 miles from Seron to Los Perros and gained over 4,000ft in elevation overall. We traveled through some really beautiful old growth forests that reminded us of the Pacific Northwest and had an amazing view of a hanging glacier right before camp. While the weather cooperated most of the day, it started raining an hour before reaching camp. Thinking that camp was only a mile or so away, we opted to pick up the pace and not put on rain pants (we already had our rain jackets on), but one mile turned into about three. The map was definitely wrong, as we discovered it would be on a number of occassions making it a little frustrating planning from getting from point A to point B. We arrived at camp soaked and were disappointed to find that most of the sites were basically a mud pit. We ran into Rok, again, who was taking shelter with everyone else in camp in a small shelter filled with wood smoke. We quickly set up our tent and made dinner, hoping that the rain would pass before our climb over the pass the following morning. As I´m starving and thinking about dinner, I notice a slight bulge in Graham´s jacket. The camp had a small store and I knew it contained Snicker´s bars. ¨Did you buy a Snickers?!?!¨ Graham removed the bulge from his jacket and I just about cried. FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

Saving our biggest meal for the longest day, pasta with spaghetti sauce, it was not enough. Graham and I were both ravinous, picking through our packs looking for something more to eat that didn´t have a ton of sugar. We both longed for peanut butter - we couldn´t find any at the grocery store when we left town and grew quite jealous of a girl we ran into later on the trail that had found peanut butter in the store. We were eating meals that I would eat by myself on the PCT. I tried sausage but the slimy fat chunks that oozed between my teeth with every bite made me decide I´d rather starve than succomb myself to digestive issues for the remainder of the trip. I had some tuna fish and cheese. I rationed that tuna fish and cheese as if my life depended on it. As we did every night on the trail, we played cards and then hit the sack, this night a little earlier so that we would be well rested for climbing the pass.

Torres del Paine - Day 2

Waking up to more snow and clouds all around us, we decided that it did not make sense to attempt to go back to the towers for a better view in the morning, so we packed up and headed down the mountain to start our anti-clockwise circuit of the Torres. It was a quick decent going down and soon we were hiking through rolling grassy hills with pockets of trees as we started the loop, very reminicent of the hiking we did from Robinhood´s Bay to Saint Bee´s in England. We ended up hiking around 13 miles and gaining only 1,500ft.

We made camp outside of a refigio on the lawn. In the refugio there was a shower and flush toilet as well as an option to pay someone to make your meals if you wanted, much more plush than we were expecting. We were very lucky and were able to come in and make dinner on their stove while learning a new card game from a couple from the Southwestern portion of France. It was funny because they had just learned it from an American girl and were now playing it, (didn´t get the name) but the rules are everyone starts with 3 piles of two cards, one face up and one face down. You also have 3 cards in your hand at all times till the deck is gone. The goal of the play is to get rid of your cards, and the special features of the cards are; the 2 resets the pile, the 3 skips you, the 7 you have to play under, the 8 allows you to go again, and the 10 clears the pile. It´s quite a fun game and we´ll have to play it more when we are home, if anyone knows the name (Keith, Jake, or Louie?) it would be great to know.

After very nice cooking and cards inside we went to eat in the tent as it was time for the host to cook dinners for the people that had paid. One of the qualms of the trek at Torres was the wind -being quite windy again we hunkered down in the tent and ate a very tasty bean soup while playing more cards.

Torres del Paine - Day 1

The bus to Torres del Paine park was scheduled to come at 7:30 in the morning and we over slept the alarm, so there was a bit of a fuss grabbing all our stuff and getting on the bus, but we made it none the less. It was a 1.5 hour bus ride to the park, and to that point we had not completely decided where we were going to start, or which direction we were going to hike once we got there, however on the ride over we finalized that we were not going to take the boat ride to the optional start due to the cost and we were going to hike counter, or as they say here, anti-clockwise on the park loop, the reason for this was if we hiked clockwise we would see all the famous sights first, where as if we hiked anti-clockwise we would save the really nice views for the last two days of the trek. There are two main classification of hikes in the park, people either hike the W, which is a series of three legs of the trail that go up into the Torres, or they hike the O which is the loop that goes all the way around the park. The W is much more popular because it is much shorter and still has the really nice views, we of course opted for the longer O version which incorporated the longer loop and the W.

Once we arrived we decided to hike up the right most leg of the W because it was later in the day and that would give us a casual first day of hiking. As we headed up into the valley the sunny weather turned into gusty hail and snow flurries. We reached camp and right before we went to set up our tent, who do we see coming up the trail but Rok, we laugh and say hello, he still hadn´t gotten his bag and just hiked up the right leg of the W in hopes of seeing the towers, before going back down to get his bag. At this point having run into him 3 random times now rather than saying goodbye, we say see you again and he´s off to the towers and we set up camp and hunker down for some cards in the tent hoping the snow will stop. After Greta winning a couple games of rummy the snow does break and the sun is shinning so we head up to the towers. It takes about 45 minutes to get up to the Torres and when we arrive they are so socked in that only 100 meters away and you can´t see a thing. Some people that are heading down say that it cleared for them and we should wait by the lake and see if we get lucky and sure enough after about 30 minutes at the mountain lake, the clouds clear and we got a nice view up close of the three Torres.

Traveling to Puerto Natalas

We had to catch our flight in the morning and flagged a cab which quickly took us to the airport. We tood two flights to get to Punta Arenas, which is the common place people fly and then take a bus to Puerto Natalas, but Greta managed to find a subsequent flight to Puerto Natalas that was not advertised anywhere which saved us a day waiting for the bus and it was only an extra 50 dollars for the flight vs. the bus. As we were getting off our second flight we grabbed a bag that was a couple seats back in the plane for another traveler, his name was Rock, but you roll the R when you say it and the o is more like an oo, that was dressed for trekking in Patagonia and helped him off the plane. It turns out that Rok was waiting the day for the bus because he had not head of the flight option. The flight was leaving in 30 minutes so after wishing him well on his travels we said good-bye. After fiddling around trying to figure out whether we needed to move our bags to the next plane, low and behold, there was Rok, who had decided it was worth the extra money to save waiting a day for the bus ride. We laughed and boarded the flight together.

Upon landing in Puerto Natalas Rok got cab driver and we waited for our bags, well, this is where things did not work out so well, Roocks bag never showed up and it turns out it did not make it on the plane. After a long drawn out arguement between Rok and the airlines they agreed that they would deliver his bag to the park the following day and he would pick it up there.

The taxi took us to our hostal and as the rooms were full we said our second good-byes to Rok and got settled in at the hostal. After getting settled we had to go out to find bus tickets to and from the park and to our next destination, and to find supplies for the trek. This far south it is light very late and we ended up walking around town till 9 before we were done with the shopping, where we ran into Rok in the grocery and the food available was more limited than imaginable, so much so that it appeared that Greta would have to eat sausage on the hike because there was nothing else available. At that point everything was closed, so we returned to the hostal, and packed our bags for the morning, and fell asleep watching the american classic, My Best Friends Girlfriend.

Misti Mountain - Arequipa Peru

Day 1
We scheduled our "4-wheel drive" taxi service for 8am to give us an early start on Mt. Misti. The road which supposedly requires 4 wheel drive vehicle was washboarded and could have been driven in almost any vehicle. Upon arriving at the end of the road the weather was perfect and you could see the whole mountain, currently at 12,000 feet only 7,000 to go to the summit. The guy in charge of the mountain taxi service tried to give us instructions on where the trail went but as we speak different languages it was basicially a bunch of pointing at the mountain with reference to a ledge and a yellow spots of grass. Greta understood but I took it on faith.


As we started off we were carrying all of our water for the two day trek and knowing that we needed to conserve water our pace was VERY slow to keep our bodies from overheating and losing water via sweating. The great thing about going at such a slow pace is that your heart rate stays low and you don't need to stop for breaks to rest. So at our very consistent and slow pace we climbed 4,000 feet to 15,900 feet in four hours where we set up camp for the night. We were both very happy with this progress and thought this put us in perfect shape for an easy summit the following morning.

Now neither Greta or I have any high altitude experience to speak of, we really just thought it would be fun to hike to the top of a really high non-technical mountain. We've read that you are supposed to acclimate to higher altitudes at a rate of 2,000 feet per day, but we also were told that everyone does this mountain in two days. The hiking to where we set up camp went great and we went 1000 feet higher than the first base camp because it was early in the day and we were feeling good. But as soon as we stopped hiking and started setting up camp and cooking dinner the action of bending over caused both of us to get headaches immediately. Being the first time either of us had really felt the side effects of high altitude sickness and the feeling of not knowing what could happen was scary. What if we had camped lower at the first base camp, would we be fine? But that would have left over 4,000 feet for tomorrow. And of course the obvious question, if we were feeling as we did at a measly 15,900 feet, how in the world were we going to make it to 19,100 feet the following day. These were some of the wonderfull thoughts running through our splitting heads as we waited for the following days hike.

On the bright side, we were blessed with excellent weather. We were camped between cloud layers which made for a spectacular sunset that lasted much longer than the sunsets we are accustomed to. And in the middle of the night the clouds dissappeared entirely leaving a glowing maze of the Arequipa city lights 8,000 feet below us.

Day 2
In the morning we packed light packs, leaving the tent, sleeping bags, pads, cooking equipment, and misc. other gear at camp and started up the trail, both of us feeling marginally better but still anxious about how the rest of the climb would go. The first thousand feet went as the first 4,000ft did and we were at 17,000 within an hour. 18,000 feet per the map should put us on the rim of the crater at which point we were told the trail would split and we could go right and see lava in the bottom of the crater and then go left to climb the last 750 feet to the summit.

Climbing the last thousand feet to the crater rim was a much harder task than we could have imagined and even at our snails pace I could feel my heart racing, I'm assuming because in the oxygen deprived air it needed to pump higher rates of blood to get the needed oxygen to my muscles. Putting one foot in front of the other, we gained the crater rim. From here we could clearly see the big metal cross marking the top of the mountain and the other trail going off to the right towards the crater. At this point I think the only thing on earth that could have gotten me to walk the extra distance into the crater would be the chance to see lava. As we hiked into the crater and the bottom came into view it was disapointing to see not lava but a giant sulfur vent. It is the largest sulfur vent I've seen, but it was no lava. After the detour to the crater, we were now standing under the last 700 feet climb to the summit, but we were so exhausted that it looked like forever away. No option other than to take one step and focus on the next rather than look at how far it was to the top.

Making the summit and knowing that we didn't have to climb anymore was about the best feeling ever. We had clear views of the mountains on either sides of us and sitting on the top eating and drinking while looking down at the world was quite peaceful.

It had taken us eight hours of climbing to reach the summit and after a 20 minute break on top we were both looking forward to getting down to a lower elevation. The top portion of the trail down to the crater rim had to be walked but once at the crater rim we were able to walk/ski down a scree field to our camp in only about half an hour. Being back at camp was also a big relief and we took a proper lunch as we packed up. It was on our way down the scree field that we saw the first signs of other people on the mountain, until that point we had had it all to ourselves. After lunch and packing we made a quick decent down the trails and another long scree field making it back to the parking lot in three hours and fourty five minutes from the top including the time to pack camp and eat.

We were at the pickup spot before 2pm and the ride wasn't scheduled till 5 so after a snack break we figured the obvious thing to do was start hiking towards town. We had almost made it to the main road when we saw the Nissan Pathfinder pull in about an hour early. I think the driver was happy we'd walked out and saved him an hours worth of driving and we were happy he was an hour early. All worked out very well.

as a side note we were very happy with the service and info we got at the camping store we booked our driver through so we'll throw a plug in for them. The store is called Peru Camping Shop and their email is perucampingshop@gmail.com and they are located at Jerusalen 410 - Cercado, Arequipa Peru. We worked with Wilmar Diaz and his english was perfect.

Getting back to town early the shower was refreshing and after a quick dinner of some leftovers we were off to an early nights sleep.

Arequip

To get from Puno to Arequipa, we were told it was going to be another six hour bus ride. When I did my research on traveling times before the trip, most people said it was only four hour trip by bus. Oh well, another two hours wasn't bad. Little did we know it was going to turn into an eight hour bus trip. Anywho, so we get on in the morning (we decided to take the bus ride during the daylight this time to see the scenary) and immediately wrinkle our noses and stare at eachother. Anyone who knows us knows that we have pretty low standards as far as cleanliness and comfortability goes, but this bus was disgusting. It had just rained and the front window where we had taken our seats on the upper deck was leaking and dripping on my arm and Graham's toes. Since the bus had several leaks, there was mildew and mold growing on the carpeting areas beneath the windows and puddles of water at our feet. The seats themselves looked like they hadn't been cleaned in weeks - there were chip crumbs, nasty looking stains and leftover food everywhere. I put on my rainjacket and sat like I was in a straight jacket, not wanting to move should I accidentally come in contact with the seat and mold. Graham immediately comments, "We need to find some Vitamin C in the next town." I don't think Vitamin C would ward off what we were going to come in contact with on the bus. It was beyond any pill or injection you could get to fight a disease or illness. We should have known better when we saw that there weren't any tourists on the bus when we left the bus terminal. In fact, there were hardly any people on the bus at all. Maybe ten total. This is why it would become an eight hour bus ride, for the next eight hours we stopped at every street corner for all least 15 minutes trying to fill the bus. At one stop we were there for an hour picking up people. I couldn't take it any longer - I had to go to the bathroom. Based on the experience I had last time, I was a little nervous. The door was hard to open like the last, but I felt like I could open it with little effort so I closed the door, and hovered above the toilet. Then I noticed the window - there was no secrecy to going to the bathroom on this bus - everyone on the street, including the woman making lunch on the corner, could watch me go to the bathroom. Wonderful. I didn't really care.

About four hours into the bus ride, the driver pulls over for a rest stop. Everyone gets out and all the men, including Graham, which had to be about 20 people or so, line up on the dirt pullout behind the small store, unzip their flies and go. I really wanted to take a picture but I didn't. I found a small outhouse and squated over a hole in the ground. I love how simplistic things are out here. After seeing the condition of the outhouse (watch your step so you don't step on a turd!) I understood why the men went outside.

After about another hour we stopped again, this time at an inspection station. A few men with weapons start rummaging through people's packs, thankfully not ours, and ended up taking a woman's box. "Mi comeda, mi comeda!" "My food, my food!" she kept yelling. It was definitely a little worrisome.

The most annoying part about the entire trip though was that the driver allowed a man with a loud speaker who ranted on and on about poor sick children for over an hour. Graham and I tried to pretend like we were sleeping but he'd get right in your face with his speaker and say in Spanish, "Do you care about the sick kids. For only $$ you can save a child's life." At one point he was talking about us because I heard him say "touristas". Annoying. To drown out the man with the loud speaker, the driver cranked up the music which was almost as loud as the man with the loud speaker.

After finally arriving in Arequipa we gathered some beta about climbing a 19,000ft peak in the area, El Misti, and strolled through the markets.

Puno Cont.

After the long uncomfortable bus ride, we arrived in Puno, home of Lake Titicaca. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Sure, the lake is huge, but for some reason I was expecting something a little more scenic. It didn't really matter to us - we were just happy to be off of the bus and into a new place to explore. After walking around for about an hour, we checked into a hostel, dropped off our bags and walked towards the water to check out options for exploring the island on the lake. They had some artificial islands close in which would be a half day tour and natural islands farther out that would take the entire day. We weren't thrilled about visiting artificial islands or spending the entire day on a boat, so we grabbed breakfast and walked around the city instead. In doing so, we found one of the most impressive markets we have seen thus far. We're pretty sure it happens every day because the following morning we woke up and saw the same thing. There were blocks upon blocks of people selling fresh fruit, vegetables, raw meat and fish and live animals for consumption. Walking past some guinnea pigs, I was drawn to their squeaking. Oh! It must be a pet shop! But then I remembered the guinnea pig (aka coy) listed on the dinner menu the other night. And then I saw the crated chickens. They were all staring into my eyes, haunting me. Save me! Save me! I asked Graham if he could create a diversion while I set them free. He grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I told him that I didn't think I could stomach him eating a guinnea pig and he agreed. It just didn't seem right.

In the afternoon we found a boat/museum to explore. The boat had been shipped over from England in 2000+ pieces a couple decades ago. It use to run off of alpaca dung but has since been converted to diesel. Pretty cool!! They are still in the process of restoring it but in the meantime you can sleep on the boat for 50 bucks a night. That evening we found a pizzeria to drink beer and play cards in. Had some of the best woodfired pizza we've probably ever had. For some reason pizza is a big deal in Peru - everywhere you look there are pizzarias with wood-fired ovens.

Puno

After visiting Maccu Pichu we took a train to Ollampampa (or something like that) where we left immediately in a minibus taxi back to Cusco. After arriving in Cusco we walked around the city and updated the blog while we waited for a 10pm bus that would take us to Puno which is home to Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America.

The bus ride from Cusco to Puno was everything less than pleasant. The bus was clean which was a good thing but for an overnight 6 hour ride, the seats were very uncomfortable. The back of the seats reclined quite a bit but there was no where to put my feet. Most people had a bar to rest their feet on but the area where my bar should have been was occupied by a heater box. Initially I thought this would be a good thing because I'm always freezing and it was cold but they didn't turn it on for hours. When they did turn it on it felt like an inferno - I melted the tip of one of my sandals trying to find placement for my feet.

Then there was the bathroom. Because we were traveling at night, the entire bus was dark. None of the walkways were illuminated so I had to walk by brail to the bottom floor where the bathroom was. Pulling on the door to open it, it wouldn't budge so I assumed someone was using it. I went back to my seat and watched someone else go downstairs to the bathroom with success. Weird. A local waved me to follow me down to the bathroom with him so I followed. It's not what you think - he was trying to help me get in the bathroom. He pulled on the door and it wouldn't budge. Then he leaned his huge body into it and finally got it to open. Yes! But there was no light. He turned on his cell phone to illuminate the toilet bowl. I caught a glimpse of the bowl and entered at my own risk. I couldn't tell if the seat was up or down or if there even was a seat. I had no idea what I was hovering over, so I squated and went...I half expected to feel a warm sensation run down my leg because I didn't know if I was peeing into something or onto something. Since I couldn't open the door myself, I had a fear of closing in and not being able to get out so I held the door open while I peed. Finally feeling some relief I went back to my seat and tried to get some sleep. Overall I probably slept one hour that night. Graham later pointed out to me that the toilet I peed into was really just a hole in the floor that went directly onto the street.

Circumstances like this is what makes traveling so much fun - you never know what to expect and half the fun is not knowing what's going to happen next.

We're alive!

Just got back from a three day trek late last night, woke up at 4am to visit Maccu Pichu this morning. The cell service isn't very good here so we're not able to post much. We will update the blog as soon as we can! Peru is awesome!

Maccu Pichu

All I can say about the ruins right now is wow. Holy crap. Words cannot describe how impressive the ruins are so we will just post pictures later and you can sit there in awe like we did. We met up with a couple our age from San Francisco and spent most of the day running into them, exchanging stories and beta of things to do and see. We´re pressed for time so this entry is short. We´re off to Puno (Lake Titicaca), the largest lake in South America!

Salkantay Trek - Day 3

At 4am or so we awoke to the sound of roosters but rolled over and tried to sleep another hour because it was still dark outside and had just started to rain. Around 5:30am we awoke to mist/rain but decided to hike anyway. The going was pretty straight forward - we followed a road down river, removing boulders along the way for passing vehicles. There was a huge drop off - we were amazed that vehicles even attempted to drive the road.

The weather improved significantly and by 9am we were both in shorts and t-shirts, drying out our tent and other gear on the outside of our packs. The scenary changed very quickly from mountain tundra to jungle-like vegetation. We spotted an avocado tree and beat the branches with my trekking poles until one fell and snagged a couple oranges as well. Walking past some of the locals in La Playa, we spotted a fruit that we thought was an orange but it turned out to be a very sweet fruit with a hard exterior (kind of like an egg shell), and an interior that looked like seeds housed in larve. It looked so weird that we went back to the person that sold it to us to make sure it was edible. Yep, it sure was and boy was it sweet! Really tasty but definitely wouldn´t be appealing to people in the States.

About three miles from the end of the hike we popped out at some ruins and got our first glimpse of Maccu Picchu. We snapped some photos, and made our long (3,000ft) descent in three miles (with a dog following us the entire way) to the train station at the end of our hike, only to find that the next tourist bus wouldn´t leave until the morning. Boo. So after hiking over 14 miles, we had to hike another 6-7 miles in the dark along the railroad tracks to get into town. We were both extremely sore, tired and hungry. The plus side of walking the tracks vs. taking the train was that we got to see some wild parrots and fireflies! After arriving in Agua Calientes, we found our hostel (thank God they had a room as we arrived a day early) took a cold shower (the hot water ran out after 2min) and spoiled ourselves to a three course meal that was delicious. We walked around town and crashed hard at 11pm. Oh, by the way, the ice cream (gelato) is to die for!

Salkantay Trek - Day 2

After the crazy storm the night before, we were a little weary peaking out the tent in the morning to see what kind of weather would await us for the climb over the 15,000ft pass. Having to get up to go to the bathroom I stepped out first and when I saw the blue sky and mountains clearly, I woke Greta up immediately and we started packing camp and making breakfast.

We were on the trail by 6:45 and conditions were perfect. This was not expected because it´s the rainy season in Peru right now and we´d been told not to attempt the trail because of the weather we would run into. After about 20 minutes we´d stripped to shorts and t-shirts to stay comfortable. As we climbed up the valley to the mountain pass we could see the clouds following us up the valley, and about half way to the pass the clouds had socked in and we were getting sprinkled on. Not far from the top of the pass we ran into a group of three people (two hikers and a guide) and after our hellos one of the hikers asks if we are from Eugene, OR. A little confused, he points to my shirt (Eugene marathon shirt) and I laugh and say no, we just went down for the run but are from Gresham. Turns out the guy was from Portland and went to college in Eugene, crazy how small a world it is.

With rain gear and pack covers we easily made the 15,400 foot pass which is the highest either of us has ever been before (outside of an airplain... ) and very excited to be at that elevation. After a break at the top of the pass to take it all in. We started down, and maybe 1000 feet from the top we ran into a group of 4 hikers, two from Austraila and two from Juneau Alaska (next thing you know I´m going to meet someone from Boring!).

We decended to the first set of camps and as we were getting closer Greta spotted our first herd of Alpacas so of coure we had to go over and say hello and get pictures. After saying goodbuy to the alpacas the weather was just starting to rain again, we happened to be next to a shelter with a grass roof and no walls but figured it was an ideal spot to stop for lunch. Since it was dry in the shelter we hung our ground cloth and rain fly out to dry. While we were in the shelter the group of 4 showed up and joined us to take their lunch as well and get out of the rain.

After giving up on the weather improving we bundled up and started off down the trail. About 30 minutes down the trail we realized that we had forgotten to pack our ground cloth and that it was still hanging in the shelter. Although it had only been a half hours time, the trail we had been going down was steep and we were moving fast, so we had probably lost close to a thousand feet of elevation and the thought of hiking up that again in the rain was enough to make us consider leaving the ground cloth. Initially we decided it wasn´t worth it, but another couple hundred feet down the trail I was thinking about my sleeping bag getting wet for the rest of the 28 days of our trip and we agreed that Greta could hang onto both back packs and waddle down the trail while I went back to get the ground cloth. Hating to loose time for a silly mistake, my initial thought was that I would simply run up and get it... well at around 13,000 feet that lasted about 50 yards going up the steep trail and I had to walk the rest. Ariving back at the shelter I was happy to see the ground cloth still there, and now gravity was on my side. Running down the trail was actually quite exciting, we´d seen some of the locals running past us earlier with packs, which we thought was crazy, but w/o the pack, it was fun for sure.

After catching up with Greta we continued down the trail passing some incredible looking camping areas that looked about like you would picture paradise. When we were getting to where we wanted to stay the night we found our first open store and purchased two chocolate bars to celebrate making it over the pass. After making a couple more wrong turns, (my sence of direction has never been so bad, I´d like to think the poor map was mostely to blame :-). After getting lost and finding our way a couple times we found both the trail we needed to continue on the following day and a perfect local family to stay with who let us camp in their yard (I´ve never seen such perfect lawns by the way, and the only thing that keeps the grass short is the farm animals) and use one of their huts to hang our wet clothes and cook in.

While cooking dinner we were checked on by the pigs, chickens, and one of the young children that lived there, all making for another great day.

Salkantay Trek - Day 1

Waking up at 4am to catch a 4:45am taxi was no easy feat after 30 hours or so of traveling, but knowing that we were going to finally be on the trail today kept our kept us awake. We arrived at the bus station with the intent to take a bus to Mollepata but ended up taking a taxi instead because he was ready to roll and it was dirt cheap. Back in Alaska, it´s about $7 for me to go from the airport to my apartment (no more than two miles) but it was only $10 for the two of us to go THREE HOURS to Mollepata. Crazy. I´m sure it was considered expensive by Peruvian standards.

After being dropped off in Mollepata, we asked in our best Spanish where the trail began and the taxi driver pointed us up the street in the direction of a hill. So we walked the cobble stone road which soon turned to dirt, asking people along the way if we were still heading in the right direction. We were until about 10am when we took a snack break. Stopping on the side of the road for a rest, a man in a truck pulled over, and from the little Spanish we knew, we could make out that we were going the wrong way. How is that possible? We were very reluctant at first to accept his offer for a ride, because we thought he might be just trying to make a buck, but then it dawned on us - there was a trail that took off from the road about 0.5mi back. So we hopped into his truck and tried to offer him some money but he refused. And then we were off!

It was uphill all the way to camp, about 3,000ft of elevation gain over 12 miles to get us to a little over 12,000ft. Thinking that we were at the camp located on the map, we asked two locals if it was okay to camp and they said, ¨Si, Si!¨so we set up our tents in front of an amazing view of Mt. Salkantay. We didn´t see many people on the first day - mainly locals until we started making dinner, then the hoards (two dozen or so) of people on horses and donkeys passed by our tent, signifying that we were at the wrong camp. We didn´t really care though, the other camp was insight and it would be more peaceful without a ton of people right beside us. It didn´t take long for us to pass out. I stayed awake until about 7pm journaling whereas Graham passed out about 6pm. At about 7:30pm I awoke with a start to stampeding horses outside and the owner of the property chasing them away from our tent. There was a crazy thunderstorm at 10am that woke us up (the lightning was so bright through our tent that it was blinding) and another one at 2am. Ah, I love storms :)

Cusco!

Yesterday was a day of layovers. With me flying from Anchorage and Graham flying from Portland, we each had our own layovers before meeting up in Miami for a direct flight to Lima, Peru. The first layover wasn´t bad for me - a two hour layover in Chicago but the nine hour layover in Miami was a little much. Graham was supposed to join me for six hours of the layover but his plane was having mechanical trouble in Texas and didn´t meet up with me until an hour before our flight to Lima. By the time our Miami flight was ready to depart, we were both already exhausted but excited to be on our way to South America.

We arrived in Lima, Peru around 5:30am and caught a 8:00am flight to Cusco to begin our Salkantay Trek to the town of Agua Calientes where we would then visit the ruins of Maccu Pichu. We were greeted at the airport by a woman from the hostel we would be staying at that evening holding a sign that read ¨Greta Melvin¨. Navigating through the airport in Lima and Cusco, we were immediately impressed with how friendly the Peruvians are. The woman that picked us up was no exception. I spoke the little Spanish I knew, used a lot of hand gestures and was miraculously able to hold a conversation.

After arriving at the hostel, we dropped our bags and immediately started exploring but not after trying some mate tea first. Graham and I were already developing a headache from the altitude (Cusco is around 11,000ft) and we were told that tea from coca leaves helps thin your blood and alleviate some of the symptoms associated with altitude sickness. Our room at the Samy Wasi hostel was awesome - one of the walls was built into the hillside and made of rock (which Graham, being the climber that he is, loved). I was surprised to see that we had an actual toilet and shower too - a definite treat that we were not expecting.

The town of Cusco is beyond beautiful. A town surrounded by mountains with streets lined with cobbles that rise as steep as bleachers in a stadium, we were in awe at how beautiful the place is. We were tired but weren´t going to waste a second resting when there was so much to explore. We walked up the hill to Cristobol Blanco where we were greeted by alpacas (I was a little too trigger happy with the camera) and Peruvians selling their handicrafts. We bought a hat and made our way down the hill just as it was starting to thunder and rain. Walking the streets we ran into two locals (Jimmy and John ´Juan´) that gave us some beta on the hike we would be doing over the next couple days.

We bought some corn on the cob from an elderly woman sitting on the street. The corn was unlike anything we have ever tasted before. Maybe it was hominy¿ (This keyboard is in Spanish - it´s kind of weird). Anyway, the kernals were huge and more mealy than regular corn but it was delicious fresh and dried. We tried that and some dried lima beans for lunch/snack. For dinner Graham tried his first Alpaca meat, fresh fries (they serve a lot of french fries here), quinoa soup (delicious!) and crepe with banana for dessert. I had trout, rice, salad and fruit salad for dessert. We also tried the local pisco sour drink which is much like a Margarita, tried some delicious red wine, and a purple sweet drink made from corn.

That evening we crashed like we´ve never crashed before and awoke the next morning at 4am to catch a bus to Mollepata, the start of our Salkantay trek.

The time has come

A little over a month ago, my dream of living in Alaska for the summer became a longterm commitment and lifestyle - I was offered a 22 month contract to live and work in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. After breaking the news to Graham, it didn't take much convincing for him to quit his job and join in the adventure with me.

In addition to living in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, I not only get to fly around in helicopters and hike for work every summer, but I'm also given 1.5 months off every winter to do whatever I want. I considered taking some classes at the University or taking up a new hobby but anyone who knows me would know that adventure and travel were the first things that came to mind. It didn't take long to decide that South America was going to be our new home for the next month.

The plan while we're in South America is a long and detailed one but the short of it is that we will be spending two weeks in Peru visiting the ruins of Machu Picchu and another two weeks trekking in Patagonia.

It's a rough life... :)