every walk is a sort of crusade
I remember this day and specifically this ride largely because, despite my father’s best efforts to convince her it would be a great time (which it obviously was), my mother refused to get on the camel.
Happy Father’s Day to the best Dad ever.
Our stay at the first lodge was 2 nights, to allow the group a little more time to acclimate to the altitude before we hiked over the 15,000+ foot pass on Day 3. So on the second day of the trek, anyone feeling up for it had the option of doing a shorter hike (4-5 hours) to a glacial lake not too far from the lodge. I brought my bikini.
After the first day a few people in the group were a little bit nervous about exactly how strenuous the remainder of the trip would be. So as we set out, everyone was ready for a repeat of the near-hypoxic situation that had occurred the day before.
We had to cross a few rivers, but the majority of the hike up was a very gradual uphill on a kind of grassy/rocky terrain.
About an hour and a half in we took a break…
…and hiked a little more…
…and then…
…we arrived.
The water was crystal crystal clear and so blue, it looked like something out of a beer commercial. So inviting. …but it was also coming off a glacier and about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. And we were pretty high up.
But two of us decided to go in anyway.
And, after hyperventilating, we dominated.
We hiked around the lake a little bit, took few pics…
…then started heading back down…
…to the lodge…
…were the staff was playing a pickup game of soccer.
Day 2 was much easier than the first day for everyone, people were more apt to go their own pace, and I think it instilled a little more confidence in the group as a whole that we might actually make it over the pass the following day.
That night we had a delicious dinner, went to bed early, snuggled up with our hot water bottles, and got ready for an early morning.
Next up: Day 3–Over the Pass
The next morning we were picked up by Johann, our assistant leader, in the hotel lobby at 7am.
We had 13 people in our group:
After about 15 minutes hanging out in town (the locals were thrilled to see us, if you can’t tell from the lady’s face in the above picture) we hopped back in the buses and headed up a narrow, windy, dirt, mountain road for another two hours to a town called Mollepata for lunch. It was here in Mollepata that we saw our first guinea pigs being fattened up for slaughter.
After lunch we hopped back in the van for another half our or so, we pulled over where the trailhead hit the road. We got out, covered ourselves in sunscreen…
…and finally, started hiking.
The first part of the hike was rolling green hills with cows and horses wandering around, surrounded by mountain ranges. Much of the group (before they started keeling over from lack of oxygen) re-enacted numbers from the Sound of Music.
I would like to pause here and take a moment to note that at this point we were somewhere around 10,000 feet: lower than Cuzco, and significantly lower than the pass we were going to be crossing, and still you could feel the altitude (the lodge we were hiking to was at 12,690 feet). Like, really feel the altitude. Uphill was not easy. Many a Michiganite was struggling.
Back to the hike. After about an hour and a half of uphill hiking we stopped to take a break and got our first good view of Salkantay (the snow covered mountain in the background.)
As we continued we walked along some aqueducts originally built by the Incas…
…and parts of the trail were a little precarious (picture 6 inches of sometimes wet, loose, rocky trail and long vertical drops to the bottom of a ravine. With more rocks.)
It cooled down, shadows started getting long…
…we had some amazing views…
…and finally, after about 4.5 hours, we arrived the lodge, cold and tired.
Everyone was excited to be there.
We were greeted at the front door with hot tea and warm towels, instructed to take our shoes off, and go relax by the fire. We obliged.
The lodge also had a jacuzzi…
…and hot water bottles in the bed (which freaked me out the first night when I jumped into bed).
Amazing.
Next up: Day 2–The Glacial Lake
OH MY GOD IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!
It took me a while to get this going, but I finally got around to it. No promise it’ll be good, but it’s better than nothing. So with that, here is the first installment.
Day T-3: We Depart…and Arrive
My flight went Cincinnati–>Miami, where I met up with Susie. We flew down the Atlantic coast of Florida alongside a really awesome electrical storm that was happening just off the coast (even the stewardess got her camera out).
My attempt to capture it was a fail. But you get the idea.
Landed in Miami, hung out with Susie at the Admirals Club (um, they have showers in those things…I had no idea) and caught our overnight flight to Lima. I took an ambien and tried to stay awake while I ate dinner on the plane, which was fun (couldn’t tell you what I ate, or if the food made it into my mouth). Landed in Lima at like 4 am and finally caught our flight to Cuzco around 9am.
After landing and a short nap we decided to go check out the city and get acclimated to the altitude (>11,000 feet).
Cuzco is pretty awesome, we wandered around the Plaza de Armas, where both Inca leaders Tupac Amaru I and Tupac Amarau II were executed (thank you Kim McQuarrie, Last Days of the Incas)…
…and walked to Plaza San Blas, which is up some ridiculously narrow streets.
Up there we had some delish cous cous soup, and Susie first learned that Peruvians eat guinea pig.
Day T-2: The Sacred Valley
The next morning we woke up to gorgeous weather and were feeling pretty good, so we decided to make a trip into the town of Pisac in the Urubamba Valley. Instead of taking the minibuses (which costs about $1.50) we went through the concierge at our hotel and got a car and driver for the whole day for about $60. Traveling with Auntie Susie has its perks.
After a 45 minute drive down through the mountains and into the Sacred Valley, we arrived at the ruins at Pisac.
Our driver told us the Incas planted crops like this for three reasons: 1.) they could test how well different crops grew at different altitudes (apparently the variation in height from one level to the next makes a difference); 2.) it was easier to irrigate this way; and 3.) it looked nice.
We did a little hiking to prep ourselves for the upcoming trek…
…heard some good mountain flute music…
…and then made our way down to the open air market that happens every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.
That night Sue met a couple in the hotel bar that had just returned from the same Mountain Lodges of Peru (MLP) trek that we would be embarking on in 2 days, and they invited us to come tour some of the local Cuzco ruins with them the next day. So we did.
Day T-1: Sacsayhuaman, Tambo Machay, Puca Pucara, and Quenqo
The next morning we woke up to absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather again. We met up with the couple and a friend of theirs, Maribel, who was a local. She agreed to be our guide for the day.
After a minor debacle of trying to get four gringo tourists onto a packed, public minibus, Maribel decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and the 5 of us squeezed into one taxi, whom we paid to take us around to all 4 ruins.
There are four “ecological sites” surrounding Cusco. First up was Sacsayhuaman (aka “sexy woman”):
This place was awesome.
It has the biggest rocks in the area. Apparently some of the rocks were actually moved to the site from across the river, but they don’t know how the Incas managed to get them across. There are theories that maybe they dammed the river up, but no one is sure.
And of course, they had llamas.
Next up was Tambo Machay, the sacred bathing place of the Inca rulers.
This place was equally as cool, and apparently the water in these springs hasn’t dried up since the time of the Incas.
Next up was Puca Pucara, a smaller fortress that was probably used to defend Cuzco.
…and finally, Quenqo.
We heard two stories about what Quenqo was. One said it was a temple where death rituals and sacrifice took place, another that it was a temple for fertility. Who knows.
On the way back down we got some nice views of Cusco.
That night we said goodbye to our new friends and went to the pre-trek meeting for Mountain Lodges of Peru (MLP), where we met our second group of new friends who would be joining us on our trek.
Then we went home and packed.
Next up: Day 1–The Hiking Begins
Summer
is
here.
And with it comes 90+ degree weather plus humidity. Fortunately we have friends with pools. And for those of you who don’t know what Ale 8 is, you should come to Kentucky and find out.
Next post will be a full trip update, promise.
Made it back safely, had an amazing trip, full trip report and photos to follow shortly.
You’d think after a year and a half of waiting to go on the Machu Picchu trip I won in the winter of 2009 and the amount of hiking I do that I’d be SUPER PREPPED with my packing and ready to go for what will in all likelihood be the most awesome hike I’ve ever done in my life. Well, you’d be wrong.
I leave in 10 min for the airport and just finished packing. Fingers crossed I didn’t forget anything important (I checked, my passport is not expired, so we won’t have John and Elisa wedding 2009 part deux.) Because Paul is now in med school and can’t take the time off, he won’t be joining me. Fortunately, Aunt Susie was more than willing to take his place and accompany me on the journey to Peru for our most massive hike yet. We’ll be gone for about 2 weeks (the actual trek is 7 days), not sure if I’ll be able to update while we’re there, but I’ll do my best.
THANK YOU AGAIN to Zozi and CEO TJ Sassani for the trip, Tech Crunch for sponsoring the contest, and Mountain Lodges of Peru for all of their help with the reschedule. We are beyond excited.
I couldn’t even write about it when it happened like 3 weeks ago because I thought the blog would be getting too redundant, but after our last replant (after the greenhouse blew over for the second time), we had put our only surviving plants on the picnic table, and I walked outside to find said survivors spewed across the yard and Spike chomping on the biodegradable pots. I really lost it and almost killed him, but Paul and I finally figured out a solution (5 attempts too late.)
A shelf. In the yard. Where the plants can get sun, and Spike can’t reach them. Success.
Because I turned 30 about 2 weeks ago, and because when I told people I was moving to Kentucky the first thing everybody said was, “OH MY GOD I’m coming out to visit you for the Kentucky Derby!” my sister (above) decided to throw a big derby party for me. Because she is great.
People started arriving Wednesday night (Derby is on Saturday) and I dropped the last guest off at the airport Monday morning at 4:15am before I went to coach practice, and we basically didn’t stop at all in between.
First up: trip to the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery:
It was here we learned that bourbon only has 5 ingredients, and that it does not, in fact, have to be made in Bourbon county (but it does have to be made in the US).
At the end of the tour we had a free tasting and got to hang out on the back porch of the farm.
That night we went to a favorite local hangout, and then out to another bar, where things got a little dicey.
The next morning, after getting home around 3am, I had to get up at 4:45 to coach practice. Deciding to coach that Friday morning and not have someone cover for me may have been the worst idea I’ve ever had. Ever.
The rest of the group was a little slow to get rolling. Throughout the day more friends arrived, people got hats, and those that were already here went shopping for supplies and food…
…which they then cooked up into an AMAZING Friday night BBQ. Best friends ever.
Saturday morning the big blue school bus arrived to take us to Louisville.
It was supposed to rain, hence the galoshes.
An hour and a half later we arrived…
…and walked under the tunnel…
…into the infield.
Everyone wore hats…
…and buttons…
…and drank mint juleps…
…and bet on the race…
view from the infield
…and lost (except for Molly, who wasn’t even sure which horse she bet on.)
The next day about half the group had to leave early, the other half took a trip out to Glencrest Farms (where Andrea lives)…
…to get a little tour and see the baby thoroughbreds…
…and then I slept 12 hours straight.
No tornados, no injuries or hospital visits. Success! SO great to see old friends, thank you to everyone who made the trip out here, to Molly and Andrea for organizing, to Paul’s parents for giving up their home for our visitors, to everyone who fronted money on food or tickets and may or may not have been fully refunded, and to my parents for financing our transportation. It was a really wonderful weekend.
Update: I was wrong, Kristin also won $7.
Just another April in Kentucky.
Tornados
I have spent the past two weeks peering out the window at 2am, looking at the trees bent in half from the wind, telling Paul that we should get in the crawl space under the house (we have no basement.) Paul has spent the past two weeks mumbling to me half asleep at 2am that no, we should not get in the crawl space, and that I should go back to sleep. Then last week a friend of mine posted this, taken out the window of his office:
I know this pictures is tiny, for a full version go here
Next time I am taking Spike and getting in the crawl space.
Actually, I learned that if you don’t have a basement, the best place to go is an internal bathroom with no windows, bring a mattress with you to cover yourself, and either get in the tub or hug the toilet (I guess the plumbing is more likely not to get sucked up or something?) I have also learned that if a tornado is coming, it sounds like a freight train, so it’s not going to catch you totally off guard (a fact which, strangely enough, has provided me some comfort on those windy nights.)
Tiaras
The royal wedding was great.
Trifectas
The tornadoes cleared up just in time for the last days of Keenland, one of the premiere racing tracks in the country and everyone’s favorite hangout in April and October. It was my first time here, the weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was packed.
We walked in just before the 5th race with about 4 minutes to post.
I bet $2 on horse #5 to win it all, at 12:1 odds. He won. I promptly went and got myself a bourbon.
The next race I bet $3 on a horse with 31:1 odds to show (his name was Ndongo…I had to.) He got 3rd. I am amazing.
Rambulatory Ambulatory 