When I hiked the 100-plus mile Brecon Beacons trail across the hills of Wales a few years ago, I considered it a major achievement. However, it didn’t prepare me one whit for the Peruvian Andes. Distances covered at or close to sea level are almost insignificant when compared to hiking at high altitude. And the Inca Trail is nothing but high-in-the-sky altitude. The elevation begins at 8,500 feet and climbs to just shy of 14,000 feet. That’s 8.5 oxygen-deprived miles up. Despite having spent three days acclimatizing in a rather posh Cusco hotel, I quickly discovered that you don’t so much hike the Inca Trail as survive it. Come along for the ride – it will leave you equally breathless.
the inca trail
live blog: strap-ons
One of the chief attractions of this entire journey south of the Equator is getting the opportunity to hike the glaciers. No less than thirteen of them descend out of the Andes as part of the Patagonian Ice Field – the second largest ice field in the world after Antarctica, in case I haven’t already dropped that factoid in here somewhere. It kind of seems as if you want to hike a glacier, this is the place to do it.
Here’s a little tease of what we got up to today as part of a full-day hike across the ice: strap-on crampons. I’ll post something in more detail just as soon as I’m done with a much-needed massage.
