mt rainer
dog or tree?
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view from mt constitution, orcas island
me
waiting for the ferry
Tag Archive for 'hiking'
From a recent hike to Lake Lillian.
I never actually made it to the lake, which I guess isn’t that uncommon. There was snow at the ridge, and I ended up losing the trail. (Made more exciting by the fact that the mosquitos attacked every time I stopped to look for it.) But the surrounds were beautiful. I think it may be one of my favorite hikes.
Arg!! The weather on the entire Inka Trail was *perfect*…. until the very last day.
We awoke at 4am to make our way to the Sun Gate, *the* place to see the sunrise…. We really booked it and we were the third & forth people there. And by there… I mean a big wall of white fog. 
The “vista” above Machu Picchu wasn’t that much better. Our guides kept saying that it would clear… and then around 8:30am, it finally did….
the llamas, also upset by the fog….
yep, that’s machu picchu. not exactly how i envisioned it….
but then it started to clear! !
and clear even further!!
The third day of the Inka trail might have been my favorite. The hiking was challenging, but not ridiculous. And we started early enough that we were able to see many of the small ruins all by ourselves….
Day 2 was by fair the roughest day. We started out hiking up to Llulluchupampa. This was a steep 3km and we were all feeling it by the time we got there.
From there, we were heading to Dead Woman’s Pass (or Warmiwañusca). At 4198m (13,772 ft) it is definitely up there. The last 200m was the worst. You pass through 3 stages:
- Excitement – you can see the top.
- Exhaustion – each step takes absolute effort.
- Extreme exhaustion – you’re inches from the top but each step now takes 15 second.
made it to llulluchupampa!
you can see how far we’ve climbed already!
last 200 meters…. think i might die….
looks like i’m smiling. really, i’m just covering my pain…. and my gasping. the air is thin this high up!
the rolled in magically as we got to the top…
…and then just as quickly rolled away…
2nd night camp site
The first day of was pretty easy. It was about 16km and 6 hours of walking along the Urubamba River But we were at our lowest elevation point of 2380m (7,808 ft), which was even lower than Cuzco. The climb was very modest to Wayllabamba at 3100m (10,170 ft), our first camp site.
me, around 7am. on the bus, en route for the trail. photo op break.
the start of the trail. we were very lucky and had a very fun treking group.
friendly visitor – donkey!
our first camp site.
I first began wanting to go to Peru a couple years ago. My main motivation was to do the 4 day trek to Machu Picchu. I had heard amazing things about the Machu Picchu ruins. And I just imagined hiking through the Andes and finally coming upon the ruins…
Well, the trail and Machu Picchu lived up to all my expectations. It was an amazing experience.
Some basic info about the trail:
- 33 km (22 miles) in 4 days
- Lowest point: 2380m (7,808 ft)
- Highest point: 4200m (13,779 ft)
If you’re heading out on the trail, a few thoughts for you…
- Bring bug repellent. Some parts of the trail are at “lower” alitutoides and there are mosquitos. I got devoured at Machu Picchu during the 15 minutes I decided to make my convertible pants “shorts.
- They sell wooden walking sticks at the beginning of the trail. They’re cheaper than renting metal walking sticks… and you don’t have to lug yours from the States. For me, having 2 walking sticks was *key*.
- Bring lots of memory cards. I went through about 6 GB.
(I’ll add a few more points once I get through the rest of the trip’s photos. I did a bunch of research on which agency & what to bring that I’ll share.)
The Na Pali Coast, on the northwest shore of Kauai, is amazingly lush. On our first day in Kauai, we did the first part of the 11-mile Kalalau hike.
It starts on Ke’e beach and goes about 2 miles until you find yourself on another beach. We then hiked another 2 miles or so to Hanakapiai Falls.
the trail
the na pali coast
bamboo ceiling
they were here
Walking around Kota Kinabalu, post-hike.
local boats to the islands.
filipino market.
boats at sea