|
|
Hiking With Kids
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Monday, 29 December 2008 10:23 |
|
Well, I´ve done it! I´ve conquered the Inca Trail to Machu picchu. I believe I did mentally prepare myself for it perfectly because when it came to it, it wasn`t the complete hell I thought it would be. But I didn´t underestimate it like I did when hiking the other routes in in Bolivia and colca canyon. Here´s the quick recap.
Day 1
I got picked up at 6:30 AM and took a 45 minute journey to the start site. When I arrived showed my ticket and passport and I was on my way. Luckily I only had to carry my daypack during the hike (which was still 3.5kg). Most hikers had porters carry 6 kg of their belongings. The rest of my stuff was left at the hotel. Now I must say these porters are fucking awesome. They carry roughly 25kg of stuff on their backs, wear just plain sandals and kick everyone´s asses with racing through the Inca Trail. Well the first day hike was not that bad. There were slight up and down hill hikes but it was seriously majorly doable. It was the easiest day in my opinion and I arrived at the campsite in no time. One scary part was when I saw horses carry two green looking women back down the trail back to the beginning but apparently they could not go on. I heard there was one group of 15 and 14 did not make it. The one guy that did stay threw up the WHOLE time. It´s mostly the altitide in my opinion. People don´t prepare. The rest is mental. I´ll get to that on day 2.
Day 2
Woke up at 5:50 and packed up all my things (clothes, sleeping bag/pad, etc) and got a pleasant breakfast by the cook. Then off to the ¨worst day¨of the Inca Trail. Basically I was at 3,000m above sea level and had to climb to 4,200m above sea level (1,200METERS) up to Dead Woman´s Pass then descend 600m. Now I must state. Being that high in altitude is not good. You have thinner oxygen. People tend to get nosebleeds, headaches, stomach aches, and at worst water in their lungs. Luckily I took altitude pills before after I suffered some aches in Colca Canyon and was fine the whole trail. This day was NOT an easy day. But I´ll tell you, it´s mostly mental. I just zoned into it and hiked. When people rest I wouldn´t pay them attention because I knew stopping would just make my muscles worst and I´ll lost my concentration so I just kept on going. And low and behold I made it in a faster pace then average. Like 45 minutes instead of 1.5 hours and etc.
Quotes to inspire me and people around me. And trust me, my quotes did certainly impress many (thank you to those who know these quotes wink wink)
¨Pain is weakness leaving your body.¨
¨Pain is temporary. Pride is FOREVER.¨ (i certainly couldn´t use the other version)
¨Pain is 90% mental…so suck it up!¨
Day 3
To be honest this was physically tougher for me than Day 2. We started off with a 300m uphill climb which was fine. Then supposedly 1.5 hours up and down hill climbs. Then the killer was the 900m descend. I don´t have the best knees and balance so this was extremely more difficult for me than just mentally climbing uphill. I made it down but it wasn´t fun. Inspiration was that at the campsite there were a place for hot showers (5 soles). After 3 days of that hike hellz yea I´m going at it. Everytime I passed a girl I got happier because that was a girl I beat to the shower. I had no problems getting a shower when I arrived back in good time. People behind me were a different matter. I saw the lines to the shower later on reaching into the night. Sucks for them.
Day 4 (the Site)
Wake up time–4:00 AM. The porters had to catch the early train home or else they won´t be able to leave until nearly 6:00 PM. Everyone was on a rush high and we waited by the start gate. I got up in the rush. And I must say, I´ve never hiked that fast for that long a period. The other days I just went at it at my own speed but I was tailing it today because there were these douches behind me I refuse to lose to. So I climbed up each fucking step with a fevor and when we got to the gringo killer stair hike I fucking bolted up there. We finally arrived to the Sun Gate but unfortunately that early in the day the Cloud Forest was still at its peak and I saw nothing but clouds. Then I hiked downhill for another 45 mins - 1 hour to Machu Picchu and at first it was consumed in clouds and I couldn´t help but thing ¨Great…I was fortunate in weather this whole trip with no rain and today I can´t see anything!¨ But by 8:30 AM everything cleared and low and behold…the best view in the world. It was all worth and I can´t say enough how awesome the whole experience was. Everyone capable should do it. Taking a train to the site if you´re able to do the hile is pussy shit. You get no pride and glory.
I certainly am filled with it.
| What you need to bring/carry: |
| § |
Backpack |
| § |
Sleeping bag |
| § |
Sleeping mattress |
| § |
Rain jacket or poncho (plastic ponchos can be purchased in Cusco for a few dollars) |
| § |
Strong, comfortable footwear |
| § |
One complete change of clothing (you can afford to carry more changes of clothing if you hire a personal porters, see options below) |
| § |
Sweater and jacket (something warm) |
| § |
Water bottle and purification tablets (Micropur are recommended and can be bought in local pharmacies in Cusco) |
| § |
Flashlight and batteries |
| § |
Hat or cap to protect you from the sun |
| § |
Sun block (sun protection cream |
| § |
Insect repellent |
| § |
Toiletries, towel and toilet paper |
| § |
Selection of small snacks, chocolate, dried fruit, biscuits etc, |
| § |
Camera, plenty of film and spare batteries |
| § |
Swimsuit |
| § |
You also need to bring your original passport on the trail. |
if you deside do this walk, I recommend this companies that I saw in the road, very good.
I will not say with which I
Enigma www.enigmaperu.com
Llama Path www.llamapath.com
All Trek www.alltrekcusco.com
|
|
|
Written by GregBrave
|
|
Saturday, 11 October 2008 15:58 |
|
In this article I want to talk about tramping in New Zealand. Tramping is what Kiwis (New Zealanders) call hiking or trekking. What is it like to tramp in NZ? Well, before my first real tramp there I could only guess what its like. |
|
Read more...
|
|
illegals are destroying southern Arizona Hiking Trail |
 |
 |
 |
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Monday, 19 May 2008 21:23 |
|
The Montezuma Pass, at an elevation of 6,575 feet, offers sweeping views of the San Pedro River Valley to the east and of the San Rafael Valley to the west in southern Arizona contiguous to the Mexico border. The top of the pass also serves as a parking area for hikers using the Coronado National Memorial’s hiking trails and the connecting U.S. Forest Service trails in the Huachuca Mountains. The Yaqui Ridge Trail is the southern terminus of the 790-mile Arizona Trail that traverses the state from Mexico to Utah. At scenic vistas found along the trails, you can look toward the horizon and you can see the countryside through which explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led his company of soldiers and missionaries. It is a way for hikers along this trail to turn memories of yesteryear into a timeless keepsake for generations to come. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and possibly terrorists are destroying this timeless keepsake.
When starting one’s hike from the Coronado National Memorial the following posted sign message is presented to hikers: “Smuggling and/or illegal entry is common in this area due to the proximity of the international border. Please be aware of your surroundings at all times and do not travel alone in remote areas.”
American citizens read and hear daily of the many ramifications that illegal immigration has on our society. One ramification that we do not read or hear is how illegal immigrants entering our borders along with drug smugglers and possibly terrorists, are desecrating our pristine wilderness areas with discarded waste. The section of national park trails, forest trails and military reservation lands covering the Huachuca Mountains have become a major artery for smuggling humans and controlled substances into the United States. This incursion has damaged hiking trails and polluted the once pristine land to where certain segments of the trails look more to be urban garbage dumps rather than unspoiled wilderness.
Recently, I hiked a leg of the Arizona Trail, a twenty-five mile section from Fort Huachuca Military Reservation of the United States Army at Sierra Vista, Arizona to the southern terminus signpost at the international border between Mexico and the United States just below the Coronado National Memorial and Montezuma Pass. The section of the Arizona trail goes through parts of the Coronado National Memorial of the U.S. Park System, connecting with the U.S. Forest Service lands and northward through the military grounds of the United States Army’s Fort Huachuca Military Reservation as the trail winds it way up to Utah.
As I hiked the 25-mile section of trails from Fort Huachuca Military Reservation of the U.S. Army to the southern terminus point of the Arizona trail at the Coronado National Memorial I was appalled at the garbage and trash scattered along the trail. Thousands of plastic containers, thousands of aluminum cans, huge quantities of paper debris, clothing of all types from jackets, jeans, undergarments, shirts, shoes, belts, blankets along with discarded backpacks, canvas suitcases, etc. lined the trails that I hiked. Smugglers of human traffic, drugs and possibly national terrorists, are turning the memories of a timeless keepsake of beautiful, pristine vistas into a wilderness waste disposal dump.
To access the hiking trails that go through the Fort Huachuca Military Reservation of the United States Army one is stopped at the main gate of the fort by a dozen security personnel, asking for proper identification documents, purpose of one’s visit, and possibly, a search of one’s vehicle. The hiker must produce legal documents to establish his identification before driving to the trailheads located on the military reservation. The required documents are a drivers’ license, proof of insurance and vehicle registration, or if one is driving a rental car, a copy of the rental car agreement.
The irony in U.S. citizens presenting these required legal documents to army security personnel to access the fort’s military grounds is that concomitantly while showing these legally called for documents to gain access at the main gate of the army military base, human smugglers and their pack train of illegal immigrants, along with drug smugglers and possibly terrorists all have “unfettered” access to the military grounds on its back gate, showing no required documentation for entry. The evidence is powerful, because once a hiker starts up the canyon trails to access the Arizona trail that goes through the military reservation, the hiker is confronted with ample evidence of the garbage dumps on display where illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and possibly terrorists have changed clothes, eaten, drank, slept and used the restroom, outdoors.
Another irony is that the current Republican nominee for the presidency of the United States, Senator John McCain from the great state of Arizona, concedes that he is the expert on “national security,” and he is running his presidential campaign on this political tenet. Concurrently, while he touts this assurance to the American public an invasion of illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and possibly terrorists are coming into the United States via one of our nation’s most popular wilderness hiking trails and land military reservation that lies in Mr. McCain’s backyard.
My writing the above is not to malign the good senator, or to reflect negatively on the United States Army, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, or on the wonderful folk who work in our Border Patrol federal agency. I am simply denoting that the failure of our nation’s political leaders to close access of our borders to illegal human traffic and drugs is costing this nation significantly, in environmental damage to our pristine wilderness lands. I pray that our nation’s leaders soon will gain the needed political courage to make the hard decisions on a complex issue, illegal immigration, before we destroy beyond repair the timeless keepsake of the few precious vestiges we have remaining of the beautiful southern desert areas along our border states.
Jerry Doyle
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Oxbo Trail Hike - Roswell, GA |
|
|
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Monday, 12 May 2008 23:59 |
|
The weather here in Georgia was beautiful this Sunday so I decided a hike was in order to celebrate the clear skies and warm temperature. I flipped through the pages of my hiking book titled 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Atlanta and found some information on the Oxbo Trail in my town of Roswell. This 1.9 mile hike seemed like the perfect way to start the day with some exercise. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Thanks to mt kenya guide. |
|
|
|
|
Written by evansclimb
|
|
Thursday, 19 April 2007 06:57 |
|
In early September, 2006, a group of us climbed Mt. Kenya with Evans, our guide. In addition to me (Tony), we were Jordan and Anne. I am American climate change scientist, living and working in Austria. Jordan is a PhD student from the US working with me on a research project (on climate change), and Anne is from Denmark, whom Jordan and I met in Nairobi and decided to join up with for the Mt Kenya climb.
It was a great experience. I am writing this diary two weeks later both to keep the memories in my own mind, and also for Evans, so that he can share this trip with others. He impressed me as a very good guide, for several reasons. First, he was simply completely competent. He led us at a pace that was slow enough to appreciate the wildlife around us, and to stick to all day. He knew the wildlife, and the trees, and could explain everything to us if we asked. We started each day early, so we never got wet. Second, he cared about the mountain. Other groups may have left litter behind, but ours left it cleaner than we found it. The other guides we met seemed to really respect him. Third, he was just very nice. He didn`t impose his personality on us, but it was a pleasure to talk to him about his experiences growing up at Mt Kenya, and living in Nairobi. I wish him and his family all the luck in the world. He has started this business, to guide people up Mt Kenya, and unlike others, it is locally owned and operated, the equivalent to Fair Trade. The money you pay him for the service goes directly to him and his guides, so that they can make a reasonable living afford education for their children, rather than going to a tour operator from outside of Kenya. If we want to live in a world of greater equality, we need to make choices, and the choice to hike Mt. Kenya with Evans and his team seems like a right one. I would like to return to Mt Kenya some day, perhaps when my son is old enough to come along with my wife and me. Next time, I would like to have some more time, and even try to the technical climb to Batian, and maybe also hike up Mt Kilimanjaro. I hope to see Evans again when I do.
It was a great experience. I am writing this diary two weeks later both to keep the memories in my own mind, and also for Evans, so that he can share this trip with others. He impressed me as a very good guide, for several reasons. First, he was simply completely competent. He led us at a pace that was slow enough to appreciate the wildlife around us, and to stick to all day. He knew the wildlife, and the trees, and could explain everything to us if we asked.
http://www.gotomountkenya.com |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 2 |
|
|