The Mountain Life

Matthew gazing at the scenery above the Canyon


A faraway view of our trail to come. The lush green is our camping place for the evening


a view of the trail below us


Sara and Matthew, Mountaineers. View from the top. Happy Valentines Day



Ahh Valentines Day. A great day to spend with people of signifcance in your life. A day of romance. A day of love.

OR

A day to wake up at 4.30am.

A day to hike up a mountain with a body oder that can compete with that of a donkey.

A day to have blisters pop and feet ache.

A wonderful day.

Sara and I visited Colca Canyon this weekend. We went on a 2 day trek into the Canyon (which is nearly twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). The journy started off a bit rockey because our ride to the tour bus never came. So we grabed a cab and arrived at 3.10am, 10 minutes late, to a tour agency that was closed. Luckily a man approached me and asked if I was with Sara Wells and all worked out well.

We were with a group of 5 other people. 2 Germans, 1 Swiss, 1 Aussie, and a Peruivian. They were all very interesting people. The Swiss man lives on a boat and has been traveling from port to port for the last 5 years. He can also speak 5 languages. He was very fascinating.

We started our descent down about 1800 meters and it took about 3 hours of downhill hiking. About every 20 steps we would slip or stumble our way down the mountain side. At some points we had to ballance beam across a steep ledge. We then had to hike up a steep hill then down again to an oasis for a total of about 6 hours of hiking.

Our tour guide was from one of the small villages we passed and he gave us a lot of background info of the villages. He said 17 families live there and spend most of their days farming their crops. He said money is not important to them. He also told us they recently had a carnival where the women dress up and dance. But its a trick because some of the men dress up like women, so you have to look carefully to see who you are dancing with.

We spent the night in paradise, a lush green area near the river. We slept in small huts complete with thatched roofs and 1 scorpian.

Our next day started at 4.30am. We had to hike up 1600meters to get to the top of the mountain where breakfast would be served. It took us 3 hours. Along the way we had to dodge the occasional horse or donkey carrying supplies to the villages below. The animals are fearless of the cliffs.

We ended the day sitting in a volcano fed hotspring sipping pisco sours with a view of rolling mountain sides all around us. We also have really sore feet and legs, but feel acomplished that we completed the 26km hike into the valley.

I am sad to say that I must retire my New Balance shoes. But am glad to say Chacos can do amazing things.

Highlights:
The scenery, the food, hot springs, condors.

lowlights:
bad shoes(I started with my old tennis shoes and they broke, did most of the hike in sandles and they worked really well) blisters.

camera updatë:
the camera is currently being inspected. We are staying in Arequipa a few more days as we wait for the diagnosis.