Mine camp
Arthur the camp pet
October 31, 2008
October 19, 2008
Denver Half Marathon
This morning was the Denver Marathon and Half Marathon. I headed down to Denver with a co-worker, Jessica, to run the half marathon. Josh and Erich, Jessica's boyfriend, also came along to spectate/photograph/support. The conditions were pretty nice, with temperatures in the low 50's at the start. Normally I would say this is a bit cold, but I ran in below freezing temperatures earlier this week, so today felt nice and warm.
Jessica and I headed out for a short warm-up jog about 40 minutes before the race. We then headed to the porta-a-pottys for one final stop, but the line was about 100 people long. So, we jogged a couple blocks to the Sheraton, where only four people were in line for the restroom. By the time we handed off our warm-ups to our spectator boyfriends, we had about 10 minutes to the start. We walked to where we wanted to be in the start line, but unfortunately were on the wrong side of a fence separating the spectators from racers. We then realized we would have to walk through the crowds (spectators) about a block to make it to the end of the starting corral and then push our way back through an even bigger crowd (racers) to be in the 7-minute/mile starting zone. The fence was too high to jump over and too wobbly to climb over. I contemplated attempting to slide under the fence, but this would be a bit close and it would be awful to be stuck under the fence when the race started. Then I saw a man help a woman over the fence. Left with no other option, I asked this stranger if he could also give me a lift. So with the one guy on the inside grabbing me by the armpits and one on the outside boosting my legs, I safely made it to the start line with time to spare. Jessica made it over the fence in the same fashion. Thanks kind strangers ... I really owe you.
The start.
I started the race much faster than I should have at 6:40 min/mile. At mile 2, I realized that although Jessica insisted that she was going to slow down, she was obviously lying. So I let her take off in front of me. The rest of the race wasn't too exciting. Just put one foot in front of the other, repeat.
I finished the run in 1:31:04, which is a bit faster than I expected. However, this just makes me want to run another half because I know I can go more than a minute faster and break 1:30. Jessica finished 2 1/2 minutes ahead of me and won her age group. It's probably for the best that I didn't try to stick with her as she never did slow down much.
Jessica and I headed out for a short warm-up jog about 40 minutes before the race. We then headed to the porta-a-pottys for one final stop, but the line was about 100 people long. So, we jogged a couple blocks to the Sheraton, where only four people were in line for the restroom. By the time we handed off our warm-ups to our spectator boyfriends, we had about 10 minutes to the start. We walked to where we wanted to be in the start line, but unfortunately were on the wrong side of a fence separating the spectators from racers. We then realized we would have to walk through the crowds (spectators) about a block to make it to the end of the starting corral and then push our way back through an even bigger crowd (racers) to be in the 7-minute/mile starting zone. The fence was too high to jump over and too wobbly to climb over. I contemplated attempting to slide under the fence, but this would be a bit close and it would be awful to be stuck under the fence when the race started. Then I saw a man help a woman over the fence. Left with no other option, I asked this stranger if he could also give me a lift. So with the one guy on the inside grabbing me by the armpits and one on the outside boosting my legs, I safely made it to the start line with time to spare. Jessica made it over the fence in the same fashion. Thanks kind strangers ... I really owe you.
The start.
I started the race much faster than I should have at 6:40 min/mile. At mile 2, I realized that although Jessica insisted that she was going to slow down, she was obviously lying. So I let her take off in front of me. The rest of the race wasn't too exciting. Just put one foot in front of the other, repeat.
I finished the run in 1:31:04, which is a bit faster than I expected. However, this just makes me want to run another half because I know I can go more than a minute faster and break 1:30. Jessica finished 2 1/2 minutes ahead of me and won her age group. It's probably for the best that I didn't try to stick with her as she never did slow down much.
October 10, 2008
Fastness
The tri team puts on a 5K race series as a fundraiser. After volunteering the last two weeks, I decided to join the fun and run the race yesterday evening.
Finally, after 10 years, I was able to PR in a 5K. A real PR. Not this post-high school stuff I was blabbing about. It was only a 2 second PR, but who cares.
Nine days until the Denver Half Marathon. And since this is my first (standalone) half marathon, I am pretty much guaranteed a PR there too.
Finally, after 10 years, I was able to PR in a 5K. A real PR. Not this post-high school stuff I was blabbing about. It was only a 2 second PR, but who cares.
Nine days until the Denver Half Marathon. And since this is my first (standalone) half marathon, I am pretty much guaranteed a PR there too.
October 05, 2008
Bloody Christ! It's Fall!
This weekend I went back down to the Sangre de Cristo (Blood of Christ) Mountains to hike yet another 14er. I knew the weather would be questionable, so I carried enough clothes and gear to be prepared for anything.
I decided to do a quick trip on Friday evening, leaving Boulder after dinner and arriving at the trailhead at 12:30 Saturday morning. I slept for a few hours before starting the approach. I felt quite out of shape after taking it easy for a few weeks to let my foot heal. After an hour of walking, I felt like I should have been at the top, when in actuality, I had just reached a point where I could see the mountain for the first time.
First glimpse of Mt. Lindsey
The top 1,500 feet or so were a bit snowy, with verglass beginning to form on many of the rocks. I avoided this by taking Mt. Lindsey's Southwest Ridge route (the normal trail stays well below the ridge where the snow tends to accumulate), only to encounter another of the mountain's defenses, 40 mph wind. One stretch of about 100 vertical feet was quite steep and exposed. I was really enjoying myself on this bit when a stronger-than-average wind gust slammed into me. I remember thinking "Whoa!" and then taking a second to remind myself that I was somewhere that falling really wasn't an option, and I needed to be careful. I embraced the wind and took my time through the rest of the steep section, only to finish and wish that more of the climb to the top was like that last stretch.
Final steps to the summit
After the fun stretch, it was a windy scramble-stumble to the top (I'm sure I would have appeared drunk had anyone been there to see me). I spent about a minute or two on the cold, windy, and generally inhospitable summit. The clouds came and went quickly in the high winds, providing an occasional view down into the surrounding valleys. It was now that I realized it was fall and that there were bright yellow aspens all over. On the way up I had passed through the entire aspen zone in the dark. Not so on the way down.
I decided to do a quick trip on Friday evening, leaving Boulder after dinner and arriving at the trailhead at 12:30 Saturday morning. I slept for a few hours before starting the approach. I felt quite out of shape after taking it easy for a few weeks to let my foot heal. After an hour of walking, I felt like I should have been at the top, when in actuality, I had just reached a point where I could see the mountain for the first time.
First glimpse of Mt. Lindsey
The top 1,500 feet or so were a bit snowy, with verglass beginning to form on many of the rocks. I avoided this by taking Mt. Lindsey's Southwest Ridge route (the normal trail stays well below the ridge where the snow tends to accumulate), only to encounter another of the mountain's defenses, 40 mph wind. One stretch of about 100 vertical feet was quite steep and exposed. I was really enjoying myself on this bit when a stronger-than-average wind gust slammed into me. I remember thinking "Whoa!" and then taking a second to remind myself that I was somewhere that falling really wasn't an option, and I needed to be careful. I embraced the wind and took my time through the rest of the steep section, only to finish and wish that more of the climb to the top was like that last stretch.
Final steps to the summit
After the fun stretch, it was a windy scramble-stumble to the top (I'm sure I would have appeared drunk had anyone been there to see me). I spent about a minute or two on the cold, windy, and generally inhospitable summit. The clouds came and went quickly in the high winds, providing an occasional view down into the surrounding valleys. It was now that I realized it was fall and that there were bright yellow aspens all over. On the way up I had passed through the entire aspen zone in the dark. Not so on the way down.
October 03, 2008
Tri Babes
Like many people (particularly women, sorry for the stereotype), I like to buy things on sale. I can't pass up a good deal, even if it is something that I don't actually need and sometimes don't even really want. This usually happens for things like clothing and outdoor gear, but is not limited to material items. Current example: triathlon. How could I pass up the opportunity to enter a race for 77% off the normal registration fee? Forget that I wasn't planning to do a tri this fall. And that I stopped swimming and biking so I could focus on half marathon training. And that the normal triathlon prices are so astronomically expensive, that this really isn't an amazing deal. These details are not important, what is important is that I was getting a good deal.
So, that's how I found myself at the starting line for the Tri Babes race weekend before last. This was an all-women sprint distance race (750 m swim, 12 mi bike, 5 k run). This was my first all women's race and I didn't notice too many differences from a normal triathlon, but I was pretty happy to not have men molesting me on the swim and sprinting by me in the bike and run.
I should go back and explain the real reason I was at this race. After swearing I would not do so (because hanging out with undergrads makes me feel old), I finally caved in and joined the CU tri team. I decided that this winter should be devoted to staying in shape, rather than drinking beer and eating junk food and pretending that skiing will keep me fit (which it might if I did it more than once a week). It was through the team and by volunteering at a race a few weeks ago that I got such a good deal on this entry fee. Ten women from the team competed in the race, many of them new to the sport.
The race went fairly well. The swim was uneventful, but the bike was not. Early on, I took a wrong turn when I followed the person in front of me. It is rather amazing that I succeeded in getting lost on this course because it was incredibly well-marked and there were volunteers at every intersection. There were even two volunteers at the intersection where I made the wrong turn ... they just neglected to say anything. After I realized my error, I re-traced my path and probably only lost about a minute.
Then I had an energy gel catastrophe ... again. I was squeezing the gel into my mouth when I felt a chunk. Josh and I have both had chunky Clif Shots recently. We don't know if this is because they are old or if they went through a freeze-thaw. When we return from a trip, all unused gels get thrown back into the drawer, so it is impossible for us to track the history of each gel. If anyone knows the cause of our chunky-gritty gel problem, please enlighten us, as these are really unappetizing. But this is off topic, because it was not the gel that was chunky, but the fact that I had a dime sized piece of wrapper in my mouth. I am pretty sure this wrapper chunk came from inside the packet because I inspected the packet afterward and determined it was not a piece that was torn off while opening. Because gel is nearly impossible to spit-out and I didn't want to risk swallowing this piece of plastic/foil, I was left to stick my finger in my gooey mouth to remove the offending wrapper piece. This led to stickiness all over my fingers, then handlebars, face, shorts. However, I have not found any gel on my helmet ... yet.
But I guess my issues on the bike did not hinder my run, as I ran an 18:06 5K, besting my PR by 2 minutes ... just kidding. Obviously the course was much shorter than a 5K. Which I am kinda bummed about because I have been feeling pretty fit, light, and fast lately. I thought I might have a chance to break my post-high school 5K PR (because the HS PR is still too fast to even contemplate breaking), but I guess that will have to wait for another day.
I ended up in 3rd place overall (out of 222) and 1st in my age group (out of 38). The CU team had a pretty good showing with 2nd and 5th place overall finishes as well. Even more important, the girls new to the sport seemed to have a good time and may be headed toward full triathlon addictions, which are easy to get and impossible to break especially with reduced entry fees as temptations.
No pictures this time. I carpooled to Longmont for this race and left Josh at home. I figure I drug him to enough races this year, although I think he may have been a little more excited for this one as a result of the multitude of fit looking women and the absence of men in spandex.
September 27, 2008
6 Days on the Apúrimac River
For the third and final leg of our trip to Peru, I signed us up for a 6-day rafting trip on the Apúrimac River. I had expected a very popular and crowded trip on par with the Grand Canyon or the Pacuare in Costa Rica. On the contrary, Dad and I were the only two clients in our group, which was supported by a head guide, a gear boat oarsman, a safety kayaker, and a cook. By the end of the trip, we were quite surprised to have only seen one other rafting group in 6 days, and they were camped out near one of the rapids looking for a body that had disappeared about 2 months prior.
I found the first day of our trip to be extremely entertaining, despite the fact that we only rafted for about 1.5 hours. The six of us plus a designated driver packed into a medium sized van with the remainder of the inside and top of the van maxed out with deflated boats and gear for 6 days. Up until this point, we had not been off of what I would call the "tourist trail'. We drove for a little over 3 hours from Cusco, and before we even left the city we were seeing Peruvians engaged in common activities, immersed in their own culture without the overwhelming influence of tourism. I was excited to see Peruvian culture, and things only got better the further we drove. After about 2 hours we stopped in a town that was having a huge festival, complete with ancient ritualistic dances and music. And the best part was that they weren't doing it just so tourists would throw them a couple dollars (we were the only two tourists in the town, and they weren't expecting us)!
After losing several thousand vertical feet while descending into the small village of Naywa in the bottom of the Apúrimac River Valley (this bit of driving was the scariest part of the trip), we got out of the van and spent the next couple of hours hauling our gear from the town to the river (about a 20 minute walk each way). The Naywa locals, including the 60-year-old women, put us to shame as they carried about three 60-pound loads each. One of the men, who weighed about a 120 pounds, made three trips in which he managed to carry two 100 pound dry boxes and the 110 pound raft. I think Dad and I combined to carry a kayak, a pump, and a small backpack.
First camp site
The guide, Boris, was a good boater, but he seemed to lack organizational skills. There was a lot of dirking around while they tried to figure out how to load their boats each morning. The best episode of dirking occurred in the first class 5 rapid. The video below shows the safety boater's run, which was very smooth. As the guide made us walk around the rapid, he was tasked with getting the raft down by himself.
He shot for the middle slot, same as the kayaker, only to find that it wasn't wide enough. He ended up getting out of the boat and pushing the raft over from the barely covered rock just to the right of the boat in the photo below.
After pushing the raft over while holding onto the bow line, the boat proceeded to go downstream with more force than Boris could handle. Had his foot not been wrapped around the tail end of the bow line, I'm sure he would have just let it go and let the kayaker run it down. As it was, letting go was not an option. What happened next was such a cluster I can't describe it. Suffice it to say that he eventually got his foot untangled, let the raft go, and escaped with only rope burns on his hands.
Over the course of the trip, there were 6 5th class rapids and the guide made us walk around all but one of them. I thought this was bull s@*! and basically told Boris so, but he wouldn't let us paddle them anyway. I've done enough rafting with Keith to know when something is runnable, and all of them were runnable in my opinion.
On the fourth day we stopped by a side creek and hiked up it a short ways to a waterfall. This reminded both Dad and me of the side hikes in the Grand Canyon.
Classic example of a Peruvian road switchbacking down a steep face
Early on the morning of the 5th day, two British clients joined our group as we had come to the first road crossing since we started. They did surprisingly well over the next 2 days, considering that neither of them had ever rafted before and the final two days were non-stop class 3 and 4 rapids.
When we started the trip, the rock was mostly black granite and conglomerate. About half way through the trip it changed to this white granite, coinciding with a steepening of the canyon walls.
This class 5 by the name of Toothache looks really fun. Unfortunately, the guides were once again selfish and made us walk around. The rock sticking up to the left of the raft in the photo is the tooth.
Everything went very well and was basically too safe. We remained healthy and uninjured all the way to the take out. Upon carrying the raft up the hill at the take out, I had a vicious encounter with a mean stock of bamboo. I came out victorious after breaking the bamboo stock clean in half, and all it managed to do was slice the top of my foot open.
After setting the raft down I took a look at the top of my foot, and immediately knew something was wrong when I noticed that I could see 1/4 inch into my foot. Luckily we had beer and Dad brought his 1st aid kit. A week later, after returning to Boulder, I decided that my foot was hurting more than it should and went to see a doctor. The doctor opened up the wound, pulled an inch of bamboo 'debris' out of the top of my foot, and sent me home. The wound is now healing well, and the nerve damage seems to get better every day.
I found the first day of our trip to be extremely entertaining, despite the fact that we only rafted for about 1.5 hours. The six of us plus a designated driver packed into a medium sized van with the remainder of the inside and top of the van maxed out with deflated boats and gear for 6 days. Up until this point, we had not been off of what I would call the "tourist trail'. We drove for a little over 3 hours from Cusco, and before we even left the city we were seeing Peruvians engaged in common activities, immersed in their own culture without the overwhelming influence of tourism. I was excited to see Peruvian culture, and things only got better the further we drove. After about 2 hours we stopped in a town that was having a huge festival, complete with ancient ritualistic dances and music. And the best part was that they weren't doing it just so tourists would throw them a couple dollars (we were the only two tourists in the town, and they weren't expecting us)!
After losing several thousand vertical feet while descending into the small village of Naywa in the bottom of the Apúrimac River Valley (this bit of driving was the scariest part of the trip), we got out of the van and spent the next couple of hours hauling our gear from the town to the river (about a 20 minute walk each way). The Naywa locals, including the 60-year-old women, put us to shame as they carried about three 60-pound loads each. One of the men, who weighed about a 120 pounds, made three trips in which he managed to carry two 100 pound dry boxes and the 110 pound raft. I think Dad and I combined to carry a kayak, a pump, and a small backpack.
First camp site
The guide, Boris, was a good boater, but he seemed to lack organizational skills. There was a lot of dirking around while they tried to figure out how to load their boats each morning. The best episode of dirking occurred in the first class 5 rapid. The video below shows the safety boater's run, which was very smooth. As the guide made us walk around the rapid, he was tasked with getting the raft down by himself.
He shot for the middle slot, same as the kayaker, only to find that it wasn't wide enough. He ended up getting out of the boat and pushing the raft over from the barely covered rock just to the right of the boat in the photo below.
After pushing the raft over while holding onto the bow line, the boat proceeded to go downstream with more force than Boris could handle. Had his foot not been wrapped around the tail end of the bow line, I'm sure he would have just let it go and let the kayaker run it down. As it was, letting go was not an option. What happened next was such a cluster I can't describe it. Suffice it to say that he eventually got his foot untangled, let the raft go, and escaped with only rope burns on his hands.
Over the course of the trip, there were 6 5th class rapids and the guide made us walk around all but one of them. I thought this was bull s@*! and basically told Boris so, but he wouldn't let us paddle them anyway. I've done enough rafting with Keith to know when something is runnable, and all of them were runnable in my opinion.
On the fourth day we stopped by a side creek and hiked up it a short ways to a waterfall. This reminded both Dad and me of the side hikes in the Grand Canyon.
Classic example of a Peruvian road switchbacking down a steep face
Early on the morning of the 5th day, two British clients joined our group as we had come to the first road crossing since we started. They did surprisingly well over the next 2 days, considering that neither of them had ever rafted before and the final two days were non-stop class 3 and 4 rapids.
When we started the trip, the rock was mostly black granite and conglomerate. About half way through the trip it changed to this white granite, coinciding with a steepening of the canyon walls.
This class 5 by the name of Toothache looks really fun. Unfortunately, the guides were once again selfish and made us walk around. The rock sticking up to the left of the raft in the photo is the tooth.
Everything went very well and was basically too safe. We remained healthy and uninjured all the way to the take out. Upon carrying the raft up the hill at the take out, I had a vicious encounter with a mean stock of bamboo. I came out victorious after breaking the bamboo stock clean in half, and all it managed to do was slice the top of my foot open.
After setting the raft down I took a look at the top of my foot, and immediately knew something was wrong when I noticed that I could see 1/4 inch into my foot. Luckily we had beer and Dad brought his 1st aid kit. A week later, after returning to Boulder, I decided that my foot was hurting more than it should and went to see a doctor. The doctor opened up the wound, pulled an inch of bamboo 'debris' out of the top of my foot, and sent me home. The wound is now healing well, and the nerve damage seems to get better every day.
September 26, 2008
O-bama
My dad bought these shirts for Josh and I. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to where our shirts as we are still celebrating last nights Beaver victory and tonight is the first debate.
Go Beavs!
Go Obama!
Manu - Response to Comments
There seems to be some question as to what Macaws sound like. This video should help clear things up, so long as the sound on your computer is turned on. And I didn't bring home a monkey because you explicitly told me not to, rashly claiming that that they have diseases and Cota would just eat it anyway.
September 24, 2008
The Amazon - Manu Wildlife Reserve
The second leg of our trip involved flying east from the middle of the Peruvian Andes down into the Amazon jungle, about 40 minutes away. This sub-trip lasted 4 days, and the amount of wildlife and biodiversity we saw was nothing short of spectacular.
After arriving on a primitive landing strip cut out of the jungle, we took a boat for an hour and a half down the Madre de Dios River to the lodge where we would spend most of our time. On the boat trip to the lodge, we saw many birds, a river turtle, howler monkeys, and lots of evidence that we were at the tail end of the dry season. The river in this area reportedly rises about 15 feet in the wet season.
Giant log that floated down the Madre de Dios River when the water was just a tad higher
Howler Monkeys on the side of the river
Whenever we weren't doing something else, we were either eating or walking around the jungle in the vicinity of the lodge, looking for whatever wildlife chose to present themselves.
Fist-sized butterfly
Perhaps the main attraction of this particular lodge, and the primary reason we chose it, is due to its proximity to one of the largest Macaw clay licks in the Amazon. Macaws are large parrots with about a 3 foot wingspan. They, along with a few other species in the jungle, eat a regular diet of toxic fruits. In order to counteract these toxins, the parrots take part in an unbelievable clay-eating ritual every morning at the exact same spot. The content of the clay neutralizes the toxins, allowing the parrots to live to see another day.
Macaws as they inch towards the clay lick
The daily ritual involves meeting up in the treetops above the preferred bank of clay. Smaller green and blue-headed parrots take their turn first, as they seem to be less afraid of the eagle and hawk threat. The Macaws slowly inch downward toward the clay, praying that another of them will be the first to make the move to the more-exposed and dangerous clay lick. We watched them take over an hour to inch towards the lick, just to have an egret fly overhead and scare them all back into the treetops. Another hour and a half later, the bravest one began the festivities, with the remaining couple hundred quickly to follow.
More Macaws
Mmmmmm, clay
Video of the ritual
On the boat ride from the clay lick back to the lodge, we saw a capybara on the side of the river. He was a goofy looking critter (as seen in the photo) and happens to be a member of the largest family of rodents in the world.
Capybara (extra large rodent)
We spent the following night sleeping out at a clay lick belonging to the tapirs. Although the tapir has a similar diet to the macaw, thus requiring the neutralizing clay lick, they are nothing alike. Tapirs are related to both the rhinoceros and the horse. We got to see one for about 5 seconds via a spotlight around midnight. Hiking back to the lodge, we saw several frogs and our guide managed to coax a few tarantulas out of their holes.
The primary event of the following day was to tour a nearby lake in search of more wildlife, in particular the 6-foot-long giant otter. We never saw an otter, but the trip was still quite eventful with monkeys all over the place, more birds than you could shake a stick at, and a rare and brief sighting of a tree-dwelling ant eater. I had fun pretending to be a wildlife photographer.
Huazins at the lakeside
Heron
Great White Egret (I can't figure out how they stay so clean)
Weird lookin' duck
Lilly pad bird, for lack of a better name
On the boat ride back to the landing strip, we thought we had seen all the animals we would find for the trip. Not so. An unusual weather pattern, or perhaps it was just something in the air, brought the caiman out. We saw nearly a dozen on the 2 hour boat ride, every one of them holding real still, looking like a log, and smiling.
Caiman
After arriving on a primitive landing strip cut out of the jungle, we took a boat for an hour and a half down the Madre de Dios River to the lodge where we would spend most of our time. On the boat trip to the lodge, we saw many birds, a river turtle, howler monkeys, and lots of evidence that we were at the tail end of the dry season. The river in this area reportedly rises about 15 feet in the wet season.
Giant log that floated down the Madre de Dios River when the water was just a tad higher
Howler Monkeys on the side of the river
Whenever we weren't doing something else, we were either eating or walking around the jungle in the vicinity of the lodge, looking for whatever wildlife chose to present themselves.
Fist-sized butterfly
Perhaps the main attraction of this particular lodge, and the primary reason we chose it, is due to its proximity to one of the largest Macaw clay licks in the Amazon. Macaws are large parrots with about a 3 foot wingspan. They, along with a few other species in the jungle, eat a regular diet of toxic fruits. In order to counteract these toxins, the parrots take part in an unbelievable clay-eating ritual every morning at the exact same spot. The content of the clay neutralizes the toxins, allowing the parrots to live to see another day.
Macaws as they inch towards the clay lick
The daily ritual involves meeting up in the treetops above the preferred bank of clay. Smaller green and blue-headed parrots take their turn first, as they seem to be less afraid of the eagle and hawk threat. The Macaws slowly inch downward toward the clay, praying that another of them will be the first to make the move to the more-exposed and dangerous clay lick. We watched them take over an hour to inch towards the lick, just to have an egret fly overhead and scare them all back into the treetops. Another hour and a half later, the bravest one began the festivities, with the remaining couple hundred quickly to follow.
More Macaws
Mmmmmm, clay
Video of the ritual
On the boat ride from the clay lick back to the lodge, we saw a capybara on the side of the river. He was a goofy looking critter (as seen in the photo) and happens to be a member of the largest family of rodents in the world.
Capybara (extra large rodent)
We spent the following night sleeping out at a clay lick belonging to the tapirs. Although the tapir has a similar diet to the macaw, thus requiring the neutralizing clay lick, they are nothing alike. Tapirs are related to both the rhinoceros and the horse. We got to see one for about 5 seconds via a spotlight around midnight. Hiking back to the lodge, we saw several frogs and our guide managed to coax a few tarantulas out of their holes.
The primary event of the following day was to tour a nearby lake in search of more wildlife, in particular the 6-foot-long giant otter. We never saw an otter, but the trip was still quite eventful with monkeys all over the place, more birds than you could shake a stick at, and a rare and brief sighting of a tree-dwelling ant eater. I had fun pretending to be a wildlife photographer.
Huazins at the lakeside
Heron
Great White Egret (I can't figure out how they stay so clean)
Weird lookin' duck
Lilly pad bird, for lack of a better name
On the boat ride back to the landing strip, we thought we had seen all the animals we would find for the trip. Not so. An unusual weather pattern, or perhaps it was just something in the air, brought the caiman out. We saw nearly a dozen on the 2 hour boat ride, every one of them holding real still, looking like a log, and smiling.
Caiman
September 20, 2008
El Camino Inca (The Inca Trail)
Along with 6 other Oregon dentists and their wives, my dad and I hiked for 4 days on the Inca Trail to reach Machu Picchu. As is now required by law, we were accompanied by a guide, an assistant guide, and 15 porters. Although several hundred people begin this hike each day (I think 500 is the limit, including porters), we didn't encounter very many people due to the fact that we started about a half-day further away on the trail, so we were continuously 1/2 day behind nearly everyone else.
Urubamba River Valley, near the start of the trail
The first day's hike was short and flat and served as a bit of a warm-up. Here we learned the routine of the porters carrying 70 pound packs and running in sandals. Some of them would stop at a predefined location and prepare a nice, hot lunch for us while the others continued to camp and had everything set up for us when we arrived. We also learned that the record time for completing the trek we were hoping to complete in 4 days is just over 3.5 hours. The porters were truly amazing and I would like to have brought one home with me.
Ruins near camp 1
Q'Entimarka Ruins near camp 1
We saw over 10 ruins in 4 days before arriving in Machu Picchu. Many of the ruins along the trail were quite extensive and really neat to see because there were no roads to them. Despite there not being any roads, small towns of only a couple families each were encountered sporadically throughout our trek.
The entire second day was spent hiking about 4000 vertical feet up a river valley, towards the highest point on the trail. We stopped to camp, as planned, about 1700 feet below the pass, leaving a fair bit of climbing for the next morning. I was able to convince the guides to let me do a side hike up to some ruins (Willkarakay) that do not lie on the main trail. This proved to be a fun experience as the ruins turned out to be in a fairly early state of the archaeological dig. I thought I was by myself when I came around a corner of a rock wall and found a donkey chillin' in one of the small rooms of the ruins.
Typical trail on day 2
We camped at about 12,000 feet that night, causing some members of the group to have mild symptoms of altitude sickness. A couple of other members of our group were stricken with GI issues, which was everyone's nightmare heading into the trip. Apparently porters have carried sick and wounded gringos before, but nobody had to resort to that on our trip.
Huge valley we hiked most of the way up on day 2
The third day proved to be the most strenuous, with lots of steep up and steep down and no significant stretches of flat. This day involved crossing through Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point of the trip at nearly 13,800 feet.
Descending from Dead Woman's Pass
After descending almost 4000 feet we started up the next ridge, passing the intriguing ruins of Runkurakay about half way up to the next pass. Towards the top of this ridge, we had some good views of some of the more prominent glaciated peaks in the Cordillera Vilcabamba.
Runkurakay Ruins
Mt. Veronica
Descending from this second major pass of the day, we passed the rather extensive ruins of Sayaqmarka. I took a few minutes to run around inside while everyone else continued their forced march in attempt to get to camp before dark.
Sayaqmarka
Sayaqmarka
We traversed to another saddle on an exposed ridge where we found our camp that the porters had set up for us. After arriving to camp I peaked over the other side of the ridge and spotted the the ruins of Phuyupatamarka. As I had a bit more time until dark, I hiked around the ridge, up to the top of a small peak, and then descended to the ruins. I thoroughly enjoyed touring the ruins by myself and feeling like I was exploring. I then found the main trail that we would descend the next day and hiked back up to camp.
Phuyupatamarka
The next morning, I got up before breakfast in hopes that I would be able to see more of the surrounding mountains. Our guide told us that if it wasn't cloudy, like it was the previous evening, we would have some good views of the mountains. To my disappointment, there were still clouds in the direction of the supposed mountains. As the sun rose higher, the clouds began to burn off revealing the most spectacular mountain I have ever seen with my own eyes. Despite this peak's magnificence, it is only the 12th highest peak in Peru and the 38th highest in the Andes. I feel compelled to go climb some of them before all the glaciers melt, which the locals claim is happening at an alarming rate.
Nevado Salcantay (20,574 feet) seen when the clouds parted in the morning from camp 3
Salcantay
On the 4th and final day of the hike, we descended from our camp, passed the ruins of Yunkapata, through the ruins and town of Wiñaywayna (where we had our first beer in several days), through the Sun Gate where we caught our first glimpses of Machu Picchu, and down into the bustling crowd of tourists. It was here that I decided that I much preferred ruins that could not be driven to.
Yunkapata
Wiñaywayna Ruins
Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate
The first visual from the Sun Gate is the road of 25+ switchbacks leading up to Machu Picchu from the town of Aguas Calientes. The next thing I noticed was the tourist facilities and unsightly hotel immediately adjacent to the ruins. Thirdly, I noticed the ruins themselves through the smoke filled air. Apparently farmers in the valley were burning their fields this time of year, which is against the law, but the laws are not enforced.
Machu Picchu (Wayna Picchu peak in the background)
We pretty much went straight to a hotel in Aguas Calientes as it was late in the afternoon when we arrived at Machu Picchu. The next day we returned for a few hours dedicated to touring the ruins. I got on the first set of busses leaving Aguas Calientes at 5:30 am with about 300 other people in order to get a pass for hiking up Wayna Picchu, the steep peak in nearly all Machu Picchu pictures with some small ruins at the top. It was raining on the bus and foggy up at the ruins, but after getting my pass (which are limited and typically sell out by 7:00), I immediately began hiking up the peak. On the way up, I could never see much further than about 30 feet due to the dense fog. Near the top there were some more ruins and the fog began to relent.
Steep and foggy hike up Wayna Picchu
At the top of Wayna Picchu
At the top I found that 3 others who had been near the front of the ticket line had beaten me to the top. Even with the summit free of clouds, I still didn't think I'd get to see the main ruins as the sky was completely white below us. Gradually, I could start to make out some dark shapes in the white sea of clouds, then a small opening, then a very brief clearing that lasted only a few minutes when I took the picture below.
Machu Picchu from the summit as the clouds briefly parted
Ruins near the top of Wayna Picchu
After the hike, I met back up with Dad and the rest of our group for the latter half of the tour they were on. We didn't see the clouds part again for the rest of the day.
The Incas sure did live in some incredible places and built some amazing structures. While Machu Picchu was the most extensive collection of ruins we saw on the trip, it was not necessarily my favorite due to the crowds, nearby modern development, and road access.
Machu Picchu
Later that day we took the train from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco. I would normally leave such trivial aspects of the trip out, except for this one interesting subject that I will not be able to adequately explain in words. About halfway through the 3 to 4 hour train ride, music began to play in our train car. Just after this, the two attendants (one male and one female) began taking turns strutting up and down the aisle in a full on fashion show, changing clothes after each lap. These people had obviously watched fashion shows before and had the unnatural struts and poses down as well as anyone. To top it all off, the first song played as this started was Abba's "Dancing Queen". This went on for nearly 2 hours, enough time for the Japanese contingency in our car to take about 2000 pictures each.
Urubamba River Valley, near the start of the trail
The first day's hike was short and flat and served as a bit of a warm-up. Here we learned the routine of the porters carrying 70 pound packs and running in sandals. Some of them would stop at a predefined location and prepare a nice, hot lunch for us while the others continued to camp and had everything set up for us when we arrived. We also learned that the record time for completing the trek we were hoping to complete in 4 days is just over 3.5 hours. The porters were truly amazing and I would like to have brought one home with me.
Ruins near camp 1
Q'Entimarka Ruins near camp 1
We saw over 10 ruins in 4 days before arriving in Machu Picchu. Many of the ruins along the trail were quite extensive and really neat to see because there were no roads to them. Despite there not being any roads, small towns of only a couple families each were encountered sporadically throughout our trek.
The entire second day was spent hiking about 4000 vertical feet up a river valley, towards the highest point on the trail. We stopped to camp, as planned, about 1700 feet below the pass, leaving a fair bit of climbing for the next morning. I was able to convince the guides to let me do a side hike up to some ruins (Willkarakay) that do not lie on the main trail. This proved to be a fun experience as the ruins turned out to be in a fairly early state of the archaeological dig. I thought I was by myself when I came around a corner of a rock wall and found a donkey chillin' in one of the small rooms of the ruins.
Typical trail on day 2
We camped at about 12,000 feet that night, causing some members of the group to have mild symptoms of altitude sickness. A couple of other members of our group were stricken with GI issues, which was everyone's nightmare heading into the trip. Apparently porters have carried sick and wounded gringos before, but nobody had to resort to that on our trip.
Huge valley we hiked most of the way up on day 2
The third day proved to be the most strenuous, with lots of steep up and steep down and no significant stretches of flat. This day involved crossing through Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point of the trip at nearly 13,800 feet.
Descending from Dead Woman's Pass
After descending almost 4000 feet we started up the next ridge, passing the intriguing ruins of Runkurakay about half way up to the next pass. Towards the top of this ridge, we had some good views of some of the more prominent glaciated peaks in the Cordillera Vilcabamba.
Runkurakay Ruins
Mt. Veronica
Descending from this second major pass of the day, we passed the rather extensive ruins of Sayaqmarka. I took a few minutes to run around inside while everyone else continued their forced march in attempt to get to camp before dark.
Sayaqmarka
Sayaqmarka
We traversed to another saddle on an exposed ridge where we found our camp that the porters had set up for us. After arriving to camp I peaked over the other side of the ridge and spotted the the ruins of Phuyupatamarka. As I had a bit more time until dark, I hiked around the ridge, up to the top of a small peak, and then descended to the ruins. I thoroughly enjoyed touring the ruins by myself and feeling like I was exploring. I then found the main trail that we would descend the next day and hiked back up to camp.
Phuyupatamarka
The next morning, I got up before breakfast in hopes that I would be able to see more of the surrounding mountains. Our guide told us that if it wasn't cloudy, like it was the previous evening, we would have some good views of the mountains. To my disappointment, there were still clouds in the direction of the supposed mountains. As the sun rose higher, the clouds began to burn off revealing the most spectacular mountain I have ever seen with my own eyes. Despite this peak's magnificence, it is only the 12th highest peak in Peru and the 38th highest in the Andes. I feel compelled to go climb some of them before all the glaciers melt, which the locals claim is happening at an alarming rate.
Nevado Salcantay (20,574 feet) seen when the clouds parted in the morning from camp 3
Salcantay
On the 4th and final day of the hike, we descended from our camp, passed the ruins of Yunkapata, through the ruins and town of Wiñaywayna (where we had our first beer in several days), through the Sun Gate where we caught our first glimpses of Machu Picchu, and down into the bustling crowd of tourists. It was here that I decided that I much preferred ruins that could not be driven to.
Yunkapata
Wiñaywayna Ruins
Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate
The first visual from the Sun Gate is the road of 25+ switchbacks leading up to Machu Picchu from the town of Aguas Calientes. The next thing I noticed was the tourist facilities and unsightly hotel immediately adjacent to the ruins. Thirdly, I noticed the ruins themselves through the smoke filled air. Apparently farmers in the valley were burning their fields this time of year, which is against the law, but the laws are not enforced.
Machu Picchu (Wayna Picchu peak in the background)
We pretty much went straight to a hotel in Aguas Calientes as it was late in the afternoon when we arrived at Machu Picchu. The next day we returned for a few hours dedicated to touring the ruins. I got on the first set of busses leaving Aguas Calientes at 5:30 am with about 300 other people in order to get a pass for hiking up Wayna Picchu, the steep peak in nearly all Machu Picchu pictures with some small ruins at the top. It was raining on the bus and foggy up at the ruins, but after getting my pass (which are limited and typically sell out by 7:00), I immediately began hiking up the peak. On the way up, I could never see much further than about 30 feet due to the dense fog. Near the top there were some more ruins and the fog began to relent.
Steep and foggy hike up Wayna Picchu
At the top of Wayna Picchu
At the top I found that 3 others who had been near the front of the ticket line had beaten me to the top. Even with the summit free of clouds, I still didn't think I'd get to see the main ruins as the sky was completely white below us. Gradually, I could start to make out some dark shapes in the white sea of clouds, then a small opening, then a very brief clearing that lasted only a few minutes when I took the picture below.
Machu Picchu from the summit as the clouds briefly parted
Ruins near the top of Wayna Picchu
After the hike, I met back up with Dad and the rest of our group for the latter half of the tour they were on. We didn't see the clouds part again for the rest of the day.
The Incas sure did live in some incredible places and built some amazing structures. While Machu Picchu was the most extensive collection of ruins we saw on the trip, it was not necessarily my favorite due to the crowds, nearby modern development, and road access.
Machu Picchu
Later that day we took the train from Aguas Calientes back to Cusco. I would normally leave such trivial aspects of the trip out, except for this one interesting subject that I will not be able to adequately explain in words. About halfway through the 3 to 4 hour train ride, music began to play in our train car. Just after this, the two attendants (one male and one female) began taking turns strutting up and down the aisle in a full on fashion show, changing clothes after each lap. These people had obviously watched fashion shows before and had the unnatural struts and poses down as well as anyone. To top it all off, the first song played as this started was Abba's "Dancing Queen". This went on for nearly 2 hours, enough time for the Japanese contingency in our car to take about 2000 pictures each.
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