Prepping for Peru!

We are heading south of the equator!!!  

I am getting to the “can’t sleep I’m too excited” phase of our pre-trip planning. Our group is 7 strong, 3 moms, 3 kids and Sam!  The kids range in age from 13-18 and we adults are of average fitness, who are also desk jockeys by day! We have been training for the physical requirements of the hike, but we are by no means in tip-top form! We are getting more excited and nervous each day! We have our backpacks, our platypus hydration bags, our waist bags and hiking boots ready to go!

Packing!

Oh the packing!  The days will be about 20 degrees Celius and can be about 4 degrees at night when we are on the trail. It will be winter when we are there. This means we need everything from shorts and sandals to toques and thermal wear for this trip!  Packing is going to be a bit tricky as we need to take as little as possible, and yet pack for three seasons! I am packing some laundry soap as I know we will be needing to freshen up some items along this journey! Our porters carry only a small amount of our gear, including our tents, sleeping bags and sleeping mats!  They are preparing all our meals and guiding us along the way! I am sure they will quickly become my favourite people along the route! 

We have purchased almost everything we need, just a quick shop for some water purification tablets. I am not 100% sure we will need them, however, I would rather bring them home then have problems on the trail! We ladies have purchased our Go Girls, and have yet to master that skill! We still have a week to practice!  Other blogs that we have been reading in preparation have recommended them! I will let you know how the washroom situation turns out, and what we didn’t know and what you should know before your Inca trail adventure! 

Dead Woman’s Pass – will my legs become mush??!!

I am a little nervous about how much my legs are going to hurt after day two. We will be hiking Dead Woman’s Pass, the highest point of the trek at 4,198m (13769 ft.).  I will be packing our muscle cream and trusty ibuprofen! I am also thinking I will pack my travel-sized foam roller if space permits, it is really lite so weight isn’t an issue. We have also read that many people with many different fitness levels have made this trek, which is reassuring!  Did you know you can go onto google maps and check out the trail? We have taken a peek just to see what the trail conditions look like, however, we don’t want to spoil it too much by peeking at the views! 

Our trip begins in Lima. We fly to Cusco and begin climatizing. Then to Ollantaytambo before we begin hiking!  Once we have completed our journey to Machu Picchu we return to Cusco via the train and private transportation.  We will fly back to Lima the next day and head home on our direct flight from Lima! Sounds pretty smooth right!? 

It’s going to be so awesome and another checkbox on the list of places we want to see!