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Ten Degrees and Getting Colder

  Cold Sunrise   That's just the name of the song written by Gordon Lightfoot.  It was actually -13 F when I got up this morning (wind chill -24).  Tucson may have pulled back into the lead!  There's a lot of weighing pros and cons of Colorado vs Arizona by the wood stove.  Not much else to report. I did enjoy a few games of pool and a beer with my brother this week.  We don't get together very often, so it's good to try to keep the lines of communication open, especially with my mother celebrating her 86th birthday next month.  He lives in Milwaukee and just started semi-retirement.  Our opposing politics and lifestyles keep things very casual and surface-level.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.   It's important to find common ground.  He and his wife have started going to concerts and recently saw the Steve Miller Band.  Music is one of our common interests.      
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Inca Trail: Ascent to Dead Woman's Pass

I woke the next morning to a flat inflatable sleeping pad, which isn't ideal, but I had a good night's rest. Our alarm clock was one of the pack animals braying just behind our tent.  A few minutes later, a porter came by with a tub of hot water for washing, soap, and cups of steaming coca tea.

We had a quick breakfast and  started hiking just before 7 a.m.  Julia and I were excited for the big day.  Our camp was at 3100 meters (10,170 feet).  Dead Woman's Pass tops out at 4215 meters (13,828 feet).  P still wasn't eating but was determined to power through.  

All smiles on the way up

Within the first hour, we entered high altitude jungle--full of mossy trees and vegetation that you would normally expect at much lower elevation.


Porters

On flat ground or downhill, the porters easily outpaced us.  But this day was all up and steep.  The porters frequently took breaks and we took turns passing each other.



The guy in the above photo was hiking very slowly and deliberately--never taking a break.  We learned from his friends that he was still getting over an extreme case of food poisoning, but there was no "quit" in him.  

Taking a break
Julia re-hydrating

When we stopped at 9:30 a.m. for for the last Gatorade stand on the trail, it was about half-way to the summit.  Temperatures were cooling quickly, and the views were opening up.



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greg said…
Going back over my stuff I think the highest I've ever managed to hike just might get me up to Dead Woman's Pass. That was a while ago but I think the age thing might be offset by the fact that I'm in better shape now than then.

It's good to see that it's all smiles up there.

Looking forward to the next installment
November 9, 2022 at 5:30 PM
John said…
I've only managed to nudge over 14,000 feet twice, and both were on Colorado's Gray's Peak, which is the easiest of all of the 14k peaks because the trailhead starts at 11k. It's got to be satisfying that you're in better shape now than then.
November 10, 2022 at 1:46 PM
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