Over 50 and hiking the Inca Trail 2015

I am writing this Hiking the Inca trail blog to bring some information to light for those of us OVER 50, that might not be discussed in other sites about the Inca (Inka) trail. I will add to this as time allows.


The starting point checkpoint 1

I have just finished hiking the trail from Ollantantambo marker 88 to the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu, the most popular of the hikes. 600 people a day hike this trek, 200 of them as tourists and 400 and guides and porters. This might seem like a crowd,yet when the road is open and everyone is moving there will be times when you are alone to enjoy your thoughts, the view, your spirituality and hopefully not the dinner you ate last night at the roadside stand.

This trail for me was a personal journey that began in 2011. I'd like to think it was a journey of defeat of the crap that held me back in my life. A first marriage gone bad, lost business. a decision to do something in my youth that was a mistake, but hell I am a patriot. This personal journey was suppose to be a huge spiritual awakening in a transcendental sort of way. A revelation of the mind, or the heart of the soul. Opening of doors and of the letting out of the daemons of the past. It happens to be that this ended up being a journey of discovery.

If your 23-35 years old and reading this then enjoy my story since more than likely your in way better shape than me. For those who are reading this above 35 years old, then listen up.

I discovered that when your at 11900 feet and you are having trouble breathing every 30 to 40 steps on the stairs, you make some thought changing processes happen in your brain. Your soul/heart are willing to continue but your mind/body are just saying "Fuck it"! You have to make a decision to do SOMETHING but your just not sure what it is. Your legs a burning, your knees are burning, your back is killing you, your sweating like a horse. You STINK. Literally, its B.O.

Then.....

A group of porters passes you, acting like this is what they do everyday. Well, because they do. and they do it very well. Too well in my book because they have passed me up taking those little tiny steep steps in stride without stopping, catching their breath, mumbling profanities. No they do it with small smiles on their faces happily caressing each stone with the feet God gave them. That is when you realize your EGO is making your journey miserable. It keeps talking to you about how you should have trained, how you should have lost weight, ate better food, drank less, pooped more...whatever!

You can't quit!

First Discovery:
I started to realize if I was going to complete this journey I need a paradigm shift and I needed it fast. Your EGO cannot make a paradigm shift, you have to let your ego go, otherwise it will make your life miserable. I started to watch the way these porters walked up the steps. my background is architecture so I have a tendency to over analyze, but these guys are moving at a steady pace up the steps one at a time and never (in my opinion) stopping. They do stop but not for small breathers. When they stop they take their packs off and BREATHE! I needed to breathe. Deep chest-filling breaths of fresh air. No matter the llama poop or horse poop on the trail making the smell a little to earthy for this pseudo-country boy. NO NO I am going to take it all in and survive. EGO see you in Dallas at the airport. Flight 2411.

Second Discovery:
When your better half tells you you can do it, LISTEN! you can. Stop being so self centered and ego centric. OK, I wouldn't give up my pack that weighed 25 lbs to the porter that was light on the trail. and no, it wasn't about the money to pay him, it was about my being about to support myself. Ego was fully in control of my thinking functions. Still though the person that knows you best is not YOU! HAHA that is the million dollar joke. Your ego knows you. Others know you better.

Well, this story about this journey must be focused so here are my thoughts and beliefs for you to take with you. I want to discuss you as a person, your feet carry you through life. This is a life changing experience for some as it was for me.

Your FEET:
Buy boots. Good Boots. Leather boots with Goretex. Buy them six months before you go and break them in well. Leave your fancy walkers and lightweight hiking Merrell and Chaco Sandals at the hotel in Cusco. You will thank me later. A busted toe or twisted ankle is not what you need. I have successfully used Zamberlans on my treks and they hold up very well, are waterproof, have good sturdy soles and fit my feet like a glove with the right socks. Yes they are expensive, but by God you can't buy new feet and the pain of a broken toe (like the woman at the first camp wearing sandals) can ruin a $2000 trip. http://www.zamberlanusa.com/catalog/index.php?lang=en&pg=prod&idprod=13&idcat=2. This is the boot I wear on my treks. No marketing here just an example. Buy the boots with some extra toe room for the hike down and cut your toe nails the day before your leave to go on the trail.


Zamberlans on the Inka Trail

SOCKS: I used wool socks from COSTCO and REI. both wore well. I took an extra pair for each day just to change out at lunch so my feet would be fresh. It was a well worth treat. These socks are wool and polyester. Wool is great for wicking and it fills the boot with an extra layer and the modern poly's are good for keeping socks in shape and don't hold water either. Two Europeans I passed on the trail had wore cotton socks and had to remove their boots and socks to try to let them dry. It wasn't happening. They were Fucked! Both had huge water blisters under each big toe. I had a Gerber knife my best bud Tom Wilkey gave me and it came in handy to do some open blister surgery on the trail. Bandaids, Neosporin, and some whiskey was what got them back on the walk, but I never saw them again.
Moral of this story is don't fuck around with your feet.

Your legs and stretching
As you contemplate Hiking the Inca Trail (Camino Inka) make sure your in healthy fit shape. This hike is not for weak fussy people unless your trying to become less of a weak fussy person. You can do all the cross-fit, gym, biking exercises you want but this hike is about STAMINA. Yes STAMINA. If you don't have it you will have to tempo your hiking to your personality. My example is this: I would walk either 125 steps or a count of 500 and then stop to aspirate. Catching your breath is critical at 11000 feet more so at almost 14000 feet. HOW TO: Breath through your nose. For me it took practice. I'm a mouth breather. If you can get more air into your lungs then your legs won't burn as much. Oh did I forget to mention that? Yes, your legs are going to burn. Thighs are going to burn, calves are going to burn, knees are going to want to fall off. Suck it up! You made the decision to go, you paid your airfare, took the taxi rides, ate questionable food (*actually probably better for you anyway) and have taken the bus to the drop off point.
Go to a Personal Trainer and learn how to stretch if you don't know how already. Learn to stretch your calf, thigh, and butt muscles. and do this shit carefully when your out in BFE. If you tear a muscle your going to be in so much pain there won't be enough Coca Leaves within a ten block radius to kill the pain. And guess who will have to haul your ass down the hill? YOU and a PORTER! Nope there are no roads, cars, moto taxis, mules. Only you and porters. If you get hurt there are going to be a lot of pissed off hikers since those porters are more than likely hauling stuff up the mountain for you and everyone in your group.

Your knees
Got knee problems? Stay home, or wear some really good braces and be prepared for some swelling. The hike up the mountain is a journey of steps. Lots of fucking steps, and none of them are like the ones down at the mall either. These rock steps were made for people about 5'-0" to 5'-7" so if you like me 6'-2" with more legs than body then you have a journey. The steps are uneven, haphazard layout, and if you are even remotely OCD, then your going to have a blast. Luckily my knees have been pretty good to me.
My suggestion is you find a high school stadium with lots of stairs and start running them six months in advance of your trip. This will tell you a lot about your leg and knee health. My female fpartners fit bit said she was hitting 35000 steps each day, so if those are steps, do the math!

Leg Muscle cramps
Buy a good quality, flavored potassium rich electrolyte tablet for the water you will drinking. I bought NUNN tablets in three different flavors just to break up the taste. Read and follow the directions on the bottles of NUNN. Don't buy the powders cause that crap will be everywhere when your trying to load up your bottles or Camelback. They do effervesce a bit so make sure you leave to top open a bit on your Camelback or the drinking tube might pop out. If you start to cramp drink these tablets down as quickly as possible and make more right away. It'll take your body about 7-10 minutes to get the stuff down into your legs and reduce the cramping. I'm no DR, but this worked for me and several others on the trip that I ran into with cramps. Also, the guides will want you to drink Coca tea. It helps but not with cramping.

Bodily functions and keeping clean
Ok no one wants to talk about this or so it seems but I'm putting out there for the SUN to shine on. If you eat you gotta poop.
There are no toilets on the Inca Trail. There are public places to go pee and for a man thats not too big of a deal, but my female partner held it sometimes because of the either smell or mess.
So here it is, if your gonna poop and I had never had to do this in my life. You have to learn how to squat and lean back so you don't poop all over your clothes. Believe me when your standing at the "facilities" and your hear "oh shit" you know exactly what has just happened.
I asked my porter to describe to me how he did it and here is what he told me: place your feet about shoulder width apart about 12" away from the hole your aiming for when you squat. Cut some TP from your personal roll, since there will be none in the honey hole room, hold that TP in your left hand and with your right hand brace yourself against the back wall of the box/room. If this makes you squeamish take latex gloves and small zip lock FREEZER baggies on the trip. This will hold your gloves and keep them from passing any germs. Sorry to have digressed. Bracing yourself with your right hand squat and lean back to clear your clothes. Make sure your clothes don't hit the floor otherwise that will also be a "oh shit moment". This exercise will be the most cleansing poop you might ever have. There is something about this that is very effective about dumping the large intestine. Now for the final performance. While you are still in the squat position wipe your self from back to front not vs versa. Now a good friend Rebecca Marchand has said woemn should never wipe from back to front due to to female issues with infection. Got it, Thanks Becks. Use the Baggie for your used TP. DO NOT PUT IT IN THE HONEY HOLE. Toss your baggie when you get to Machu Picchu in the big trash receptacles.

Keeping from smelling like a homeless guy takes a bit of ingenuity, but my answer is this. Clean underwear everyday. Buy some type of large hand wipes ( I used germ-x hand sanitizing wipes alcohol based) and when you wake in the morning with your tent closed so the mosquitoes don't eat you alive, wipe off your entire body. You will thank yourself. One of my hiking buddies embraces the STINK, but I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to BO, so thats my solution. Effective it was, and I kept my peace. Also, an extra pair of socks to change everyday will make a huge difference in your boots stinking and your foot overall health.

Your BACK and pack support.
I have a shitty back. Its due to being attacked by a dipshit in 2003. nuf said. But I do take special care to make sure I don't spasm out if I lift something or move weird. The Trail will offer you all the miraculous ways to twist and move weird that when you were 25 was an easy feat, now not so. This goes back to stretching. From your PT friend learn how to stretch out your lumbar, your gluts and psoas. You'll be glad you did. My program for mornings was to limber up as soon as I was dressed.

Your pack. you can carry as much weight as you want on the trail. There is no-one to tell you what your limits are. For porters there is a guard at every checkpoint that makes sure they are not carrying more than 15 kilos. Thats the law. But for you, be smart. You need stuff but do you really need to be a BOYSCOUT? Be frugal with your "stuff". The heaviest thing you want in your pack will be water. Buy a good quality Camelback and you will need 1.5 liters of water per 100 lbs of body weight.
More on "stuff" will be covered under the next heading.
Buy a good hiking or light mountaineering back pack. Make sure your pack has the strap across your chest to lock it to your body as well as a cummerbund and have whomever you buy your pack from help you fit it to your body with the pack filled. This means don't buy the pack on line and hope for the best. You will be a miserable twit and will lose friends fast. Make sure your pack has a couple or more easy OUTER pockets to access in the event of wind or rain. These pockets will hold a scarf or rain poncho, maybe a wool hat. Your pack should come with an enclosed rain cover and if it doesn't, buy one. Your pack should have a pocket over the top for snack bars, insect repellent, gloves, batteries, head lamp. I bought a fanny/butt pack in Cusco for $10 to keep my passport, flashlight, wallet, camera, lip balm, sunscreen and TP. It kinda became a black hole for stuff since your moving a lot and the heavy stuff will want to settle but it was a good purchase.

My thoughts on clothing, gear, sleeping
Clothing:
Layer your clothing. Its the best way to keep needed moisture and easier to remove as needed.
Leave your cotton at home. DRI FIT will save you. Thank you NIKE!

Shirts - Buy Nike Dri-Fit. if it isn't Dri-Fit your gonna end up like me and cold and wet on the first day. Under Armour makes a "dri-fit" like clothing, but I can tell you right now it doesn't dry. Thank God I had a couple extra Dri-Fit shirts with me. They were bright yellow, so I was reluctant to wear them until I was freezing. This trail is not a good place to make this kind of mistake.

Socks - have been covered but for redundancy: WOOL only!

Pants, I used North Face Paramount Peak II convertible pants. I took two pair for the four days. I really didn't need more. These are a heavier weight pant but are wind proof and water resistant. They clean up easy with a wet bandanna. I did wear a pair of Nike Dri-Fit compression under-layer to keep my legs from getting swollen. I do think these saved me from having too many cramping incidences.

Nike Pro Combat Compression pants

Under pants - Again Dri-Fit by Nike. They are light and you can take a pair for everyday!

Coat/vest - I had a waterproof North Face over-layer with a fleece under-layer. Never used either one. Thankfully we were blessed with awesome weather 99% of the time. Also bought a Rain Poncho in Cusco, but never used it. The weather at Dead Womans pass can be very cold and quite windy. The fleece vest over the underlayer was sufficient for me but I tolerate the cold. I don't like to be cold but tolerate it.
I bought a machine made Alpaca scarf from a street vendor in Cusco for $8. It was another of my "best purchses" as it was easy to tidy away when I didn't need it, but made the difference when it got cold or windy.

Hat: Take a light weight sun resistant - rain resistant hat with brim. I wore a baseball cap and was fine, but in hind-sight a brimmed hat would have been better. Also when in Cusco or Ollantantanbo buy a Chullo from the locals and support the local economy. They are made from Alpaca that are Good weather protection and are cool additions to your treasures you bring back home.

Peruvian head gear known as a Chullo

Gear - are you a Boyscout?
Walking poles are a must. Learn to use them going up and down. I took my own. They are not very heavy and can be used for other things when needed. Think like MacGyver. Look it up if you don't know who MacGyver is.
-Flashlight and good batteries.-Camera and fresh batteries even if they are rechargeable. Don't take the 12 pound camera with 90 lenses. You will hate it after the first day. Take a point and click Camera. If it breaks your not going to die. Buy an inexpensive one. Both Canon and Nikon make nice point and click cameras that are good picture takers.
-Water Resistant outer layer and fleece inner layer for warmth. This is really about layering your stuff. Be smart and use what works for you.
-Plastic rain poncho. Do not take a cheap plastic bag pain poncho. Spend $20 and get a solid one that wont be whipping in the wind or leaking down your back.
-Gloves. I took a cotton pair for using with my walking sticks and one for warmth. I used both.
-Buttpack, Fannypack whatever you call it. Take one. This will be for the small stuff and will be good for your passport, ID, money, lipbalm, snack bars, whistle, toilet paper...whatever you need but don't want to have to stop and get into your backpack.
-Emergency Mylar thermal blanket.
-First aid kit. Bandages made in cloth not plastic. oversize the bandages. Take Neosporin. -Mentholatum is great for the bugs bites when they do occur.
-A Bic writing pen. Wrap it with duct tape and electrical tape.
-1/8" nylon rope. 20-30 feet.

Mosquitoes and crawly critters
One thing to keep in mind is that your visit may or may not include some of the local biting visitors. I'm speaking of mosquitos, biting midges, horse flies, ants, spiders and other Andean insects. Most of these little guys you can keep away from you by using some good common sense practices.

1. Wear long sleeve clothing and pants.
2. Use some good insect repellent
3. Close your tent nippers at night and make sure to check the entire tent before going to sleep that there are no tears or rips.
Your clothing options will fall into play based on what time of the year you go, but long sleeves are just a really good idea anyway. Why? The long sleeves will protect your skin from the UV that seems to be right on top of you. If you rub up against something your not familiar with the fabric will again protect your skin from a poisonous leaf. Plus, most of the flying bugs are not big enough to land and sting through the fabric. (not like Alaskan mosquitoes that have stingers that are long enough to drill for oil)
I used AVON Skin-so-soft for my first line of insect repellent. First it helps overcome the body stink that comes from sweating out all the crap we Westerners eat. Second, it keeps my skin moisturized in the very dry Altiplano atmosphere. Three BUGS HATE IT. My second line of defense was a deet spray that i used only once when we were down by a lagoon, at dusk and the damned biters were on the attack.

DO NOT PUT YOUR BOOTS OUT TO DRY AT NIGHT! You will have a litany of boot guests. I can guarantee this. Also if you hang clothes up to dry at night (hahaha they don't "dry") you might have an unwanted traveler with you the rest of the trip.

Head Gear
Head gear is one I have never really been able to master. I'm either sweating like a horse, or I'm freezing my ears. The natives sell the chullo head covering which if made from Alpaca seems to be the best bet for 90% head protection.
Buy a good quality headlamp with red or green LED's in addition to the white. These will save your vision during night walks and when you are waiting at 3;30 in the morning at the checkpoint to go into Machu Picchu. The white light is when your in your tent and need light to get dressed or find your glasses. I would also recommend you take butterfly clips (yes the ones for paper and some thick paper clips) Your headlamp can be used to hang from the top of your tent to light up your world if you have something to hang it from. The clips can be used for anything from hanging a soaking shirt to drip dry or hang your head lamp or fish out something from the crevasse in the rocks.

Coca Tea and vaso-dilation VS broncho-dilation
You will get to experience Coca Tea on your trip. Or maybe your not going to chew a cud of coca leaves to supplement your vascular system with a dilation. Some eat the little candies sold in stores in different flavors. Neither are very consistent, but are a welcome relief from the high altitude and can help prevent the headache that coves from dehydration and lack of Oxygen.
Look up Altitude Sickness since you will be at 11,000 to 14,000 feet at some part of your journey.
I cary OSHA, or Porters Loveage. I use this for Broncho-dilation. This herb root when chewed and resulting liquid swallowed, will open up your bronchial tubes and allow you to breath deeper. Three or four 1" sticks is all you need. If you have COPD or any other lung problem, talk to your health provider before doing this trail.

Tipping your guide and porters
The guide companies will tell you to tip each porter about $60 Soles (in 2015) for the entire trip. WTF? thats like $20. For what they do, $60 per day is more in other. Don't be a tight wad. The Chef if he is really good should get $35 soles per day other wise tip like porters.
Your Guide should be tipped according to what you are experiencing on the Hike. If your in a large group you can be a little be cheapo, but he needs that tip to make his rent payment. I tipped $35 soles per day. Our guide was average. he knew some about the constructions, but had very little knowledge about flora or fauna. Maybe a good idea to confirm your needs with Guide company so your not disappointed.

Inca Trail Etiquette
Inca Tail Etiquette is about respect for those that can get ahead of you. Don't be a trail hog. Stay to the right of the trail or next to the Mountainside of the trail if your stopping to catch your breath. Don't toss your garbage on the trail, pack it out. If you gotta go make a nature call ask your trail Guide where would be appropriate. Don't assure your Butt hanging out for God and Man to see will be a welcomed sight.
The porters are peaceful and quiet people. Take your cue from them. Be peaceful and enjoy this journey you are making. You are only one of 199 others that are out to enjoy the Inca Trail and what the others that came before you enjoyed. Leave it so others might enjoy it too.

Enjoy these Pictures.