Katrina tells us in her journal about hiking the Inca Trail in Peru. We had been joined in this part of our journey by September’s dad, who goes by the grandfatherly name “P,” short for “Aged Parent.” Jordan suffered a severe case of altitude sickness when we were two days into our trek on the Inca Trail.
Katrina’s Journal, April 24
“Today we got up really early. We were in for a hard day. We walked uphill for about five or ten minutes and then we all found a steady pace, and kept climbing, up, up, up.”
(Katrina’s journal, continued)
“What is really amazing are the porters who carry the tourists’ things, though our family carried almost everything that we needed, except food and tents. The porters have packs three times as big as mine, and practically run uphill. When they get to the top of a mountain peak they play soccer until the tourists catch up.”
“After a while Dad decided to hike with Mom and Jordan, because Jordan was throwing up. Dad thought it was because of altitude sickness and because Jordan didn’t have any breakfast. Jordan got sicker and sicker with altitude sickness but there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t turn around and hike back because we had already been on the trail for two days and it was just as far no matter which way we went.
“I went on with P, and finally we reached the top of Dead Woman’s Pass, which is about 14,000 feet high.”
“Jordan had been throwing up every 10 minutes, but Mom had been giving Jordan Gatorade and finally he started to keep it down. We hiked downhill for a long time and Jordan’s altitude sickness got better. He perked right up after lunch, and just as Mom and Dad started losing energy, Jordan and I gained some. Jordan and I hiked way ahead. Today was the hardest day of the four days on the trail. At the end of today we had hiked eleven hours, and we had gone the equivalent of three times up and down Mission Peak.” [a popular hike Fremont, California]
Two days later at Machu Picchu
Jordan is still looking a bit woozy with altitude sickness, but through sheer stubbornness he finished the four-day trek.
<<Did you ever have to see a doctor? |
Did you ever get tired of traveling? >> |
|---|