Where have YOU been in YOUR Lowa Boots?
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With a full day to kill in Cusco, Peru before flying back to the U.S., Alpaca Expeditions set up a hike for me to the top of Mount Winikunka in the Rainbow Mountains.
The what?
After a quick Google search, I knew I had to see this unique mountain range.
Having never been to the Karakorum before, I really had to take the opportunity to lead a trek up to K2 Base Camp. At least once in life, a bit like Everest, you should at least see the Baltoro and K2.
In 2008, I traveled to the Cordillera Blanca region of the Peruvian Andes to go trekking. When I returned home, my family thought it a sacrilege that I had gone to Peru but had not seen Machu Picchu, the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site built by the Incas during the 15th century.
Remote places in the world, not tourist meccas, have always drawn me. While trekking to Machu Picchu had appeal, back then, an average of 15,000 people per day visited the ruins, not only on foot, but also by train and bus. Not exactly a backcountry experience!
Months of planning had culminated to this instant as we sat on the transport boat waiting to be dropped off in Glacier Bay National Park. Here we would spend the next week on kayaks, navigating the waterways and camping in the backcountry. The park ranger shook our hands and congratulated us for embarking on a journey that 99% of Americans would never experience in their lifetime… a journey that would take us into the remote Alaskan wilderness. It was the moment we had been waiting for.
Being able to call the rugged antipodean island of New Zealand home is endlessly rewarding. Between the country’s rugged coastlines and dramatic mountain ranges lies an abundance of impressive landscapes. In early March we escaped for a quick weekend to the sub-alpine tundra of the steep pass between the Rockburn and Routeburn rivers.