Things to Do and Where to Stay in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

When I was doing research for my vacation in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, I found very little information other than places to hike and where to get good photos. Maybe it was just where I was or wasn’t looking but I had a hard time deciding the best place to stay and other information. Now, after having been there, I feel considerably more confident about recommending places. Although I feel like I ended up making good choices, I got lucky really because I had so little information to go on. My hope is the information here will help others with planning a vacation to Grand Teton National Park.

Lay of the Land

Let’s start with some basics. Jackson refers to the town proper just south of Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Hole refers to the valley between the Teton Mountain Range and Gros Ventre Mountains in Wyoming, which includes Yellowstone National Park and spans a huge area. Grand Teton National Park is between Jackson and Yellowstone National Park. 

I personally divide Grand Teton National Park into three parts:  the northern part which includes Colter Bay and the enormous Jackson Lake, the middle part which includes Jenny Lake, Leigh Lake, String Lake, and Teton Canyon, and the southern part which includes Moose, Death Canyon, Granite Canyon, and Teton Village. Although it may seem somewhat small for a national park, it’s much bigger than it seems and it’s impossible to see the entire park in one day or even two days. We were there for two nights and about 3 full days and I feel like we barely scratched the surface of the park; however, I did learn a ton of information about the area.

Oxbow Bend

Where to Stay

Regarding accommodations, you can stay in Jackson, but I found it to be pretty touristy. That being said, there are plenty of options here regarding places to stay, eat, and shop. Just north of Jackson is Teton Village, which I really liked. This is a ski resort area that’s open year-round and has a nice selection of shops and restaurants. The condos and hotels in Teton Village are expensive but everywhere in this area is expensive to be honest. We ate at Mangy Moose Steakhouse and Saloon in Teton Village and enjoyed the food and service.

If you want to stay inside the park, there are several lodges, all of which are pretty rustic (think log cabins) and expensive for what you get. You basically are paying for the convenience of staying inside the park. The National Park Service page for lodging in Grand Teton Park is here. We stayed in nearby Moran and found a one-bedroom cabin for much less than what we would have paid inside the park, and it was only a 15 minute drive to Oxbow Bend, for example. Sometimes you save literally hours of driving time by staying inside the park but in this case, you can easily stay just outside the park and not have a long drive just to get to an entrance.

Outside the park, besides Moran and Jackson, there are places to stay in Alta, Moose, and Elk, just to name a few. I think where a person or family stays on vacation is highly personal. For instance, some people might be interested in staying in more of a traditional hotel, other people may want to stay in a condo in Teton Village, while others might want more of a ranch experience while in Wyoming. My point is, there are many different options of where to stay in this area if you just look around a bit. I always like to bring up Google maps and find whatever place I’m interested in, then click on Nearby and find hotels and other lodging options that are in the area.

Things to Do

Must-do overall in Grand Teton:  Oxbow Bend (one of the best views in the park with the Teton Range reflected in the Snake River), Schwabachers Landing, Leigh Lake, String Lake, and Jenny Lake. 

Must-do hiking:  hike around Jenny lake, taking Jenny Lake Loop trail to Hidden Falls Trail to Inspiration Point. This was recommended to us by a park ranger when we asked her where we should hike. The falls were beautiful and the view from Inspiration Point was well worth the hike to the top. Round-trip for the Hidden Falls Trail to Inspiration Point Trail and back was about 2 ½ hours but we were going at a pretty decent pace especially on the way back. Hidden Falls is 5 miles roundtrip and Inspiration Point is 5.9 miles roundtrip from the visitor center. There is an option to take a boat across Jenny lake if you don’t want to hike the entire loop or you just want to take a boat ride along Jenny lake. 

Hiking around Jenny Lake

The 4-mile loop of Taggart Lake Trail is another popular trail, located south of Jenny Lake. Static Peak Divide, a strenuous 16-mile trail in Death Canyon also gets high reviews, as do Cascade Canyon, a 10-mile strenuous trail from Jenny Lake Trailhead, and Lake Solitude, a 15-mile strenuous trail also from Jenny Lake Trailhead. An easy but no less scenic than the others is String Lake Loop, at 3.8 miles, just north of Jenny Lake. A park ranger also highly recommended the trails at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve area but we didn’t have time to go there.

Other options:  ride the aerial tram from the base of Teton Village to the top of Rendezvous Mountain. It’s a 15-minute ride to the top with views of Grand Teton National Park, Snake River Valley, and the town below. Corbet’s Cabin restaurant is at the top. We didn’t have time for the National Museum of Wildlife Art, which overlooks the National Elk Refuge, north of Jackson but it would be great if the weather isn’t amenable to outdoor activities. Nor did we go horseback riding, which seems hugely popular in the area. Jackson Lake Lodge and Colter Bay Village offer short and long horseback rides.

The tram and nearby shops in Teton Village

You could easily spend a week or more in Grand Teton National Park and still not see all of the park, depending on what you chose to do with your time and how many activities you want to do. However, if you’re not into hiking that much or water activities (indeed, I have an entire post on water activities coming soon), there is always the option to drive around the park and take in the scenery. It’s possible to drive the 42 mile loop around the park in a day.

The most recommended loop is to drive from Moose up the inner park road to Jackson Lake Junction and follow the outer park road through Moran Junction, ending back up in Moose. If you’re coming from Yellowstone, you will follow the Rockefeller, Jr. Parkway and enter the park at the Jackson Lake Junction. If you’re coming from Jackson, you’ll go north on Highway 26/89/191 and enter at Moose Junction. Finally, if you’re coming from Dubois in the east, you’ll drive over Togwotee Pass and enter the park at Moran Junction.

View from Observation Point

Park entrance fee for a car is $35 for 7 days. If you plan on combining Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, you have to pay an additional $35 entrance fee for Yellowstone (also valid for 7 days). If you plan on visiting more than two national parks with entrance fees within 365 days, you might want to consider purchasing an America the Beautiful Pass for $80.

National Park Service planning guide link

Have you been to Grand Teton National Park? If so, what did you do there? If not, do you want to go?

Happy travels!

Donna

 

 

 

 

 

Star Valley Half Marathon, Thayne, Wyoming- 46th state

This is part of a series of posts from my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states. Wyoming was my 46th state.

Many of you may be wondering, where the heck is Thayne, Wyoming? Well, it’s a little town about halfway down the state, close to the Idaho border, due east of Pocatello, Idaho, if you know where that is. Still nothing? It’s about an hour south of Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park.

Now you may be wondering how I happened upon a half marathon in little Thayne, Wyoming. Well, actually, I had my eye on this race for many years. When I was choosing which race to run for my half marathon in Wyoming, this one popped up as a contender. You may not be aware that many cities in Wyoming are at a high altitude, and as a person who lives at low altitude, this was a concern for me. Thayne, Wyoming and the surrounding area sits around 6,000 feet in elevation. High elevation is considered anything between 5,000 and 11,500 feet (with very high and extreme altitude more than that).

When I ran the Boulder Rez Half Marathon, Colorado- 37th state the elevation was 5,430 feet and I definitely felt the effects of the altitude during the race. The rest of my time there, I was perfectly fine, but during the race, it felt like my legs were made of lead. However, when I ran the Spearfish Canyon Half Marathon, South Dakota- 34th state, the race begins around 5,000 feet and it was my fastest half marathons ever; granted, it’s a downhill course.

I took this when I drove the course the day before the race.

Regardless, there were many other places in Wyoming with races at higher elevation, and I felt like this race in Thayne was a good choice for me. So, with all of this in my head concerning elevation of the area before the race, I was anxiously looking forward to seeing Wyoming for the first time. I was also looking forward to running in cooler temperatures because I was getting tired of the heat and humidity where I live.

Packet pickup was offered both Friday evening from 6 to 8 pm and race day morning on Saturday in July 2019. I picked up my packet at Thyne Elementary School on Friday and it was quick and easy. All runners received a drawstring bag with our race number on it so we could put clothes in it for after the race and a bright yellow short sleeve technical shirt. Inside the bag was an ad for an upcoming local race, a sticker, some Hammer nutrition samples, a water bottle, and hand wipes. There was also a spaghetti dinner that evening but I didn’t go.

Packet pickup goodies and race shirt

Race morning was 49 degrees and partly sunny. Most runners were bused to the start at Grover Park, a tiny little area with not much other than a grassy field. My husband dropped off my daughter and me, which was nice since we could sleep in a little later and not have to be at the bus pickup at 5:30 or 6:00. The race started promptly at 7:00.

The start of the race was downhill and although it was on gravel, which at first I worried would be slippery, it was fast. I was actually one of the last people to go across the start since I was in line for a port-o-john right before the start, but since we had chips on our bibs, it was fine. My first mile was 8:56 and that was with me fumbling with my phone; it wasn’t syncing with my ear buds for some reason. I finally just put them both away and ran like I usually run races without listening to anything.

The next few miles were my fastest of the race:  8:14, 8:31, 8:31, 8:23, and 8:18. After mile 6 when we had been on flat roads for a while and the sun started to heat things up, I started to slow down a bit but not too much. Mile 7 was 8:44, then 9:04, 9:07, 8:51, and 8:44. All along the course I wasn’t really paying much attention to my split times other glancing down at my watch every now and then and being surprised at my times.

Farms and mountains were my views for much of the race

By mile 11, I was pretty sure I could be close to a PR if I could just hold on to around 8:45 for the last couple of miles. I told myself that I felt really good, nothing really hurt, and I could continue to push. Mile 12 was at 8:37 and my last mile was 8:46. I crossed the finish line at 1:53:00, a PR for me by two and a half minutes.

The course was almost entirely along quiet country roads but there were more spectators than I thought there would be. I was impressed with how many people had come out to the middle of nowhere for the sole purpose to cheer runners on. There was a spot along the course where three girls were dancing and playing music, which made me smile. I also loved all of the people with signs for runners and the little boy and girl hosing off runners that wanted to cool off a bit from their garden hose.

This race was in memory of Jeremy Bart Kunz, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2009. There was a photo of Jeremy at every mile marker. The community obviously thought highly of Jeremy and it’s nice that they remember him in this special way. I definitely got a sense of what a close-knit community this was.

There were aid stations at miles 3, 6, 8.5, and 11 with water and a sports drink. Aid stations 6 and 11 also had cut up oranges and bananas and aid station 8.5 had Otter Pops. There were also port-o-johns near each aid station.

Posing with my medal after the race by the largest collection of elk horns in the world

We were handed a medal and cold bottle of water when we crossed the finish line. The medal was a bit small and kind of plain. Nearby the finish line there were volunteers with bananas, orange slices, cut-up watermelon, mini muffins, rolls, sports drink, and cold chocolate milk. The watermelon was particularly refreshing.

My husband checked my finish time and even though it was a PR for me, I was still only 7th in my age group so we didn’t wait around for the awards. They were also giving out prizes like a treadmill but I was just too tired to wait and see if I won a prize. I’m guessing since I never heard anything either I didn’t win or they gave my prize to someone who was there.

This race was one of my favorites so far and not just because I PR’d. My three fastest half marathons have all been at races with a downhill start, even though two of them were at high elevation. Beyond my fast time at this race, though, it was scenic with views of mountains and farm land all along the course. Friendly volunteers and pacers were the icing on the cake. I highly recommend this race if you’re looking for a very fast course in Wyoming with awesome people.

Date of my race was July 13, 2019.

Star Valley Half Marathon

Have you run a race in Wyoming? If so, which one and what did you think of it and the area?

Happy running!

Donna

 

 

 

 

 

Things to Do in Arequipa, Peru Other Than Hike Colca Canyon

Do you know the feeling you get when you first go to a new city and you are immediately drawn to it? That’s how I felt when our plane landed in Arequipa from Cusco in Peru. I usually don’t fall in love with a city so quickly but right away I liked Arequipa. There are white stone buildings everywhere and the historical section is especially beautiful. Our hotel in Arequipa was in the historical section and when we entered our hotel room, I could feel right away that it was much warmer than our room in Cusco. Yes! This was a much nicer hotel overall than that in Cusco, too although the price difference was only about $25/night. (If you’re wondering about my reference to Cusco, you can read my post here.)

Originally the rough plan was to spend two days and one night in Colca Canyon, the most popular attraction in Arequipa. I didn’t make reservations in advance because honestly I wasn’t sure how we would feel after our adventures in Cusco. We did a 4 day/3 night trek to Machu Picchu, camping in tents for the first 2 nights and staying in a hotel on the third night before going to Machu Picchu on the fourth day (you can read the posts about the trek here, here, and here). We also had tickets to hike up Huayna Picchu, a notoriously difficult climb to the top of the huge mountain overlooking Machu Picchu (you can read the post about that here).

I also wasn’t sure about the weather in Arequipa and didn’t want to camp out again if it was going to rain. Finally, I read that it would be considerably cheaper to make reservations in person in Arequipa rather than online in the US. It turns out that decision to wait until we reached Arequipa to make reservations wasn’t necessarily the best one because it meant we couldn’t go.

Plaza de Armas near the historical center in Arequipa

I wasn’t thinking that it would be so late on a Saturday evening and none of the tour agencies would be open by the time we finished checking into our hotel and eating dinner, nor were many of them open when we tried Sunday morning (since the tours all leave very early in the morning, it was too late to make same-day plans anyway but we wanted to see what was available for the next day). Long story short, a visit to Colca Canyon was not to be this time around, so we figured out our best options for the next couple of days in Arequipa.

What did we end up doing? Well, we went on a free walking tour and ended up hitting most of the hot spots and learned some things about Arequipa along the way. For starters, Arequipa lies on a fault line and has had multiple earthquakes over the years. The city was completely destroyed by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the 1600’s. There are three major volcanoes (El Misti, Mount Chachani and Pichu Pichu Peak), but Arequipa and the surrounding area has more than 80 volcanoes, most of which are in the Valley of the Volcanoes. The historic center was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in December 2000 due to its architecture and historical integrity.

On the walking tour, we walked by several churches (there are so many churches in Arequipa), the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, Plaza de Armas, Mundo Alpaca, and a street the equivalent of “lover’s lane.” The tour was a little over 2 hours and our guide was funny and informative. I highly recommend doing this if you’re in Arequipa and want to learn about the city.

That’s a snake skin over the tops of the display cases in the Monasterio de la Recoleta!

On our own, we visited two former monasteries, Monasterio de Santa Catalina (the more popular of the two) and Monasterio de la Recoleta (which I liked even better than the first one). Both places charge a small admission fee and both are filled with historical information, but Monasterio de la Recoleta has a few unique things going for it that I feel put it a bit over the top than Monasterio de Santa Catalina. Monasterio de la Recoleta has  rooms with artifacts from the Amazon, textiles, stamps, money, pre-Columbian artifacts, animals, religious, artwork, an amazing library, the church that’s still being used for services, and stairs to the bell tower with great views. Monasterio de Santa Catalina has former rooms of nuns and monks and artwork but not nearly as many artifacts as Monasterio de la Recoleta.

We took a taxi and visited the Molino de Sabandía (Sabandía Mill), a water mill set in the old Arequipa countryside about 20 minutes from downtown Arequipa, built in 1621. In addition to the mill and various artifacts, the landscape is lovely and there is an  extensive collection of cacti and succulents, as well as a variety of local plants and flowers. You can see vicuñas, llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs, roosters, local birds and an enormous Arequipa fighting bull. There was a family having a photo shoot at the mill when we were there, and I can see why since it’s such a photogenic place. There isn’t much else in the area but we did find a resort within walking distance and had lunch there before having the front desk call us a taxi back to town.

Sabandía Mill in the countryside of Arequipa

Casa del Moral is an 18th century mansion that we visited that’s filled with period furniture, paintings and sculptures. Its name is derived from the moral (mulberry in English) trees that grow in its courtyard. Although I read reviews that said the house is small and not worth visiting, we really enjoyed our visit. The mansion has such ornate woodwork and details that it’s not really a place to just quickly whiz by in 10 minutes. Now owned by the bank, there’s also a section in the house with very old coins and bills, which was interesting to see.

Finally, we visited the Mercado Central and found it to be utterly intriguing. We went for the queso helado (“cheese ice cream” but really the name is misleading since it’s actually just ice cream) and stayed for the sites. Queso helado looks like sliced cheese but tastes like vanilla ice cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top. This market is so colorful and so vibrant we loved walking around and taking it all in. There are huge sections for everything from cheeses, fruits and vegetables, clothing, meats, juice bars, flowers, and more. This is where local people shop but we did see the occasional tourist there as well, walking around in awe like we were.

Mercado Central in Arequipa

There were so many restaurants in Arequipa that we really enjoyed but some of our favorites are Mixtos, Crepisimo, Inkari Pub Pizzeria, Manolo’s, and Chaqchao Chocolate Factory. We stayed at SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western Tierrasur Colonial, which we loved, and it’s a short walk to Plaza de Armas and many other shops and restaurants in the historical district.

When we left Arequipa we were already talking about the next time we come back. We will of course go to Colca Canyon for a two-day tour and we’d like to climb the volcano El Misti as well. I’m already looking forward to going back!

Have you been to Arequipa and if so what did you like best when you were there? Would you like to go? Have you been to other parts of Peru?

Happy Travels!

Donna

 

 

 

Book Review- Run For Your Life: How to Run, Walk, and Move Without Pain or Injury and Achieve a Sense of Well-Being and Joy by Mark Cucuzzella, M.D. with Broughton Coburn

I first heard of Dr. Mark Cucuzzella on the Marathon Training Academy podcast, which I believe he’s been a guest on at least a couple of times. When I learned Dr. Cucuzzella had a book out, I knew I had to read it. In true form (at least based on what I heard of him on the podcast), Dr. Cucuzzella’s book is extremely thorough.

Run for Your Life is divided into three parts:  Before the Starting Line, The Body in Motion, and Running is for Everyone. Within each part are five to nine chapters. Including the Appendices, Acknowledgments, Notes, and Index, this book is 349 pages so it’s not a quick read. As you might guess, the first part of the book gives some background information behind running in general and the history of humans and running with a multitude of information about walking and the foot. The second part of the book, the real meat of the book, covers everything from nutrition, which Dr. Cucuzzella is a huge proponent of nutrition as medicine, to the importance of recovery in running, and the prevention of injuries. The third part of the book covers what an important place movement and exercise has for people of all ages and walks of life.

Going back to part one, Dr. Cucuzzella spends a huge amount of time covering sitting, walking, shoes, and the foot, which makes sense because modern humans spend so much time sitting and wearing shoes. I don’t think it’s news to most people that sitting for hours on end is bad for our health in general but many people may not realize there are other options out there. Dr. Cucuzzella gives several options to sitting for long periods such as working at a standing desk to the simplest but often over-looked idea of taking standing or walking breaks every thirty minutes. He also describes how he suffers from hallux valgus, a deformation of the big toe caused by repeatedly wearing shoes with a pointed toe box, and he describes in detail how he was able to correct this condition. No surprise that he’s a big proponent of minimalist shoes. There are also drills in the book specifically for strengthening your feet.

Part two of the book begins with proper running form and includes drills for developing efficient running form. As I mentioned earlier, there is a large section devoted to nutrition including some recommended lab tests including basic ones and second-level tests for higher risk groups. In the section on recovery, Dr. Cucuzzella talks about how exercise can effect our hearts in a negative way if we don’t allow enough time for rest and mentions a couple of apps to measure heart rate variability (HRV), which is something not really talked about much.

There are some basic tips and general information in part two about running a marathon and racing in adverse conditions. One tip that many people may not realize is when you’re running in the heat, it’s a good idea to use sunscreen sparingly because it beads the sweat, which rolls off without evaporation but it’s the act of sweat being evaporated from your body that cools you. Dr. Cucuzzella also recommends some specific gear for running in the rain and/or cold weather. Another important section of part two is about the therapeutic mental benefits of running, something often over-looked by people especially those that aren’t runners. Part two ends with a discussion on some common running injuries and how to prevent them.

Part three begins with information specific for women and includes the full spectrum from running while pregnant to the benefits of running for menopausal women. Specific information related to children and running follows, then information about older people running. Dr. Cucuzzella dispels the myth (do people really still believe this?) that running is bad for your knees and joints with his notation of Paul Williams’ study at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that found no increase in osteoarthritis or hip replacement even for runners who participate in multiple marathons a year. In fact, there are a multitude of references to the medical literature on the subject of running and exercise throughout this book if you’re the kind of person that “needs” to have scientific references for you to be properly informed.

In addition to a slew of scientific references, this book is filled with drills and exercises, either for warm-ups, for strengthening, or recovery. There is a website runforyourlifebook.com that includes a wealth of information. Under the resources tab, you can find videos on mobility and stability exercises as well as other things like kid-specific information and links to the Freedom’s Run Race in West Virginia that Dr. Cucuzzella is a co-director for. Finally, there are training plans for the 5k, half marathon, and marathon that seem pretty straight-forward for beginners or newish runners.

So, after all of that, what did I personally think of this book? Well, I think it’s an excellent tool for any newbie runner because of the wealth of knowledge included. A more seasoned runner can also benefit from reading this book, but they likely wouldn’t find much of the information new but perhaps good reminders of things they’ve heard before but had forgotten. I personally enjoyed this book and the way the information is presented.

Have you read Dr. Cucuzzella’s book? If so, what did you think? Do you think you would be interested in reading it if you haven’t read it?

Happy running!

Donna

 

 

 

 

 

Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu in Peru

Anthony Bourdain once said, “It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there — with your eyes open — and lived to see it.”

I was fortunate enough to visit Machu Picchu and it was everything you hear and read about, and more. It’s difficult to fully explain to someone who hasn’t been there and photos of course don’t do it justice. A cab driver in Cusco, Peru told us before we went there that Machu Picchu holds a special place in his heart, that it’s a magical place that he feels drawn to. For me, however, as special as Machu Picchu is, the journey to get there is what holds a special place in my heart.

We took a 4 day/3 night trek to Machu Picchu, called the Lares Trek with Alpaca Expeditions and it surpassed my expectations. You can read about the trek here (day one),  here (day two), and here (day three). By the time we reached Machu Picchu, we were exhausted but thrilled to finally be at the famous ruins. There are four hour time limits on visits which must be within one of three daily shifts:  early morning (6-9 am), late morning (9 am-12 pm), and early afternoon (12-3 pm). You have to sign up to enter at a specific hour within these shifts and supposedly only 600 people are allowed to enter at each hourly interval, meaning no more than 2,400 people would be allowed in the ruins for the four hour time, but I’m not sure how much this limit is enforced because it seemed very crowded to me, especially as the day went on.

All of our tickets including the train ticket from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, bus ticket from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, entrance fees to Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, and returns back to Cusco were taken care of by our guide from Alpaca Expeditions, which made everything much less stressful.

However, to add to our stress, the morning of our tour of Machu Picchu, our guide was supposed to be at our hotel in Aguas Calientes at 5 am and didn’t show up until 5:50, at which point we were just about in a total panic about what to do (no way to contact the guide so we sent an email to Alpaca Expeditions but didn’t get a response by the time the guide showed up, which by the way his excuse was he had drunk too many beers the night before and over-slept). Long story short, he apologized about a dozen times and in the end I completely forgave him because he was so stellar in every way before this.

There were so many llamas all over Machu Picchu!

Although we arrived at Machu Picchu a bit later than we were supposed to, everything worked out fine. My first impression was that it’s pretty much what I thought it would be. We’ve all seen photos of Machu Picchu so many times and maybe even seen TV shows about it. Well, it’s exactly like it looks in the photos. It’s also crowded, despite the attempts to limit tourists (although our guide said things do seem to be getting better on that front). It’s every bit as grande and beautiful as it looks.

What did surprise me was the scale of the mountain that lies behind Machu Picchu, the one that you see in the background of the majority of photos of Machu Picchu- Huayna Picchu. You see, we had a separate entrance ticket to climb Huayna Picchu once we were done touring Machu Picchu. Guides aren’t allowed on Huayna Picchu for reasons unbeknownst to me, so we would be climbing that behemoth of a mountain all by ourselves. I was terrified.

One of the views from Huayna Picchu. The people at Machu Picchu below look tiny!

After we felt like we had seen all we needed to see of Machu Picchu and got all of the history and background from our guide, he walked us out the exit, said good-bye, and my family and I used our separate entrance ticket for Huayna Picchu to get back into Machu Picchu, working our way through the ruins back to the entrance for Huayna Picchu. The peak of Huayna Picchu is 2,693 metres (8,835 ft) above sea level, or about 260 metres (850 ft) higher than Machu Picchu, according to Wikipedia. The truth is, the climb up is strenuous and should only be undertaken by people in good shape.

The climb up Huayna Picchu begins easily enough, and is full of switchbacks to make the climb easier. Still, you will be drenched with sweat and gasping to get your breath unless it’s a cold and rainy day, but then the steps would be slippery and you’d still be out of breath because of the steep increase in elevation so that wouldn’t be ideal either. There are some cables to hold onto that I was grateful to have both on the way up and down.

Here’s the part that most people gloss over in their reviews about Huayna Picchu- the final ascent to the top is like climbing a ladder, only on narrow little rocky, sometimes crumbling stairs. There are no cables or anything else to help you up here. I’m terrified of heights and I had to focus like I’ve never had to focus on anything before just to control my shaking body. I found it easier to use my hands as I climbed up, since it gave me something to do with them, and I just focused on one step at a time. Finally I reached the summit and it was the best feeling ever! Honestly, I’ve never climbed anything as difficult as Huayna Picchu, and I’ve done quite a bit of hiking around the world, although nothing like the via Ferrata in Italy.

On top of the world- at the top of Huayna Picchu!

The way back down Huayna Picchu wasn’t as bad as going up and I never felt any real pangs of fear like I did going up. I passed a guy who was going up and looked scared to death and he hadn’t even reached the worst part yet. I told him if I could do it, he could do it and told him to use his hands going up and just focus on one step at a time. I hope he was able to conquer his fear and make it to the top. The view really is one of the best views I’ve ever seen and absolutely worth the effort.

Have you been to Machu Picchu? Did you go up Huayna Picchu? If so, what was your experience like? Is Machu Picchu on your bucket list?

Happy travels!

Donna

 

 

 

Stuck in a Running Rut? Sick of Your Running Routes? Here are Some Suggestions.

If you run enough, sooner or later chances are pretty good you’ll grow tired of running past the same places over and over again. Getting stuck in a running rut can suck the joy out of running if you don’t do something to mix up your running routes, or at least it can for me. Last year I was struggling with this and I was in serious need of some new running routes. I felt like I was running the same paths and/or streets every week and I desperately needed some new places to run.

The funny thing is for years I would run my long run on the same exact path every single Saturday. I would tell my fellow runner co-workers how great this converted railway trail was and how much I liked running there. Fast-forward to present day and I would never choose to run there. I find it terribly boring and monotonous with pretty much the same scenery for miles on end.

Sure, this path is scenic to the newcomer, with trees on both sides and the occasional bridge over a small creek. There’s crushed gravel in parts, asphalt in parts, and packed dirt in other parts. What it’s lacking in is a change of scenery, though, since it was once a railway line and goes in a straight path through the woods. There are no turns, no curves even, just miles and miles of one straight path.

Running in Hawaii. I could never get bored of this view!

I am somewhat a creature of habit, however, and I run all of my long runs on the same trail now, but there’s a ton of variety along this path. This is a greenway, so it’s asphalt for the most part, but there are large sections of wood (boardwalks, for lack of a better term) that go over wetlands and other water sections like creeks. There are also many twists and turns along the way, with one tunnel, and some hills to mix things up. The greenway goes along and through many different neighborhoods so you may see a wide variety of trees, flowers, ponds, houses, and the occasional road to cross (but not too many). In short, I never get bored of the scenery here plus there are often adorable dogs being walked along the way to brighten my run.

As I said earlier, though, I began to grow bored of the running routes I was running during the week and I started Exploring While Running and Fighting Boredom. I discovered entire neighborhoods that I previously never even knew existed, just by deciding to run somewhere and see what was there. Instead of running the neighborhoods around where I lived, I would change into my running clothes on my way out of work, stop at a place along the way home, and just park my car and start running. Sometimes this worked out, sometimes it didn’t but I learned a few things along the way.

One big thing I started doing that was really simple but I had never thought to do it before is open up Google maps, choose a neighborhood, search for greenways or trails, and figure out where they are in relation to the neighborhood. I’m lucky that we have miles and miles of greenways and other running/walking/cycling paths in the 20 mile radius between and around my home and work places, although unless you live in a particular neighborhood you may never even know that greenway exists unless you look it up like I did.

Running a race in another state is a fun way to mix things up! This was taken in Utah.

I also do a Google search for running paths and include the city and state I want to run in. Inevitably what will come up includes greenways, routes from mapmyrun.com, traillink.com, and alltrails.com. Yelp also comes up, with links to greenways and parks. You do have to register with traillink but it’s free, with the option to upgrade for $29.99/year. You also have to register with alltrails.com if you do anything other than just a simple search, but again, it’s free for the basic plan and $29.99/year for pro. I don’t use either enough to warrant paying for the upgraded plans but the basic plans are really basic.

You can also search local running stores online whether you’ll be running in your area and want new places to run or will be running while on vacation. Sometimes if they do group runs, the routes and days/times will be on their calendar, but if not you can always give them a call and ask where they recommend for safe places to run. Another option is to try meetup.com where you can search for running groups. Click their sports & fitness box and go from there.

Sometimes you have to just think differently about your runs if you want to mix things up. Instead of running straight out your door and heading down the same way you always run, just make little changes like going right instead of left or straight instead of turning like you usually do. You can make as many or few of these changes along the route as you feel like that day. Just pay attention when you make changes so you don’t get lost!

One of many beautiful trails near where I work!

You can also try running near your work place if you drive to work but don’t normally run near where you work. If you’re lucky enough to have showers at your work place, you have multiple options of when to run- before work, during your lunch break, or after work but before you drive home. If you don’t have showers at work, you’ll have to either make due with body wipes and deodorant (which you can possibly get by with during cool to cold months if you don’t sweat a lot) or run after work but before you drive home. Just be sure to bring a towel for your car seat (and another small one to dry off with before you get in your car).

If you have school-age children who are in after-school activities, you can even run near their school. Be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to drive there, run, and have a bit of a buffer before you pick them up. I’ve run during my daughter’s soccer and swim practices many times. This helps break up the monotony of not running in the same areas all the time plus gives you something productive to do rather than just blowing that time sitting around on your phone while they’re at practice.

What about you guys? Do you prefer to run the same routes every week or do you like to mix things up? If you do mix things up, what do you do to choose new running routes?

Happy running!

Donna

 

Lares Trek to Machu Picchu- Day Three

You can read about day one of the Lares Trek here and day two here, if you haven’t been following along until now. If you have, welcome back. On the morning of day three, we were told our fellow camper who was transported 2 hours away to a lower elevation was doing much better and we would do our final day of hiking and meet him at our campsite later that day. Since our guide had stayed with him in a tent overnight and would remain with him for the day to monitor his health, one of the female porters was our stand-in guide for the walk, which would be our easiest of the four-day trek. However, she almost exclusively spoke Quechuan, the local language, and only a little Spanish, so she was very quiet during the 3 hour hike. 

I should back up, though. As usual, we were woken up early with hot coca tea and given some time to get dressed and pack up before going to the tent for breakfast. As had been the case every other morning, breakfast was a huge spread of food that we all quickly devoured. To our surprise and delight (well, I had actually heard about this part but I didn’t spoil the surprise for my fellow campers) our chef had baked us a cake! He had been cooking this entire time using propane but how you bake a cake at high elevation with propane gas in the middle of nowhere in Peru is beyond me. These guys do this all the time, though so I guess they’ve got it figured out.

Just one of many “Wow!” photo moments during day three of the trek

After we started on our final hiking portion of the trek, we began seeing more and more llamas and alpacas. We had seen some the previous day but not as many as we saw on day three. This area was obviously farming country, and we passed several small farms. Our porter/guide for the day tried to point out vegetables, flowers, and fauna, but unless it was obvious what she was pointing out, we usually just smiled and went on our way. As we descended from the Highlands, it began to get warmer and the landscape began to noticeably change.

After hiking for 4 hours we reached the final destination of the hiking portion of the Lares Trek, the town of Huaran. This is where our fellow hiker was transported by horse the night before, along with our guide. We had lunch here then said goodbye to the horsemen, porters, and chef, who all went back home. Only our guide, Abelito stayed with us, and a driver for the van that we all climbed into with our duffel bags.

We saw so many llamas and alpacas on our third day!

We drove to the Salinas salt ponds in the town of Maras and got to walk around the beautiful salt ponds set in a canyon that descends to the Rio Vilcanota. These salt ponds have been in use since the Incas and are farmed by members of the community. You can buy salt very cheaply from various vendors onsite. Honestly I don’t know how they make a profit from the salt itself or from entrance fees which are only $2. Ever since I visited the salt pans in Gozo (part of Malta), I’ve been fascinated by salt pans so I was thrilled when I saw this was part of the itinerary for the Lares Trek. I was not disappointed either.

The Salinas Salt Ponds

After we left the salt ponds, we drove to the town of Ollantaytambo and had our final meal with the other family from our trek. Our guide talked with the staff at the restaurant he had chosen for us and arranged for our dinners to be ready at a certain time, with spare time for us to walk around the town if we wanted or just find a spot to sit and have a drink. Ollantaytambo is a small town so it didn’t take us long to take a quick walk around to take some photos then go back for dinner.

We reminisced on our journey together, received shirts from Alpaca Expeditions, were given more instructions by Abelito (our guide) and exchanged contact info with the other family. Since the other family had signed up for a second trek, a two-day trek, concluding at Machu Picchu, we would be parting after dinner, but otherwise they would have been with us and Abelito at Machu Picchu the following day (they were assigned a different guide from Alpaca Expeditions for their second trek, while my family and I retained our original guide for Machu Picchu).

After mostly living for three days without seeing anyone else outside our small group, it was strange to once again see crowds of people. As I said in my post on day one of the Lares Trek, one of the reasons I chose the Lares Trek over the Classic Inca Trek was because the Classic Inca Trek is so popular (a.k.a. crowded). We literally saw only a handful of other trekkers while we were hiking, and that’s it. It was fantastic, really. Who wants to be in nature hiking in remote areas of Peru and have hordes of other people around you? Well, actually that would come later, which you will see if you follow my posts regularly.

Ruins on the mountain in Ollantaytambo that would have nice to have explored if only there was more time!

So my family and I followed Abelito to the train station in Ollantaytambo, where we took a train to Aguas Calientes, and from there we walked to the hotel where we would be staying for the night (a very nice hotel arranged through Alpaca Expeditions). A hot shower and bed the night before touring Machu Picchu was the best idea ever. We set the alarm for yet another early morning wake-up, which really was a theme for our vacation in Peru thus far, and collapsed into the comfy beds. There was no time for any sight-seeing in Aquas Calientes on this day, but there would be some time after we toured Machu Picchu.

I fell asleep looking forward to finally getting to see the ruins of Machu Picchu. For most people, touring Machu Picchu is probably the highlight of their time in Peru, but honestly, for probably the first time in my life, I could say that the journey was more important than the destination (Machu Picchu). The Lares Trek had taken us past some of the most awe-inspiring views I’ve ever seen in my life. We met people that don’t even own a computer and only recently got electricity in their tiny town. I got to touch an alpaca (actually several) and see many more alpacas and llamas that were in the wild, only a few feet from me. I was able to physically push my body up and down the Andes Mountains at the highest elevations I’ve ever hiked with basically no side effects. Inevitably, this glimpse into Peru and the Peruvian people I saw along the Lares Trek will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Total miles for day 3:  6.2 miles. Elevation of Aguas Calientes:  6,562 ft.

Have you been to Machu Picchu and/or on a trek to Machu Picchu? What was your experience like?

Happy travels!

Donna