In Septemeber, 2011, I joined Food for the Hungry (FH) for a mission trip aka "Trek for Hope" to Peru. This was my 8th mission trip to Peru with FH. We started with 14 people from all over the United States. The purpose of the mission trip was to speak about and model the love of Christ to families battling with domestic violence, restoring broken relationships with God, self, creation and man. The Inca Trail is high in the Andes mountains. We flew to Cusco, elevation 11,000' for 2 days prior to adjust to the elevation. Half of our group was not able to hike due to sickness or allergy related illnesses from the poor air quality in Lima. The elevation averaged between 9,000' and 12,000'. This was the most difficult part for me. We hiked for 3 1/2 days before getting to the Sun Gate of Machu Pichu at sunrise. Our hike was guided through GAP Adventures. They provided all of our equipment, porters to carry our gear and cook delicious meals at each camp site. The first day we hiked approx. 7 miles with not a lot of elevation changes. The second day was the hardest climbing to 12,700' to Dead Woman's Pass. The third day was challenging in that we hiked down 2,500 stone steps which was hard on my knees. The weather ranged from cold (40) in the shade to warm shedding your coat (65) in the sun so we were constantly changing out layers. The total length of the trail we hiked was approx. 25 miles.
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