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Stories about Trekking & Running Adventures in the Andes. Adventures References refer to trips currently offered and may not correspond exactly to the itinerary described in an article. Also see our Andes Adventures Gallery and guest Photo Albums. |
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"Patagonian
Passage"
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"Empire of the Run"Story & Photos by Steven Seaton.Adventure References: Chasqui Challenge 100 Mile Adventure Run & Stage Race & Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 27.5 mile Marathon Published in the October 2003 issue of Runner's World®. (Copyright 2003 Runner's World. Reprinted with permission.)Yesterday I was in Lima, the modern capital of Peru, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. Today I'm in Cusco, the capital of the once-powerful Inca Empire, which sits on a mountain plateau some 11,000ft higher. Elite athletes searching for serious altitude training never come this high and the idea of racing, never mind running a marathon, would be laughable. So what more could I expect? |
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"Peru On The Run"
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"Running the Inca Trail" By Richard DonovanAdventure Reference: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 27.5 mile Marathon The Inca Trail Marathon is much more than a race. It's a nine-day trip into history, a rich cultural experience, and a holiday in a mind-boggling beautiful paradise. |
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"The Inca Trail Marathon" By Steve FredericksonAdventure Reference: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 27.5 mile Marathon It was early morning as I made my way up the steep trail to the top of Dead Woman’s Pass, 13,779 feet above sea level. My breath was coming in short, loud rasps and my heartbeat was pounding in my ears. Looking up, I could see several runners on the trail ahead of me. I was approximately 13 kilometers into the 46-kilometer Inca Trail Marathon. |
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"Patagonia: A Trail Runner's Heaven" by Paul Norberg.Adventure Reference: Patagonia Running Adventure If there were a trail runner's heaven, at least some of it would be in Patagonia. It is a place of tortuous trails threading thick forested slopes; of wide open alpine meadows ablaze in scarlet flowering notro bushes; of pristine lakes and immense glaciers; and of very few people. Recently, a dozen runners from the USA sampled the fantastic national parks in Chile and Argentina during the far south's summer month of December. |
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"Patagonia Running Adventure" By Ed Demoney.Adventure Reference: Patagonia Running Adventure Published in the April 2001 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)For me, running has been the answer to curiosity about our world, a quest for adventure and a test of personal limits in the challenges available in marathons and beyond. Bruce Hoff's account of his Patagonia Adventure Run in the March 2000 issue of UR was intriguing. He convinced me Patagonia was an ideal opportunity to explore the unknown. That running in southern Chile and Argentina was an adventure not to be missed. And there was no doubt in my mind that 140 miles of trail running in less than two weeks would be challenging. |
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"Patagonia!" By Bruce Hoff.Adventure Reference: Patagonia Running Adventure Published in the March 2000 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)On December 3rd, the noses of six ultrarunners were pressed against the windows of Lan Chile flight 605 from Santiago to Punta Arenas, gazing downward at the immense ice field called the "Campo del Hielo Sur". A remnant of the last ice age, it still covers the southern Andean mountain range. As arranged by our friend and professional trekking guide, Devy Reinstein, we were heading to Patagonia for two weeks of exotic trail running along the glaciated fringes of the southern Andes. Devy has been arranging running tours in the Peruvian Andes, and wanted to scope out some possibilities in Patagonia (which comprises southern Chile and Argentina). He invited several runners to go along. Before departing Los Angeles, I met four of the other guinea pigs: Gard Leighton, Byron Choinere, and Michael Duncan, from northern California, and Jonathan Said, a fellow southern California resident. In Santiago, we collected the seventh member of our party, Jurgen Kuhlmey, from Germany. |
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"Adventure in Perú's Southern Highlands" By Norman Klein.Adventure References: Peruvian Andes Running Adventure (Easier), Chasqui Challenge 100 Mile Adventure Run & Stage Race (Harder) Published in the January 1998 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)“Was it really beautiful?” - “Unbelievably so”. “Was it very difficult?” - “You’d better believe it.” “Would you do it again?” - “In a minute.” These are some of the questions our friends asked us, along with our responses, upon returning from our eleven day journey to Perú in August. We were there to take part in a six day running adventure along the Inca trail, and the trails circumnavigating Mt. Ausangate, at 20,905 feet, the highest mountain in Southern Perú. This incredibly exhilarating experience is the brain child of Devy Reinstein, a native Perúvian now living in Santa Monica, California. A gifted ultramarathon runner in his own right, Devy decided several years ago, to give runners of all abilities, the opportunity to see some of the most magnificent sights nature has to offer. |
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"Adventure Running in the Andes" By Ray NyceAdventure Reference: Peruvian Andes Running Adventure (Easier), Chasqui Challenge 100 Mile Adventure Run & Stage Race (Harder) Published in the December 1999 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)Twenty runners started and completed the Inca Trail Run in less than one day. These hardy soles began the journey in Llactapata at 5:30 am and at 8000 feet of elevation. It was August 17, 1999 and the first sunlight had just illuminated the surrounding mountain tops. There would be two aid stations in the next 28 miles which included three 13,000 foot passes and 3200 steps cut in stone by the Incas in the 14th century. |
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"Running to the Lost City" By Alex Acceta.Adventure Reference: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 27.5 mile Marathon Published in the April 1998 issue of Runners World Magazine (Copyright Rodale Press. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)The Lost City of the Incas lay more than 27 miles away. Starting at Llactapata, the Town on the Hillside, 23 of us were preparing to run this grueling section of the Inca Trail in one day. We would follow the narrow trail over three passes, through jungle thick with leafy trees and past a series of ancient ruins perched on dramatic outcroppings. The highest point, Warmiwañusq'a Pass, the Pass of the Dead Woman, was 13,779 feet in elevation. It would be our first climb of the day. |
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"Dances with Llamas" By Bruce Hoff.Adventure Reference: Peruvian Andes Running Adventure (Easier), Chasqui Challenge 100 Mile Adventure Run & Stage Race (Harder) Published in the September 1996 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)"Is this it?" I asked as I caught up to Earl, Paul, and Ciriaku, our Peruvian guide. For the past hour I had been trying to catch up to them, while walking the steady uphill grade, glancing at the llamas and alpacas along the trail, and at the bluish ice of the glacier "Nevado Ausangate" that crept down the mountain near our trail. But here, above 16,000 ft., the thin air slowed my pace so that I was only able to maintain the 100 yard separation between us. Now, as they sought the shelter of some large rocks from the stiff breeze on the exposed pass, I was able to join them. Ciriaku shook his head "no" and smiled, a bit of the coca leaf he incessantly chewed showed from inside his cheek. |
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"The Inca Way" By Michael Duncan.Adventure Reference: Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash Running Adventure Originally published in the July/August 1999 issue of Marathon & Beyond Magazine (Copyright 1999 by 42K(+) Press Inc. Reprinted with the permission of the Marathon & Beyond.)We had been traveling nearly six hours, heading north by bus from Lima. For the last 90 minutes we had been climbing east into the mountains. A perpetual gloom shrouds the coast of Peru for five months each winter—something to do with the warm Pacific currents suddenly encountering South America and the cold air of the Andes. The higher we went, the clearer the sky became, finally taking on the deep blue hue of high altitude. As we topped the pass, we came upon a scene that struck me as a good omen. In the foreground were several hundred square miles of altiplano, the high plateau country that makes up the bulk of the Andes. Towering on the horizon from north to south were a series of snow-capped peaks, glaciers sliding down their sides. And presiding over it all was a statue of St. Francis, patron saint of my hometown, San Francisco. St. Francis had his arms raised protectively over an Andean condor and a llama. All the indicators were there—this was going to be a great trip! |
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"Cordilleras Blanca & Huayhuash Adventure Run" By Stu Sherman.Adventure Reference: Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash Running Adventure Published in the March 2000 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. (Copyright UltraRunning. Reprinted with the permission of the author.)This first day of running and hiking was only moderately strenuous. The trail was easy to follow, as we climbed steadily along a river. It was exhilarating to be running a mountain trail high in the Andes and it was an exciting moment, as it would be every day on the trip, when our campsite came into view. Our campsite was spectacular, adjacent to a beautiful lake, with two 20,000 foot peaks on either side of the valley in which it was situated. We gained 3,500 feet in elevation today. |
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