Johanne Being Piggy Backed

End of Day 2 of the Inca Trail

I was incredibly glad to arrive at camp which seemed to be above the clouds. Johanne was piggy backed by a porter and arrived an hour before me. Those guys are incredibly strong.... all 120lbs of them soak and wet.

Johanne was a sleep. During the night she moaned in agony throughout the night. Suddenly her Kidney's started working and she was up all night going to the bathroom. Not a pleasant experience for her that's for sure. I talked with the guides about optiuons and we were past the point of no return so I was praying she would be able to walk out.

Day 2 Continued

Here we are at the top of Dead Woman's Pass. We walked up from the bottom of the valley in the background. God the scenery was incredible. I had one of the heaviest packs with all my camera gear but Johanne was so sick I carried her pack on my front. It was brutal but she was in more pain than me that's for sure. At this point it was obvious that Johanne was having kidney problems.

One the way down the other side Johanne was so sick she just couldn't go on. A couple of Porters came up and offered her a pick back ride to the camp.... I jumped in to decline when Johanne simply said, "Please." That was the point that I knew she was in incredible pain, to except a pick back ride down a huge mountain over an uneven path where one slip and you could be tumbling for an hour.

Day 2 - Johanne goes down hill fast

The start of Day 2 and Johanne seemed to be fine. Everyone was still sick from the altitude. After lunch I threw my guts up everywhere. Holly crap it was like it would never stop. A solid good 6 hard heaves hehehehehehe. So again Johanne's not feeling well wasn't a sign of anything out of the ordinary. We started walking at 7:00AM after breakfast and climbed 1200 meters over 6 KM with 300 Meters all down hill for 3 KM. It was incredibly challenging and the pass was call Dead Woman's pass... I was worried that Johanne might give the name meaning as she was getting worse fast, while the rest of us were getting better. This shot was mid climb and she was barely crawling and in a lot of pain.

Day 1 Continued

While on the Inca Trail on day one in the middle of no where in the Andes Mountains we came across a small village... the population doubled when we arrived I'm sure. These two kids were just hangin' out saying "Ola"... to the new trekkers of the day. It struck me how our kids are bored while surrounded by thousands of dollars of toys. I wanted to know what their world existed of but unfortunately had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm sure it was nothing close to even my own childhood. I guess if you're surrounded by love and are unaware of the luxuries of others than what odds.

Children in the Andes are drilled constantly with three vitues, "Don't Lie, don't Steal, don't be lazy." It's a concept that's simple but imbeded. As you will hear late in Day two... Johanne's rescue.

Day 1 of the Inca Trail

Day one of our Inca Trail trek was day 5 of our trip. Johanne was in good spirits along with our group.... 16 of us trekkers, 22 porters and cooks, 2 guides. We were quite an army. One gal from the UK, Ann was sick from a severe sunburn when we were on Lake Titicaca. She was real sick but getting better. We were all sick from the Altitude, so when Johanne started feeling down she was like everyone else. However, everyone else started feeling better after the first day while Johanne started feeling worse.

This day we walked 11 km but only climbed a few hundred meters. it was a great warmup as Day two is an incredibly difficult day. The views and scenery is spectacular. It is hard to describe the vastness of this country. It makes you feel very small and insignificant.

Joey-Lynn's Condition Post Wedding

The wedding really took a lot out of Johanne. She's pretty tired that's for sure. Hopefully the doctor tomorrow will send her for more tests to ensure everything is going in the right direction. Tomorrow I'll post a play by play of our ordeal in Peru where Johanne got sick.