Am I too old for this,? I asked myself as I grappled for my morning pills and supplements in my travel pill case. I was about to venture Laguna 69, a hiking destination near Huaraz, Peru, and about half a mile in the sky. I checked my supplies: water, fiber-rich trail mix, several sole coins for toilet fees, my tried […]
69 after 60
Getting High
There’s a commercial for Puma shoes that plays a lot in Peru. It features a song about “getting high” one gets from the adrenaline rush of running. I don’t run, but I’m getting addicted to the thrill of hiking a huge mountain (metaphorically or physically) and the vibes felt afterwards. And in Peru, there’s a lot of getting high to […]
Yungay
It was a few days past my 9th birthday. I was probably eating the last of a Bill Knapp’s chocolate cake when it happened. A mudslide triggered by a massive earthquake wiped out the town of Yungay, Peru. May 31, 1970. Many children were spared due to a circus being in town that day. They received free tickets and we’re […]
The Fourth Time I thought I would die: Tarapoto
OK. When I think about different ways to die, there is one that sounds worse than all of them. Not an earthquake or being being bit by a shark, which only kills six people a year, whereas forty-three folks die each year taking a selfie. Don’t ask me how I know. What scares me? It’s dying of boredom at Suncrest […]