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| Patterson grads go on Peru expedition |
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| Written by Maddy Houk / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 08 December 2007 | |
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At a glance:
Four Patterson High School alumni took a trip of a lifetime in June when they traveled through Peru on an Inca road trip.  Photo courtesy of Chris Cryer The 10-day trip included participating in cultural celebrations and four days of hiking over the 14,000-foot Dead Woman’s Pass — so named because the layout of the terrain looks like a woman lying on her back. The trail takes hikers across her belly. Chris Cryer and classmate David Chavez, who graduated in 1988; Gail Dennis, ’94; and Cryer’s brother-in-law, David Silveira, ’91, hiked to and around Machu Picchu from Cuzco on the 28-mile trail. Cryer and Silveira had traveled to Europe and parts of Asia in the past and had an itch to see some place different. “David (Silveira) brought up Peru,” Cryer said. “The more we studied it, the more excited we were about taking a trip there.” They called up Dennis and Chavez, who go on hiking trips with Cryer each summer, and the Peru Crew became four. Silveira said Peru was at the top of his list of dream locations to visit. “It’s something I read about since I was little,” Silveira said. “I was always interested in archaeology, and that’s one place I wanted to visit — it was interesting.” Leading up to the trip, Silveira and Cryer studied the history and culture of Peru and read historical accounts from the Spanish, as well as “The History of the Conquest of Peru” by William H. Prescott. “He was the first English scholar to go to Spain, the first to tell the story in the English language,” Cryer said. “There were hundreds of thousands of Incas and the hundreds of Spanish conquered them — they knew how to fight.”  Photo courtesy of Chris Cryer A bit of local culture The group’s first taste of Peruvian culture was at an Inti Taymi winter solstice festival in Cuzco, once the center of the Inca empire. “When we arrived in Cuzco, we were blessed with the biggest festival of the year going on,” Silveira said. “We got out of our taxi and right into the locals’ celebration. It was their Apricot Fiesta, as we would put it. The streets were full. What was great is it wasn’t tourists — it was the local people. “It was amazing: parties going on all night, music, beer drinking and a lot of fun. The people were in their circle of friends, and they would pull us in and offer drinks and ask where we’re from. They were just pleasant people, very warm and accepting.” Silveira said most people they met spoke a blend of Spanish and Quechua, the old Incan language spoken by the indigenous people of South America. However, they also spoke a bit of English, so the travelers had no trouble communicating. At the hilltop ruins of Sacsayhuaman, where the massive, ancient stone walls still fit precisely together, the Patterson travelers were awed by the pomp and pageantry of the old Inca ritual. There, thousands of locals prayed to the sun as its rays shot through the clouds. Over Dead Woman’s Pass The following day, June 25, the Peru Crew met trailmates and guides who would accompany them over the mountain passes, where they were treated to breathtaking sights. “This was an opportunity to combine foreign travel with an outdoor camping and hiking experience,” Cryer said. “We’d never hiked at this altitude before. The distances weren’t intimidating to me, but it was the altitude. We hiked up over a 14,000-foot pass.” A total of eight hikers in their group were led by two guides and nine “support people.” “It was really phenomenal,” Cryer said. “We’d get up and they’d have breakfast prepared. When we were packing, they were cleaning up. We’d take off on the trail while they were packing. We got a half-hour head start and were going as fast as possible. They’re 5 feet tall and 120 pounds and carrying 50 pounds, and they would pass us.” The natives’ strength and good nature amazed the hikers. The Patterson High grads were exhausted by each day’s hike, but it didn’t faze the smaller men much, because they were used to the altitude. “You felt the effects,” Cryer said. “While watching the video of our trip, the soundtrack was wiped out, because I sounded like Darth Vader breathing.” The hike was physically tough for Silveira, but he recalls his deep sense of accomplishment when he’d completed the challenge. “It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life — I’m the bigger one of the crew,” Silveira said. “For me personally, it showed me I can push myself further than I thought.” Those who took the train instead of hiking over the pass, Cryer said, missed a lot. “The trail is the actual Inca trail the king would travel on, so when you take that four-day trail, you’re walking in the steps of the actual Inca king, (Pakaputek),” he said. The irrigation systems the Incas created in the area as long as 7,000 years ago are still in use today. One of the most memorable sights on the trip was the sunrise over Machu Picchu as seen from the Gate of the Sun, Intipunku, where the trail emerges above the city. “There are plenty of pictures of Machu Picchu,” Dennis said, “but nothing compares to standing over it at sunrise after 3½ days of hiking, some of it above 14,000 feet.” Two large stones standing at that entrance, erected thousands of years ago, correspond to the winter and summer solstice.  Photo courtesy of Chris Cryer Then, it was back to the city of Cuzco for the trip home. What’s next More trips are on the horizon for the grads, to equally challenging locales. Before Peru Crew members reach their 40th birthdays, they want to fly to Katmandu in Nepal and climb to the 18,000-foot Everest Base Camp. “I sure think about the places we want to see while we are still physically able,” Cryer said. “We want to see the remote countries of the world — sipping coffee in Paris we can do at any age.” To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at maddy@ pattersonirrigator.com
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