Trevor Gough comes home with feeling of accomplishment that could only come from climbing to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Trevor, with his sister Cathy, and her boyfriend Allan Dias hiked for four long days to the ancient site almost 8,000 feet above sea level. They travelled the Inca Trail over ridges ascending to the area of 14,000 feet.
“I went, I saw and I did,” said Gough. “It was an experience, let me tell you. It was beautiful, very challenging and hard on the head, definitely when the elevation gets to 14,000 feet it can be a real factor. It definitely was one of the highlights of my travel career so far. Seeing Machu Picchu coming through the sun gate was unbelievable.”
The group arrived in Peru on August 3, and by August 6, they were on their way up. They put in four long days over 43 kilometres.
“You get up bright and early and hike until it is dark. Based on the elevation you just can’t go at the speed you can do around here. It is not just as if you were climbing upwards, you would descend so you can climb back up again.”
Gough trained in Canada before he left by hiking upwards of 10 kilometres a day, as well as training at higher altitudes in the Kananaskis to prepare his body. While he was proud of his efforts, he was in awe of the porters who would run past them on the trail to set up and break camp for the hikers along the way.
He was with a team of 39 walkers all on the Joints in Motion for the Arthritis Association. Trevor and Cathy completed the trek in dedication to their mother and aunt who are suffering from arthritis.
He said the group bonded, and have built lasting relationships.
“You are sleeping about two feet apart in tents that are paper thin, you get to know each other pretty well,” chuckles Trevor. “There will be lots of emails and Facebook sharing.”
In total, the group raised $300,000 across Canada. Trevor raised $8,000 alone. Both Cathy and Allan raised in the area of $7,700. Trevor is grateful for all the support he had in Drumheller from those who donated or attended fundraisers leading up to the event. He is also appreciative to the Sports Room Source for Sports for helping to outfit him on his journey.
Joints in Motion encourages people to achieve their goals of taking on a trek, from hikes to marathons, and help raise much needed funding for arthritis research and programs. This coming year there are Joints in Motion treks everywhere from a half marathon in Prague to a cycling trek through Provence.
"I enjoyed it so much, and enjoyed the people so much and what they were doing with the money. So much of the money goes to the Arthritis Society itself that I would probably consider doing another,” said Gough.
