Randy & Mark's Excellent Adventure

I am in training for my most excellent adventure of 2010, so far. In June I will be heading to Peru with my son-in-law, Mark to hike the Inca trail. It runs from Cusco to Machu Picchu and will involve three days of hiking and camping out at altitudes of around 11,000'. Carole and I have been to Machu Picchu twice and loved it both times, but we always took the train from Cusco. I knew of the trail and thought it really sounded like a great adventure but never really thought I'd get the chance to make the hike since everytime I have gone to Peru it has been with teams on a short-term mission and there were always pressing time restraints.

Last summer I was reading the blog of Mark Batterson, who pastors National Community Church in Washington, DC. NCC is an awesome growing multi-site church and Batterson is also an author, having written three books, all of which I have read. On his blog he mentioned that he had been invited to be the "trail mentor" on an Inca Trail expedition. Mark (my son-in-law) and I signed up right away. The group is now full.

At 53 years, I assume that I will be the oldest guy in the group. Every group I have been a part of has one guy that everyone tells stories about when they get home. Usually it is the guy who is clueless, or annoying, or the guy who no one wants to share a room with because of grossness. I realize that if I am the only middle-aged bald guy in the group, the chances of being the one the stories are told about are pretty high.

Occasionally (rarely, actually) the guy who the stories are told about gets that distinction because he surprises everyone with his awesomeness. Either he is cooler than they thought, more lively and funny, or more physically capable than anyone expected, and as a result, everyone is glad he is on the trip. I am training to be that guy.

I want to make sure that I'm not the guy who slows the group down. I want to be the guy who inspires the others to keep plodding even when it is hard to breathe. I want to be the guy who keeps it light when things get tense.

When we get back, you can be sure that I will report that I was that guy, no matter if I turn a 1 hour jaunt into a 3 hour ordeal and the young guys have to take turns carrying me piggy-back with me complaining all the way, because what happens on the Inca Trail stays on the Inca Trail.