Across the Andes

Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg

The Plan:

Our goal is to backpack the length of the Andes Mountain Range, in the mountains. We will combine a number of trekking methods including but not limited to, cross-country point-the-compass-and-go trekking, following foot and horse trails that have been used for centuries by local farmers and tradesmen, skipping down the Capaq Ñan (the original Incan Trail), and ever so occasionally braving the train lines. Our desire is to experience the culture and environment of the Andes first-hand in a manner that we feel only the pace of walking can accommodate. We intend to learn as much as possible about the sustainable means of living that the people of South America have used for centuries, in order that we may teach what we have learned upon our return to the U.S. To the best of our knowledge, upon our successful completion, after covering 56 degrees of the globe, trekking more than 7500 miles, we will become the first two people to backpack the Andes Mountain Range, the first two to walk it through the mountains without relying on roads, and Deia will become the first woman to have walked South America. more...