Cole Tyler

So I leaned against a man-made stone wall and slid down until I was seated. As I was sitting on the relatively cold stone I could hear the Incan culture. As I aimlessly watched the wild llamas graze, I could sense the 2,000 Checian’s working.  And as I watched the crew explore the different rooms, various paths, and forward thinking architecture they looked like little kids.

That is also when Maya came over to me.

She sat beside me for what seemed like an hour without saying a word. Confused I finally broke the silence. “How are you?”  Still, nothing.

Another ten minutes passed and she reached over, grabbed my journal and opened it.

“Why do you write in this so often?” she asked. And after trying to play her game and not say a word she hit me with the journal and we broke into laughter.

Still, her question remained of why I write in my journal.

So like our boy Tom Cruise in Risky Business I said “What the fuck” and told her. I told Maya that the journal is a story for my family about my travels around the Cape.

Maya then asked what I write. My response, which I hope you can feel in this blog as it is my journal on a computer, is that I write what I feel and what I think the crew is feeling. Essentially, if I write my emotions down my parents and others may be able to connect with my voyages.

She then opened the journal to its first page where it reads, “If found please return to William and Devorah Tyler” along with our address underneath.  After all that we’ve been through over the past couple of days, I think we both felt the significance of that statement.  And I know that I was grateful to share that moment with her.

All in all, a great week as the Inca Trail and city of Machu Picchu allowed for us to become lost and eventually, found in 4 days.

Quick blog as I sit at the base of the Lost City. We woke at 4:00 AM in the pouring rain. Our goal was to make it to the “Sun Gate” by sunrise as that provided a bird’s eye view of the Lost City. When we arrived, it was one of those moments that’s forever imprinted on your brain, kind of like the first time you see the Grand Canyon or the first time you see the ocean.

When we got towards the top I stopped and turned to the crew and Maya. It was there where we became shipmates in every sense of the word. I told them how we fought together, loved together, and even faced death together, but what we were about to experience would be more powerful than any of that.

I hope the guys and Maya bottle up that image. And when they begin the trek down, let themselves go, allow their minds to wander and imaginations to explore as the powers of the Lost City will take over.

Off to explore as we have until sundown before we take off.

The third day was a little easier, but much more emotional and still wet. As we hiked through the rainforest and the various ruins my imagination came to life. I felt like a kid again as I ran through the wet leaves, swung from the branches, and laughed with our group. One moment in particular captured my soul as I was walking around a bend where a village of 3 households resided.

As I looked at the homes I noticed a young boy, about 4, sitting on a rock. I stared at him and he stared back with his dark, deep brown eyes. His eyes, while not empty with life, seemed void of hope. So I bent down, said hello to the little fella, took his picture, and realized that life is meant to be lived for others – even if you don’t know them.

Waking up at 4:00 AM tomorrow for the walk to the Sun Gate.

And yes, I thought about Adelaide again, but this time it was when we were back together. It was our anniversary and while we didn’t meet on the 50, where we had our first kiss, we met on my Dad’s sailboat.

There, we had dinner and a few glasses of wine.  Our relationship had never been better. As the clouds moved in Adelaide and I began to talk about our future together, marriage, and our love for one another.

Basically, I told her that I wasn’t in a rush to get married, that I loved her, but that I had a dream to sail around Cape Horn that had yet to be accomplished.  And in typical fashion, Adelaide brushed it off as one of my dreamy ideas. But this time I became aggravated and began to sail the boat back into the harbor and of course, into a rain storm.

So our anniversary ended with both of us wet, both of us with a headache from too much wine, and both of us conflicted on what we wanted in life.

Off to bed.

Cole

P.S.

Six weeks after our anniversary is when I left for this trip.

I failed to mention that again I thought of Adelaide today when it started to rain.

 

It was when I came home to visit during spring break of my junior year. I went to the bar with Connor, Jackson and Brady to have a few drinks and a ton of laughs. Also at the bar that night was Adelaide. It had been about a year since we last spoke and she looked absolutely stunning.

 

She ended up taking off and I ended up walking to her house in the pouring rain. After a ton of small talk and her basically telling me I’m still a piece of shit, I convinced her to come outside.

 

There, we sat on her porch swing and, in typical guy fashion, I kept apologizing and trying to place the blame on football, not me.

 

About halfway through my defenseless explanation I realized that something was wrong with Adelaide. I kept prodding, but she wouldn’t budge.

 

Instead, Adelaide’s eyes just filled with water and her tears flowed like the rain as she ran inside.

 

I still do not know what was wrong with her, but my gut tells me she was hiding something horrible.

Today was easily the hardest climb, but the funniest. Since I’ve already been here I knew what we were up against, but everyone other than Maya was not prepared.

 

Remember, the crew is a bunch of guys who are strong willed and have a strong upper body, but their lower body strength is relatively weak in comparison. And today was all uphill and into a strong wind and rain.

 

Dead Woman’s Pass is a vertical, skinny, and windy path and we literally had to dodge bounding llamas coming down the rainforest’s path. This, of course, turned into a competition that Isaac joined in on. Once at the top we turned to see the mountain that we just scaled and while I had done it before, it was one of the most amazing things my eyes ever witnessed.

 

Tonight at dinner I sat next to Captain Carbajal and he told me that he was able to truly feel the culture and the path that the Checian’s walked daily. That he could feel their triumphs, pride, and history. A cool conversation as it made me wish my Dad was there.

Was pouring rain all day and still relatively drizzling tonight. After dinner a few of us sat around the fire as I told the men how half of the Checian Tribe hiked down to Cusco from Machu Picchu to fight for their rights. While this history lesson was the crew’s first, they were captivated by each word I said. I told them how every member of the Checian party was killed in battle and how the rest of the Tribe, once they got word of the defeat, fled Machu Picchu for the northern Snow Mountains.

 

Also, as I was hiking today thoughts of Adelaide kept popping into my head. Maybe it was the rain as we always had so many moments in the rain. For whatever reason I kept thinking about how she came to visit me in college during my sophomore season, left to drive home after a game, only to realize that she left her phone on my bed stand. And as you might imagine, when she returned to get her phone she walked in on me making out with some “jersey chaser” chick from the party. After she raced out of my room I followed her outside only to get soaked as she sped away through a huge puddle in her little white 2-door Toyota Tercel.

Not sure how many of you know about the Inca Trail, but it is one of the more famous paths in the world. As we have begun walking on this path it was interesting to see the crew and their energy develop. As we went through the small villages I could sense the crew growing stronger. Obviously, we have a bond that is unbreakable due to what we just went through in the jungle, but I can now sense a deep commitment and loyalty to one another.

 

Weird as Maya and I haven’t really spoken.

Here in Cusco at an internet kiosk and the sight of electricity and cars has never been more pleasant.

 

To tell you what happened in the jungle is unbelievable. But, like most of this trip, a lot of stuff that’s happened is unbelievable.

 

Isaac and I made our move down to the base of camp. The goal was for Isaac to take out the 7 guards and me focus on Maya and Abinal from a distance. Isaac circled around the back of the camp as he felt that attacking from the northeast corner served as his best viable option. (I swear this sounds like our boy Jack Bauer huh? Lol)

 

Anyway, as I approached the camp I could hear Abinal talking to both the Captain and Maya. To the Captain about how he killed Magdalena and Maya, how pretty she was.

 

Both points of contention that enraged me, but I remembered what Isaac said. “Poise is what will allow you to survive.”

 

So as poised as I could be I remained at my post as Isaac moved in. All of a sudden our crew was let go and only Maya remained with Abinal. Unsure of what happened I met the crew and asked the Captain what the plan was.

 

Meanwhile, Isaac watched as Abinal groped Maya’s shoulder to the laughter of his men. Annoyed, Abinal sent his men away as he obviously wanted “alone” time with Maya.

 

As we positioned ourselves I saw Isaac skillfully take out three men while he continues to approach Abinal and Maya.

 

Abinal then began to kiss Maya’s neck. She resisted him to only get hit and almost knocked out as the force caused her to bleed from the new wound on her forehead. I then watched him as he slipped his hand up her shirt as the rest of our crew took out the remaining Sendero Luminoso.

 

As I continued to move closer to Abinal, a part of me wanted to grab a gun and shoot that asshole, but who am I kidding… I don’t think I could actually pull the trigger. I can’t imagine how I’d live with myself.  Isaac and I finally got close enough to confront Abinal before he could really hurt Maya.

 

Isaac stood there with a gun in his hand and did not recommend, but rather ordered me to take Maya and leave, and I listened as if I was an 8-year old.

 

The following encounter was as powerful as the Lost City herself as Isaac told Abinal that he had waited 34 years for this, and wanted him to suffer like his mother, Magdalena, suffered.

 

After a few smart ass remarks from Abinal and some vicious right hooks from Isaac Abinal laid on his knees, bloodied with the head of a pistol on his forehead.

 

And this was when father met son.

 

Captain Carbajal cautiously approached Isaac and told him that when his mother was killed that he promised himself that Isaac would never become what he was. That he would never need to shed another man’s blood for his own satisfaction. That life was mean to be lived FOR people, not against them.

 

As an eerie Peruvian jungle feeling came over this place Abinal, who was an absolute mess began to laugh and almost provoke Isaac to kill him. Thankfully, Isaac lowered his weapon and handed it to his father, Captain Carbajal.

 

The next 15 seconds felt like an epic film as the Captain looked at Isaac, told him how proud of him he was, and then turned to Abinal with a look of pure revenge in his eyes.

 

As he stood there in front of the man who killed his child’s mother and the woman he loved, Captain Carbajal said in a whisper to himself that Magdalena did not die for nothing.

 

Then he took two steps back, raised the pistol, and did what we all wanted him to do.

 

Gonna hike the Inca Trail for the next few days and get away from this internet.

 

Love ya,

 

Cole

 

P.S. Thanks for all of the support

 

We made it through and have set up camp for the night as we are only a few hours out of Cusco. I’m drained from the whole ordeal.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it when I can find the energy to write more.  We decided to still hike Machu Picchu and to get to safety. Cusco is the nearest town so we are almost there.

Making our move…not sure what will happen, but know that I love you all.  In case something happens, please forgive me Adelaide.

 

Cole