How DC-area hikers over 60 traveled Peru’s Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference in our community, reported by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.

Eighteen of the Wisdom Walkers trekked more than 26 miles of the Inca Trail in Peru over four days and three nights to reach Machu Picchu. On July 14, the group reached the peak at Dead Woman's Pass, an altitude of 13,828 feet. (Courtesy Wisdom Walkers)

What does it take to climb a mountain? A group of D.C.-area hikers, all aged 60 years or older, said it takes training and wisdom.

The Wisdom Walkers, a D.C.-area group that has participated in several events and led tours of D.C.-area landmarks, is a destination fitness organization dedicated to getting African Americans to take care of their physical health.

Eighteen of the Wisdom Walkers trekked more than 26 miles of the Inca Trail in Peru over four days and three nights to reach Machu Picchu. On July 14, the group reached the peak at Dead Woman’s Pass, an altitude of 13,828 feet.

Sam Gaillard of Bowie, Maryland, said it was his first climb after spending almost 20 years running 3 to 6 miles a day, 3 to 5 times per week. He said he was running to maintain his health, but as he got older he started looking for alternatives to running because of the impact it has on the body.

Gaillard said he saw an advertisement for the Wisdom Walkers trip, when he decided to take on the challenge. He said he trained with a combination of running and walking.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE: The D.C.-area’s Wisdom Walkers travel from the District and onto Machu Picchu was quite a trek through Peru, hikers told WTOP. (Courtesy Wisdom Walkers)

His advice to people interested in climbing: Push yourself to an uncomfortable place when you are training to prepare for the hike — and know your limits.

“We set a goal and we train people a whole year to get ready for the goal,” Sharon Robinson Goods, executive director of the Wisdom Walkers, told WTOP. “The destination is really the motivation. The goal was really to get people in shape.”

Gaillard said he felt winded at the beginning of the climb, but kept telling himself to “go slow.” After he started paying attention to how the guide was navigating the trail, he noticed that they were walking in a zigzag pattern.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE: Sam Gaillard, of Bowie, Maryland, stands on the summit, as members of the D.C.-area Wisdom Walkers hiked Peru’s Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. (Courtesy Sam Gaillard)

When Galliard began doing the same, he found that he didn’t feel as winded. He ended up being leader on the second day, with the motto: “Slow, slow, slow.”

The runner-turned-hiker got into the rhythm of a very slow run, but he had to push himself to get to the peak as the altitude increased and the team required more breaks.

But after all that work, Gaillard finally reached the peak.

“I remember being happy that I was at the top and being worried about everybody else getting to the top.” He told WTOP that 15 of the 18 people who began the trip reached the summit alongside the leaders in Alpaca Expedition — the senior-most group of African Americans to have reached the summit with their company.

However, it wasn’t the first historic feat for the group: In May 2022, the Wisdom Walkers became one of the oldest groups of Black Americans to summit Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

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