Thanks for your replies. Once out of Huaraz, there are no internet cafes, no stores, no phones, no nothing. Most of the few villages along the way will not even have electricity. Even the bail-out points are remote. Yep, if something goes wrong, it goes wrong in a big way out there; that's part of its allure.

My friend is not entirely and completely without experience. We spent two weeks traveling the western US this past summer, camping half the time. Her first time in a tent was in Colorado. I found an ideal location (isolated enough, under trees, river right out tent door.) There was a hand-pumped well and an outhouse. I made a nice fire, cooked a good meal, and inadvertently created my own monster... She loved it.

Her second night camping out was a bivouac in the middle of the desert, in Arches NP. We deliberately started a hike at midnight, under a full moon. Around 2:30am we were about 22 miles into the desert if you include the drive to the trail head, and I told her to pull up a rock and hunker down. She balked and moaned and was spitting mad at me complaining that "this wasn't camping!" I knew where we were and felt safe. I figured it'd give me some sense of how she handles adversity. She fumed and plotted my demise; I slept out of rock-throwing range. Something interesting happened during that night: she relaxed, and began to notice how beautiful and quiet and alone it was We were the only people out there, no tent. In the morning she was still mad at me, but her perspective had changed and she looked forward to doing more of this camping business.

We hiked in Zion and camped our way up the eastern Sierras towards Crater Lake, where I took her snow shoeing for her first time. She loved that, too! There was still 7' of snow on the ground in late June, so we camped in a National Forest down the mountain and up a logging road. There was no running water except the river. We were the only people there, unless you count the zillions of -albeit slow and unambitous- mosquitoes. She thought this was the loveliest spot she had ever been to. Now she was mad at me because I had refused to dig us a snow cave to sleep in up at Crater! This was her fifth night ever sleeping on the ground.

As you can see, her adaptability is remarkable. But, NONE of this means she is ready for Peru. So, we continue to talk about it. She has started the walking and running, even carrying a bit of weight. She's already hit the gym (which is much more than I can say for myself...)

If it matters, we are both in our mid-50's. I have 40 years of camping and backpacking under my belt, including a self-contained six month trip to Alaska and my previous trip to the Andes. I've slept on the ground in 38 states and half of Canada. She is a complete, though enthusiastic, newbie.

We already have a few trips planned together in the relatively near future and of progressive complexity. We will use these as a classroom, testing ground, and an experiment into how well we get along under a variety of conditions. I have little illusion about what I'm considering biting off. The trip has some significant potential consequences; I am not going to go easy on her and she understands the sink or swim aspect of her education, and trusts me. I am trying to temper my desire to do this trip (at any cost?) with the realities of her lack of experience. What I'm hoping for is the chance to pull it off and live to tell about it.

Your feedback as to how to approach helping her get ready is much appreciated. Thanks.