Himalayan Trekking

Early last Sunday morning, I set out in a taxi with 5 other interns from eMi for a week of trekking in the Himalayas. As some of you may remember from a blog post last April, my weak stomach is apparently no match for the winding roads of India, especially when they are driven like a race car driver. I was reminded of this at the start of our journey when I threw up 5 to 10 times within the first couple hours of our 6-hour taxi ride. It wasn't pretty, but I felt great the rest of the week after that.

Without getting into too much detail about the trek, I'll just say that it didn't go quite as planned. Overall, it was about 5 days and 40 miles of hiking, 5 miles longer than it was supposed to be. Days 1 and 2 of hiking were great – the weather was perfect, the paths were clearly marked, and we made it to our destinations with relative ease. Day 3 we spent near a secluded lake in the mountains known as Dodital, resting up for our big hike the next day. Day 4 started at 6:30 AM with a demanding, steep, 3-hour hike to reach the Darwa Pass, a 13,000 foot high crossing from one river valley to another. Despite a few clouds, the views from the pass were incredible; we saw a number of large snow-capped mountains from just a couple miles away, including a couple peaks that I normally see from about 50 miles away on my walk to work every day. I spent a couple hours just sitting and staring at them and probably could've spent a couple more. It's cliché, but the pictures truly don't do them justice.

Views from Darwa Pass

Day 4b is where things got a little crazy. Once we got to the other side of the pass in the afternoon, the path that we were supposed to follow became really difficult to find. I unofficially served as co-leader of the trek with my roommate and fellow intern Nate, a very smart and nature-savvy guy. (Check out Nate's blog for his perspective and greater detail on the trek.) Those of you who know me well know that, in the heat of a debate or argument, I almost always insist that I'm right. Well...it turns out that I am not right all the time. I learned this the hard way when Nate and I disagreed about which way to go, I insisted that we go the way I think we should go until he relented, and it ended up being the wrong way. It was very humbling to say the least.

Because of our wrong turn, we ended up wandering through the forest for about a day and a half, somewhat lost. We knew where we were and where we had to go, but not how to get there. I kept reminding myself that we had plenty of food, water, and shelter to survive for a while, but my emotions told me there was a chance I would die.

The exact moment when we first went the wrong way

At the critical point of our hike, when we basically had nowhere to go, we decided to head back the way we came. It was frustrating to call it quits but ultimately the right decision. Day 5 ended up being 14 hours of hiking in rain, hail, and snow, through dense forest and seemingly impassable bushes, and for a few hours after the sun had set. It was miserable at the time, but as I describe it from the warmth of my office desk, I have to say it was a pretty epic hike. For all that went wrong, God's providence was apparent through all of it. For example, the same snow that soaked through my shoes and two pairs of socks also reflected the moonlight to light our path as we hiked in the dark. We also saw some amazing landscape that we wouldn't have seen if we hadn't been lost. And the fact that nobody got hurt is pretty incredible given the treacherous route we took. It would've been an infinitely more difficult hike had anyone gotten injured. Eventually, we made it back over the pass, back to the secluded lake, and back onto a bus that took us to the comforts of Mussoorie.

Dead water buffalo, straight out of The Lion King

I think that's the shortest version of the story that I can tell without omitting important details. Now that I am back in Mussoorie, safe and sound, I can say that I'm glad it happened the way it did. I gained more from the trip than I would've if everything had gone as planned – namely, a healthy respect for Mother Nature and a reminder to not think so highly of my own knowledge and opinions.

Lest anyone think that I'm only in India to have fun and hang out in the Himalayas, today I returned to the office, where I have plenty of work awaiting me. Both of the projects I'm working on (KIM and the Kings & Queens School) are still a week or two away from completion, so I will be busy working on the civil engineering aspects and writing the reports for those projects. It was great to have a week off of work, but I can't say I feel too rested. :)