Blue skies, snow capped mountain views, smiling faces, daily reports, positive mental attitudes…so what was so tough about this trek to make it a worthy challenge for our fundraising causes, and did we really make it look so easy? What hardships did we actually suffer, how did we deal with them and was it such a big deal?
My experience and recollections of previous long challenges has taught me that the good memories are the ones that tend to stick. Extreme hardships also remain, but mainly because of the sense of achievement that overcoming them brings.
Ok let’s start with the picture painted by our photos, reports and comments. Yes, skies were very blue, especially in the mornings, we had one dismal day, and mostly we had finished walking for the day by the time cloud cover and stronger winds arrived. Overall could not have hoped for better weather. Yes, the photos and videos showed smiling, positive faces, but when was the last time you posed for a photo and were not asked to smile? Equally it is massively important on a multi day challenge to maintain positivity and block out negative thoughts – it keeps spirits up. And yes, the scenery was stunning, spectacular, amazing and any other superlative you could come up with…but you have to get there to see it!
So there’s a good number of reasons why followers may have got an impression of not too much discomfort. Add to that the fact that of course we all took it very seriously and prepared ourselves physically and mentally to different extents. We did not set out to kill ourselves, on the contrary we knew it would be tough but wanted to enjoy it at the same time, so failure to do any training would have been a big mistake.
And the hardships and challenges? Firstly the physical part:
Walking uphill is tiring – fact, I’m sure you’ll agree. Walking uphill from 3400m to 4000m and then to 4800m and to 5600m on very uneven terrain is even more tiring when you throw in the altitude and jack if oxygen to breathe. You have to go slower and it takes much longer. You become breathless more quickly and have to stop more often to control the level of physical exertion. These are not really the moments that lend themselves well to photo or video.
Walking downhill is also tiring, the stress on joints is exaggerated and the tendency is to try to go faster, which means higher energy and also mental focus to avoid making mistakes.
The effects of altitude are varied, but the most prevalent were lack of quality sleep, reduced appetite to eat, development of coughs and blocked noses, all resulting in lower energy levels, fatigue and mental barriers to overcome. We all suffered these effects, it did not help either that the schedule meant some days we were getting up at 3 or 4am and others not until later. It becomes an endurance test both physically and mentally – not something we discussed too much other an acknowledgement of how we felt at certain times as a way of supporting and encouraging each other, and not something we would make too much of in photos or videos. Maybe it’s just another man thing!!
Travelling in foreign countries off the beaten track is often hazardous from a health and hygiene perspective. We had to be careful what we ate and drank, but despite the best intentions none of us fully avoided “tummy troubles”. This presented a different dilemma – starve the bug to clear the system or continue feeding it because of the need to maintain energy levels. I won’t dwell too long on this particular issue – I think we all can appreciate the level of discomfort under normal circumstances, let alone half way through a 16 day trek in the Himalayas. In a couple of cases antibiotics were the only solution.