Before embarking on our ten day unsupported trek in the Himalayas, our group did a one night shakedown trek to get our feet wet. We traversed massive elevation gains and hiked over ten miles of this mountainous terrain. The shakedown allowed me to determine the absolute essentials I will need to carry with me during the hike. 

During this experience I also observed a mix of hard and soft skills developing. Embarking on a backpacking adventure in the backcountry is such a simple thing to commit to. I gave little consideration to skills like setting up a portable stove to cook, packing a bag, tying knots to pitch a tent, and …pooping. Now, I am confident to embark on unsupported overnight hikes even if they are solo. There are still many hard skills of trekking I have yet to learn, with a lifetime before me to perfect. A whole other dimension of learning during this overnight trek were the soft skills we exercised. Hiking with large loads is hard, period. Especially so when baking in the sun and summiting literal mountains. Perseverance and determination of will were required to make it back to the trail head. Yes, there was a physical strain, but even more prevalent was the mental battle I underwent. One of our guides, G, explained to me how Nepalis will add rocks to their bags at the start of a difficult hike and then remove them part way through to trick the mind’s perception of the bag’s weight. This anecdote gave me a new perspective on the task at hand and where the point of difficulty actually resided. During this overnight trek I was also able to practice some gratitude. Not just for the amazing opportunity I have been given to travel across the world but for the individuals we encountered on the hike. At one point of our hike, we encountered a small isolated village in the mountains. One of the farmers curiously greeted our group and provided a small field for us to setup camp and a water pump to give us life. I was extremely grateful to this man for his kindness to our group and learned from our guides that this was common practice in India. Living in a society with less emphasis on the individual has rendered interesting encounters. 

This trek was a collective effort for our group of twelve budding wilderness explorers. I commend my peers for showing leadership when it came to taking up space and voicing their physical and mental needs. It takes leadership to stop an entire group so that you can ward off future dehydration with a gulp of water. So much of backpacking is preventative and my peers did an amazing job at forcing our group to recognize this. 

From my own perspective, I got outside of my comfort zone and showed leadership when I walked at the front of the group. This required me to probe for a walking pace comfortable for everyone and decide which paths to follow at each fork. Also, upon returning from this one day trek, I decided to take initiative within my pod of two other peers (Thomas and Chris). This trek was only 10% of what is to come, so to ensure all our shared gear like the stove, pots and pans, will function properly, I re-cleaned and organized it all. 

The side quest for this post was definitely overshadowed by the incredible views and experience of the shakedown hike. However, Ramsey and I were able to sneak away for an hour or two to play basketball with the intern here at the Haniful Center, Rohan. He is still in highschool and it was interesting to see a tour of his school and gain a glimpse of what life is like for someone his age and compare this with my own experience. I also really need to work on my jump shot…