Changsheel, Day 4: A Mountaintop Experience

When I woke up on the morning of Day 4, I was freezing and I had to use the bathroom terribly. The bathroom situation in the wilderness is comprised of obtaining one of the special pickaxes, secluding yourself in a predetermined area (boys over there, ladies over here), digging a hole, and squatting. It's really an ok experience when the weather conditions are good, but it was cold this particular morning and it was still pretty dark around 4 AM, so I was loathe to go outside. After a tortured internal dialogue about whether or not I could hold it until the alarm when off at 5:50, I finally gathered my bathroom equipment-- toilet paper, hand sanitizer, water bottle-- zipped up my coat, laced up my shoes, and unzipped the tent. I was greeted with this view:

Never was I so glad that I had to poop.

After experiencing the most picturesque bathroom time of my life, I returned to the tent to retrieve my camera and sit in the cold, just looking a the serenity surrounding me. The campsite was asleep, the mules were quietly munching grass (do they ever sleep?), and the light was slowly brightening behind the Himalaya. For a brief moment, I thought about waking everyone one and forcing them to experience the beauty, but I decided to take this moment as my own and spend some time in solitude. Raj, our guide, came down from the kitchen tent with tea, which I eagerly sipped, sitting on my rock. Eventually, the staff alarm went off and the men emerged from the tent, their grogginess fading as they took in the wondrous light coming up from the mountains. It was wonderful to see the awe in everyone's faces as they came out from hibernation and looked around them.

Joy and wonder on the morning of Day 4.

There is nothing quite like a mountain sunrise.

Day 4 was also the day of the Hike Up to the Top. We'd been talking about this particular Hike since the beginning of the trek, and I was totally pumped. We got to hike without our packs! We were only going a total of 6 km, which was going to be a cakewalk compared to what we did to get up here. After breakfast, we cleaned up the camp a bit and got going!

At 14,000 feet, the air is thin. I learned that, even if I don't have a pack on at this elevation, I will be sucking wind. It's just a fact of life. We wound our way up the pass on tight trails, scrabbling our way up rocks and taking in the view. It was absolutely gorgeous up there. I truly felt like I was on top of the world. 360-degree views of the valleys on either side of us, the clouds rushing up to the top of the pass, where they piled on top of themselves and built to great heights. It's really not enough to try and explain it all, so here's some photographic evidence:

Dramatic hiking with Raj!

These clouds were so cool. I don't think
I've even been so close to a weather system in my life.

Top of the pass! If you look closely, you can see a snow peak in the distance.

Our 10th grade crew! What a great bunch.

The ridge was dotted with herds of sheep and their Sheepmen, and you could hear soft bleating through the area everywhere. After the Hike Up to the Top, we took a slight detour and climbed the area directly above our campsite. The sun was shining with incredible strength, the breeze was light and playful, the bees were curious (and expert hoverers), and small wildflowers grew in small clusters everywhere. We spent an hour at the top of that cliff, some people napping, some basking in the sun, some throwing rocks at each other. I sat on the grass with my back to the sun, observing the students and the nature around me, and I felt completely at peace. I was struck with such wonder for the wide world in which we live that all I could do was watch and take it in. Thinking back on the experience, this quote from Vandana Shiva is particularly poignant:

You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder.

It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you.

- Vandana Shiva

Changsheel, Day 3: The Majesty of the Himalaya

Day 3 was, overall, was much easier than the day before. The trail was less steep, we hiked fewer kilometers, my muscles were--inexplicably--not sore from our marathon hike yesterday, and the students seem to be getting the routine.

The ladies really rallied this morning! As the only female staff leader on the trip, I was incredibly proud. They got out of the tent right away, packed their stuff, and took down their tents within a half hour. The boys, on the other hand, were quite lazy and really messy again. There were a couple students who were engaged in some pretty ridiculous self-sabotage: not eating breakfast, for example. This is my first trek, but come on. The importance of nourishing your body before strenuous physical activity is well-documented.

Katherine's #1 Trek Rule: If you self-sabotage by not eating food during the day (food prepared and brought to your frickin' tent every day!), or by not drinking water on the hike, I have very little sympathy for any complaints that float from your mouth to my ears. Shut up, drink your water, eat your trail mix.

This morning, our guide, Raj, showed us his guide training. He was trained at Hanifl Center, the Woodstock outdoor education center! It was so cool to see his diploma and his certification checklist. They were both carefully laminated. He was obviously very proud of it, and we thought it was wonderful to have such a great connection to Woodstock.

The hike was only 10 km today, and the terrain was much more gentle, which everyone was thankful for. The environment around us changed from pine forest to stubby trees, shrubs, and lichen-covered rocks. Apparently, there had been a pretty bad forest fire a few years ago, and it was evident in the number of charred trees and scarred ground. It was really neat to see the changes up close, to really study the ground and the trees and the changes in color around us. I got some great ideas for knitting colorways!

Day 3! Restored and ready to go!

Morning at the campsite: beautiful pine forests.

The landscape further up the trail; much less forest-y, much more alien.
Also full of great ideas for knitting colorways!

The weather was cooler and more misty, so much so that I actually put on a second layer while hiking. During a rest after lunch, we sat in a clearing and got some water. Suddenly, someone shouted, "I can see a snow peak!" We all turned and, sure enough, in the misty clouds, the peak of a snow-capped mountain was visible. It almost blended with the clouds at times, reappearing when the wind shifted. As I gazed at the far-off mountain, tears filled my eyes and my chest swelled with the immensity of what I was seeing. These mountains are so incredible, so ancient and austere. I can't imagine the kind of history these mountains have seen, all the trivial human matters they have loomed over. I was, and still am, overwhelmed by the beauty and the history of this mountain range.

My first snow peak. Words can't describe.

The rest of the hike up to the ridge was rather uneventful, surrounded as we were by a cloud. We reached our campsite, set up the tents, and relaxed. It was cold! I was surprised by the temperature; I'm not sure why. We were at around 14,000 feet of elevation. Later in the evening, the cloud thinned and we could see over the valley that we had just hiked for the past two days, covered in a layer of low-lying cloud. The snow peaks of the Himalaya stood sentinel in the distant east, and there was a crescent moon rising above the ridge. The staff members yelled at at least 5 people for not wearing warm enough clothes (duh). Later, when the sun went down completely, the most beautiful array of stars appeared. From my warm place in the staff tent, I could hear students sitting out in the open, telling stories and finding constellations. The bells on the mules jingled as they munched their way around the campsite.

The rest of the ridge around the campsite.

The snow peaks in the distant east.

Our faithful mules, resting while a crescent moon rises.

Changsheel, Day 2: The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done

Day 2 began at 2 AM with a sleepwalking episode.

The staff members were sleeping in a pyramid tent. It set up really easily, because all we had to do was stake out the sides and then erect a single pole directly in the middle of the tent. The difficult part was actually fitting three adults in the tent. Because the support pole was in the middle, there was no way to equally distribute the space. In the end, two people shared a side, with the one closest to the middle maneuvering the pole onto part of their sleeping mat, and one person had a side to themselves.

After setting a 5:50 AM alarm and going to sleep, my dreams melded with reality. I definitely heard the alarm go off, and I was ready to get out of the tent. I pawed at the corner of the tent closest to my head, certain there was zipper door right there. In the process, I woke up Larry, who was sleeping next to me. "Is everything alright?", he asked. I said yes and grumpily asked where the door was. He looked at me quizzically, then pointed to the other side of the tent, where the door was located. I thanked him and unzipped the tent. Before I left, I paused and asked for the time. Larry looked at his watch and said, "2 AM." Realizing that I was sleepwalking, I muttered, "Never mind," then zipped the tent back up and went to sleep. Whoops.

One of the vistas from our campsite

First Day of Hiking Selfie!

Ready to go!

Once the 5:50 alarm did actually go off, the staff members got going right away, packing our packs and the tent in about 20 minutes. The students were less motivated. Some of the boys had garbage around their tent after only a day, which turned out to be an unfortunate trend as we moved through the national park. We were very strict from the start, mandating that, even if they didn't make the garbage, they picked it up. It was quite frustrating to see a lack of respect for the beautiful nature around us.

An hour late, we started hiking. We were due for a 12 km hike up to our campsite. We wound our way through a beautiful valley, past farm houses, fields with colorful plants, and forests. The residents in the national park waved and Namaste'd us, and we Namaste'd back. The sun was out, the breeze was blowing, and it was an ideal day. We stopped at a peaceful area next to a stream, and students skipped stones, soaked their feet, or took a cat nap on some rocks. Wonderful.

Lizards sunning themselves on a cabin!

Colorful fields in an idyllic valley.

Gnarly wood at the river rest site.

I'm not sure how much elevation we covered in this one hike, but it was immense. This hike, with only 20 lb. packs, was the hardest thing I have ever done. Twice I found myself close to tears because I was so exhausted. In the beginning, I was eager, watching my feet and trail and taking pictures. In the end, I could only focus on staying upright and making my legs pump. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I didn't have my food or my tent with me; they had gone ahead to the campsite, carried by mules. By lunch, I looked like this:

Ready to give up.

And we had 3 km to go.

Something that made everything better, despite the hard work, the steep trail, and the sweat, was an unexpected herd of goats. 150 or 200 of white fluffy creatures with pink eyes, swarming the path and the hillside above it. They saw us and stopped, as if on cue, staring and flopping their ears. We walked through them and they parted like a school of fish in the ocean, all but one. One goat decided that she really liked one of the boys in our group and followed him up the path, away from the rest of the herd. The boy didn't particularly enjoy the attention (he's actually afraid of goats), and kept trying to shoo it away, but she was very persistent. In the end, one of our guides, Raj, chased it away with a stick.

I somehow made it last 3--which happened to be the steepest--and collapsed on my pack at the campsite. My legs were weak, I was sweating through my shirt, and I didn't want to do anything ever again. 

Notice the pit sweat stains reaching up around my shoulders. Attractive.

Second campsite. Also gorgeous.

The cool part about a trip like this is that, even if you don't know anyone, you learn fast. The attitude and work ethic of each and every person became totally apparent about 15 minutes into the hike. Some started energetic, then faded fast; some quietly and consistently hiked, uncomplaining; some started negative and got revved up; some started negative and slid further downhill. True colors come out when you're forced out of your comfort zone.

Activity Week 2013: Changsheel Pass, Day 1

It's 7:45. We are late, and I am irritated.

I know that I shouldn't be, because, after all, it's India, but we were definitely supposed to get going at 7 this morning. The dining hall, however, didn't get the memo and thought they were good to go opening at 7 AM (they were supposed to open at 6). So, we're late for an 8 hour bus ride, a 45 minute jeep ride, and a campsite setup. Needless to say, I want to get going.

On the bright side, the kids are excited (until they take their motion sickness medication, that is), and the air has a palpable feel of anticipation. We're going on a trek! It's my first. I've gone camping, but never like this. Many of the students, 10th graders, haven't gone trekking before either, and the one student who has experience-- a two-day trek earlier in the semester-- is much too eager to share his expertise for my taste. "When I was on my trek", "We did it this way, you should do it this way", are phrases I'm hearing too often this early on the trek. I'm going to need to find a way to diffuse and distract this kid, or I'm going to go crazy.

I've opted not to take a motion sickness medication. Avomine can work wonders for some people, totally knocking them out until they get to their destination, but it leaves me feeling nauseous and out of my body for hours after I wake up. Plus, I want to see the views! I'm not one to get carsick anyway, and we're driving through some gorgeous territory on the way to the national park where we'll trek. We are on a bus with comfy seats and an obnoxious "TOURIST" sign on the top of the windshield in a bubble font. As we drive the switchbacks between Woodstock and the national park, the scenery shifts from misty pine forest to rocky outcrops to lush green valleys and sunny small villages. Something that struck me about the trip, and about India in general, is the intensity of colors. Green fields are speckled with women and men wearing vibrant hues of aquamarine, fuschia, and vermillion. It's a beautiful sight. Here are some of the photos I took on the way over:

Another thing that dominated our trip was the presence of sketchy construction sites and traffic issues.

The construction sites that we drove through would make a construction worker in the US break a sweat: no orange cones, no detours (how could there be, on a mountain road?), piles of stones, gravel, cement mix, etc. lining the narrow way. It certainly made me nervous, but our driver knew what he was doing.

A bridge was being reinforced, and the road was being widened at this point, I believe.
It was also the "National Highway Project", so this was the official stuff.

When you're on a bus, traveling on roads about the width of your vehicle, traffic maneuvers become considerably more tricky. Of course, if you're just dealing with a scooter, it's easy, because they can pull over really easily or just go around you because they're so small. When you come upon another tourist bus, however: 

Keep in mind that our bus is on the outside of the road, the side of the road jutting over the river valley.

All hazards and difficulties aside, we made it to our destination, Govind National Park. We transferred our bags and gear from the bus to two jeeps and continued into the park on bumpy, rain-gutted roads. Quite the trip on my tailbone and my sitz bones. Our campsite was located on the side of the Rupin River and was clear and beautiful. The campsite itself was full of mule poop (something that became the norm at the rest of our campsites), but it was comfortable and flat (something that was not necessarily the norm at the rest of our campsites).

We settled down for the rest of the night, after having dinner prepared for us by our guides, and prepared for a huge day of hiking tomorrow! Happy Activity Week!

Quick Update

I made it out of the Himalaya after my trek. 5 days of outdoor bliss, snowpeaks, and fun times with a bunch of 10th graders.

I'm now in Varanasi for quarter break! I arrived safely and I'm hanging out in the city, hoping the rain abates. There is a cyclone on the eastern coast of the country, and Varanasi is experiencing the tail end of it.

More details later once I get back to Woodstock!

Wander!

From the Aitareya Brahmana, spoken by the god Indra (gendered nouns have been changed):

There is no happiness for she who does not travel [, Rohica]! Thus we have heard. Living in the society of  humanity, the best woman becomes a sinner...Therefore, wander!

The feet of the wanderer are like the flower, her soul is growing and reaping the fruit; and all her sins are destroyed by her fatigues in wandering. Therefore, wander!

The fortune of she who is sitting, sits; it rises when she rises; it sleeps when she sleeps; it moves when she moves. Therefore, wander!

Happy Activity Week and Quarter Break, everyone.

Happy Birthday, Gandhiji!

Today, October 2nd, is a major Indian holiday. It's Gandhi Jayanti, or the Birthday of Gandhiji! Some of you may know that "ji" is a term attached to names or greetings to express respect and fondness for the person you're referring to. In India, it is rare that anyone would talk about Gandhi without adding the "ji" to the end.

Gandhiji was a freedom fighter in the battle for Indian independence in the early 20th century. Originally a lawyer, Mohandas Gandhi advocated for non-violent protest an resistance, and was a preeminent Indian nationalist before the country's independence. He has inspired countless civil rights and freedom movements around the world.

October 2nd marks a national holiday in India, and Woodstock had a day off school as a result! The timing of this holiday was perfect, as we hadn't had a break for at least a month, and we're all gearing up to go on our Activity Week trips. I'm going on a trek to Changsheel Pass with a group of 10th graders, so today was the day for checking out packs and other supplies, learning how to set up tents, pack properly, keep ourselves clean on the five-day trek, and generally preparing for the coming week. (You can find an account of the same trek from Activity Week 2010 here:
 http://nanonkka.blogspot.in/2010/10/activity-week-2010-changsheel-trek.html)

I'm really excited, but some of the students are less than enthused, especially since they apparently have an English assignment to complete while on the trek. From what I understand, it's a lot of journaling and it shouldn't be hard, but any mention of homework sends the students into the depths of depression. I haven't seen the snowcaps of the Himalaya yet, although they're supposedly visible from where we live, so I'm excited to get to a higher vantage point (around 12,000 feet), see some mountains and have a snowball fight! Many of the students have never seen snow, so this is going to be great!

This will probably be my final blog post until late October, so let me lay out my schedule:

October 6-12: Activity Week trek to Changsheel Pass
October 13-19: Quarter Break! I'm taking a short trip to Varanasi, staying at the Old Yogi Lodge (apparently you have to be neither old nor a yogi to take up residence there). I'll be traveling by train both ways and spending time soaking up the history and the spirituality of one of the oldest cities in India.

See you on the far side of October! Happy Gandhi Jayanti!