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.