The Highs and Lows of Trekking the Himalayas

It's day 1 of your 6 day trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) in Nepal. You're all geared up in your best mountain gear, enthusiasm thru the roof, eager to trek your little heart out in one of the most scenic places in the world. Two hours in and you're clinging onto your third limb (aka hiking stick) gasping for air as the village kids run circles around you in flip flops while your trekking guide humbly admits ABC is his favorite trek because it's easy and assuring you not to worry, it's only 2 more hours up those steps until we call it a day. Tomorrow, it's 8 hours. Help?!

Fast forward to day 3, you're over 40,000 steps in, trekking an average of 7 hours a day, ascending for 6.5 of those hours and the feeling of a new gluteal muscle is totally normal, right? You're laughing at whatever dietary restrictions you had in your past life as you devour every carb in site while slurping up enough milk tea for the local village with absolutely zero guilt. 

You need the energy, the sugar, the motivation and if delicious warm comfort food is what gives you that little light at the end of the trekking tunnel each day, then you're ordering pizza AND an extra order of gurung bread tonight, with dessert of course. After you've inhaled your fourth apple pie in 3 days you're thinking, "hmmmm, maybe this trekking thing isn't so bad after all?!". 

Day 5 rolls around, you've ascended over God knows how many meters because it doesn't matter at this point, and you begin to question this concept of a daily shower. Like, who's idea was that any way?! You've never felt fresher! And believe it or not, it's actually getting easier. You've found your trekking groove. You're feeling stronger than ever with enough power in your little legs to rocket launch you anywhere. ABC, the goal, is getting closer and closer and you can taste the snowy peaked mountain victory. 

It's hard, no doubt, but in between the sweaty, oxygen deprived lows you experience some of the highest of natural highs. Every corner you turn you witness another one of natures miracles. The peace surrounding you forces the mind to quiet and the views of terraced rice paddies and lush rhododendron forests inject you with enough adrenaline to literally push you up and forward. The only thing that matters in the world right now is getting to base camp. Nothing else matters, nothing. 

It's day 6, THE day, and you might as well be getting married because you're convinced these feelings of nervousness and excitement are comparable. As you get closer you hear the thrum of rescue helicopters making their way to base camp and then you realize the only way out of here is a three day trek back down, a donkey or a piggyback ride to the helipad. 

Ok, so perhaps you panic for a second, but not even the thought of having to be air lifted out of there is going to stop you from reaching your destination. The terrains quickly begin to drastically change and all of a sudden you find yourself in some sort of snowy dessert mountain with no form of life. It's just rocks, snow and your fellow delirious trekkers. 

Let's not mention the fact that you've only seen snow maybe a couple of times in your life, yet here you are, like you've done this before. Who is this person and where in the world did she learn how to trek so confidently on snow?!

The last ten minutes feel like 10 hours. You're so close yet so far away. At 4,130m you finally arrive to base camp! Nevermind the lack of oxygen in the air or the harsh weather conditions, you are literally jumping for joy in front of this wooden sign that represents every life lesson. Tears begin to roll down your eyes as you gaze at the most beautiful sight your eyes have ever beheld. You feel so small amongst the majestic peaks of some of the worlds tallest mountains; Annapurna 1 (8091m), Annapurna South (7219m), Machapuchre (6993m) and Hiunchuli (6441m). All of a sudden whatever worldly problems you brought with you fade away into the floating cotton like clouds submersing you. You've said this before, but this time with a whole new meaning...THIS is heaven on earth. 

Then it hits you. Literally, like a ton of bricks. Altitude sickness. Perhaps it was the memorial of the climbers attempting to summit Annapurna, or the avalanche that shook you to your core at an uncomfortably close distance, or the fact that you're in this base camp thing that looks like a scene out of "Everest", but all of a sudden you're not feeling so well. But you're officially this tough mountain trekker and a pounding headache or a little nausea is nothing you can't handle. 

So you sleep it out, but not before waking up at 2am to catch a glimpse of the stars. If there was any reason to do any of this, it's for this exact moment. Ok, ok, now you really mean it when you say it, but THIS is heaven on earth because literally, the cosmos are within reach. And if things couldn't get any better, a shooting star. It's officially a wrap. 

So you've reached the peak, the climax, ABC, and now you have to go back down. You're tired. No, exhausted, and you're cursing every step up you still have to take wondering why in the world are you climbing up when you're suppose to be going down?! The motivation just isn't the same. 

But the mountain lodges and tea houses are beginning to feel like home and the trekkers that you've been running into for the last week have become like a little family. You enjoy a few last Dal Bhats and 5:30am sunrise wake-up calls together and just soak it all in knowing that in a few days it's all going to be over. 

It's day 9, the last day, and you found your way back to civilization with a new found appreciation for walking in a straight line. But leaving the Himalayas comes with mixed feelings. Although you're happy to have access to a hot shower and a local masseuse, you also wonder why would man destroy what you just witnessed and pour concrete all over it?! 

You enjoy one last meal with your trekking guide, who has become your Nepali bestie, bathing in the after glow of your trekking high while laughing at the lows. You take one last selfie together. Saying goodbye to a new friend has never been so hard. You sit there, alone, in just complete and total shock that you actually did that. It is hands-down the most challenging yet rewarding thing you have ever done in your life. You have to be crazy to want to do that again. 

Then you whip out your phone, take a sip of your masala tea and google "the best time to trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp". October it is.