The long road

Since we had the time and always feel the need to stray from the most trodden tourist routes, we opted to hike 'in and out' of the trek to the Everest Base Camp...instead of taking a flight in to the jumping off point that most people take advantage of these days to economize on their time in the mountains. We were allotting 30 days to hike in from the west, take a side trip up a parallel valley and then cross over a pass to the valley that most people follow to get a glimpse of Everest. After an amazing 3 weeks in the Annapurna Region, I was sure that the Everest trek would fall short of my expectations after our first trek. But, the Himalayas had much more in store for us...and while trying to find the words to describe the scenery and the views without making it sound mundane and repetitive is quite the challenge. Everyday was rewarding in its own right. We crossed countless passes (low saddles, really...but they still requied excrutiating climbs!) as we worked our way in from the west working against the contour lines on our map instead of with them. We cut across the valleys in endless climbs and descents, amidst sunny mornings and afternoon showers. This stretch of the trail doesn't see anywhere near the traffic that the ascent towards Everest Base Camp does, so while there are still plenty of lodges and guesthouses, the villages still have a life of their own. The greetings felt a bit more authentic and it felt a bit more like the Nepal we had come to see.
The porters that we played leapfrog with were a constant reminder of the demands of the tourist industry. Young men (and on our hike out, the crew was even younger...sometimes no more than 10 or so) carrying in cases of beer and snacks. The loads defy the laws of gravity, and it seems impossible that the small Nepali frame with bulging calf muscles would be capable of carrying such a load over such terrain. Yet their slow, small steps are far more certain than ours and they would push on with the sturdiness of the yaks we would pass along the way. We were in the region where the Sherpa people live, the famed Nepalis who have been the driving force behind countless expeditions to Everest and many of the neighboring peaks. Hiking on the same trail as these men (and sometimes women) was ever humbling and made our small packs seem laughable.
The hike back out, we retraced our steps out to the west. We only saw two other trekkers over the 50 miles of trail. But the trail was full of mule trains and porters bringing in loads to restock the lodges at the season's end. People reacted in shock when we told them we hiked the extra 50 miles in and out...but for us the extra miles made the views of the high peaks that much more rewarding!