Trekking - Day 1

Our first official day on trail- and I lay here writing from inside my super-cozy new sleeping bag, made to withstand temperatures almost down to zero. Hopefully I won't need to test that... We shouldn't get too much below freezing on this trip. But I definitely feel it getting colder outside my tent!

The hike was beautiful.  In a way it was strange, because we spent most of the day walking along a dirt road that followed the valley.  So when the occasional car passed by, it was hard to avoid thinking, 'do we really need to be walking this part?'  

But on the other hand... Today was perfect for acclimating because it was a mellow pitch that continued for several miles; moderate exercise to help our bodies get used to being up here.

The scenery has been spectacular - we are walking up a valley with mountains close on both sides that are probably 4-5,000ft above us. The green, glacially fed river sits just below us... It is the same river that we will follow until we reach our max altitude, several days from now.

After we got off the road, we started up a trail that was a challenging mix of smooth river rock... And mud.  I am already thankful for the hiking poles that Patrick's parents got for my birthday; I certainly would have slid into the mud at least once today without them.  Instead, I felt like I had 4-wheel drive and could just cruise through the treacherous mess. Pretty great!

Okay, one funny story for today. We had our first on-trail lunch, which means we came around a corner along our way, only to find a grassy area with tarps spread out and a delicious hot lunch awaiting us.  What service!  

Anyway, we were all sitting around eating our lunch (with the now-common help of a couple local stray dogs)... And up the road wanders this confused-looking cow.

He stood near our field for a while... And then wandered into our lunch area!  I don't know about you, but I've never seen a cow beg for food before.  In fact, I really didn't think it was something that would actually happen.

But sure enough, the truth became clear when the first person tossed him their apple core after lunch.  He gobbled it up in one bite and looked around for another.  After scoring several more apple pieces from other trekkers, he got greedy and actually walked up to the pile of dirty dishes to see if anything else struck his fancy!

At that point the guides finally shooed him off- we couldn't have him eating our silverware, right?  But even then he only moved off a few steps- and continued to wait close by until he was sure we were done eating.

And then he left.

This is a very unique place.