Nepal – Day 7 – Moving Forward

Today we hiked from Deboche to Dingboche. We are getting higher and we passed out of the forest areas and moved above the tree line. In Colorado, I always love moving above the tree line, the alpine landscape is very pretty, here, it seems very barren. That is not to say it doesn’t have its beauty, it is just different. The rivers went from crystal green and blue to murky as we get closer to the runoff sources from the mountains. As the water moves down, then sediment settles and creates that beautiful blues and greens.

As we trekked, you could see that the tundra is really torn up near the trail. That is one of the side effects of the commercialization of the trekking industry. However, this industry is vital to the economic growth of this area of Nepal, that is the tradeoff that is accepted here. The environmentalist in the US would go bonkers because of this. But when I see construction workers using hand planes and hand chisel on rocks, I know this industry is vital.

I cannot say enough about the trip leader, guide and assistant guide, they do a great job of making sure the logistics are in place. They make sure we are taken care of on the trail and in the villages in which we stay. One of them also stays back and helps when the old man on the trip has a bad day or just needs to go a little slower.

Speaking of my trekking, as you know my first day was bad but the other days have been good, but really testing. It is really hard to recover from day to day. I am in decent shape strength leg wise, but the aerobic capacity is really challenged. My O2 level has dropped from 98 to 89, which is still acceptable. It is my resting heart rate that is over, up from mid 60’s to a little less that 100. That is average with everyone else, but it is not what I would like it to be. I am sleeping well and getting plenty of rest. I usually try to explore the villages once we arrive, but here, I just needed to rest, as did most.

Isaiah 40:26

6.9 miles – 2,744′ climbed

continue to day 8