The Fashionate Trekker

While trekking to the Valley of Flowers a few weeks ago, I met a mountain guide and we got chatting about matters outdoors.  When I commented on a trekker in his group, ill-equipped and ill-shod, slipping in the wet mud, his reply was so apt “trekking was earlier a passion, but now it has become a fashion”.  Here is my advice to the ‘fashionate’ trekker.

It is great to see many youngsters taking to the great outdoors, most of them truly enjoying nature and the ‘get-away-from-it-all’ feeling that a trek to a remote area offers. However there are many who are there just to say ‘been there, done that”, they waft through the experience, shrouded in their social cocoons, immune to the joys of smelling the roses on the way.

It is this category of trekker who is careless of the environment, who with a mindless flick will throw an empty bottle by the way, who will leave the detritus of his lunch amidst the flowers, who will trample over delicate terrain to take a selfie, who will play loud music over his cellphone. Mercifully, the numbers of this type of trekker is inversely proportional to the difficulty   in getting there. Hence places like easily reached Bharatpur abound in them (see my blog http://xerxespa.blogspot.in/2015/07/bharatpur-keladeo-national-park-tail-of.html) whereas the hordes reduce as the degree of difficulty increases, (treks to the VoF and Great Himalayan National Park separate the wheat from the chaff). In VoF I encountered a tour owner (partner?) who gave me a long discourse on the joys of nature and the wonderful photographs that he has taken in all seasons (all 400GB of them), all the while playing loud indi-pop music on his phone! May the planet be saved from the ravages of such a trekker or guide.



Then there is the trekker who knows not, and this is a very forgivable category.  He wants to go there, he wants to learn, and he is willing to try but has not been guided correctly. He is ill-equipped, wears the wrong shoes and is unprepared for most eventualities.  It is for him that I write this blog, a guideline on the planning and preparation for a hike or trek. Essentially there are two aspects of a trek: physical preparation and correct equipment.  I will briefly give pointers to both.

Physical fitness is vital if you want to go off the beaten track, to remote areas, hike for several days and live rough; you have to be in good physical condition to enjoy the experience. It is when you are physically in control that you truly enjoy the trek without having nagging aches and pains to distract you. There are many sites on the net that explain how to build up to optimal physical fitness prior to a hike, adopt any one and go for it. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of being physically fit.

Read up and be aware of the physical conditions of the area in which you intend to trek, carry suitable clothing and equipment for those conditions. Know how to deal with extreme cold or heat and how to minimize the effect on your body.

Guard very diligently against blisters on your feet, they can seriously cripple you. Learn how to avoid blisters and how to treat them before they become crippling. Good socks and well fitting shoes are the single most important prevention measure for blisters.

The next most important aspect is gear. Good (and not necessarily expensive) gear makes a trek so much easier. A friend of mine Aarish, does a great line of gear at his shop, Dreams, in Kodaicanal.  He is very knowledgeable on gear and will guide you well. Email him at: aarishsingh@gmail.com

Keep in mind the following tips on gear and packing:

• ·         Buy the best you can afford, particularly if you plan a lot of outdoor activity.
• ·         Buy the lightest and least for your needs, every gram is going to seem to weigh a lot more once you start walking.
• ·         Be prepared for the worst anticipated weather.
• ·         Contrary to common perception, wear clothes made of modern synthetics which dry quickly or wool, both retain insulation when wet. On the other hand cotton is the least versatile as it dries very slowly and loses insulation when wet with rain or sweat. There are many quick dry soft synthetics available in sports stores, go for them.
• ·         In your pack you must have at all times a spare set of socks and T-shirt, there is nothing worse for blisters than wet socks.  Whereas a wet T-shirt can quickly lead to hypothermia if the weather is cold.
• ·         Carry the least number of rechargeable electronic devices you can, this becomes important in remote locations away from power sources. Carry spare batteries instead.
•      The single most important gear is good quality and appropriate trekking shoes.  These are expensive, but if you are a regular outdoor enthusiast, there is no better investment.  Make sure they fit well, are worn in before a long trek and are preferably water resistant.

The second most important piece of equipment is a good rucksack/daypack.  Do not be over-ambitious in size, bigger is not necessarily better.  As the climb gets steeper, every extra gram is going to hang heavy. Learn how to wear a pack correctly; the weight must be on your hips and not your shoulders, this simple tip can change the way you trek.  Do not carry laptop bags slung low under any circumstances.

Other important equipment in no particular order is:

• ·         Water bottles and water-purification tablets.  I have personal experience when I tell you that no matter how clear a mountain stream looks, someone is surely defecating or urinating into it upstream.
• ·         Good rain wear is vital; it should be light and packable. A poncho in my opinion is better than a rain coat as it allows air circulation and protects other equipment.
• ·         A personal pocket kit on your person is a life saver, literally.  Better to make your own than buy it as it will contain better quality items more suited to your needs. To make one see my blog here:http://xerxespa.blogspot.in/2014/11/personal-pocket-kit.html
• ·         Carry a first aid kit appropriate to the activity you are going to engage in, the net offers great guidance on a suitable kit. Since I am not a paramedic, I carry common medicines for a headache, loose motions, allergy, muscle pain, anti-infection cream and band-aids.
• ·         A good torch with spare batteries must be on your list.  LED torches last much longer on one set of batteries.

Fitness and the right gear make for a very pleasant trek, allowing you to be in the moment rather than worrying about the blister developing on your feet. So what makes it worth it? As at the end of a long and  tiring trek, you round the bend and before you the magic of the mountains unfold in a panorama that immediately wipes your tiredness away. And an old mountaineers blessing: “ May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view”.