Day 1

Essay Topic:

Hiking to Understanding

Last week, I went trekking in the Himalaya with some classmates from my school in Northern India, attempting to cross a high mountain pass. We drove for five hours into the remote hills of Uttarakhand on twisting roads. Finally, we arrived outside a small village in the foothills of the Himalaya. Walking and walking for four days, we finally reached a camp in a little valley at 11,500 feet in the mountains. As we limped into camp, little water droplets fell on our sweaty heads, at first as rain, and then they came faster and faster, turning into little snowflakes that hugged the earth beneath us. Snow poured down deep into the night, and when we woke up in the morning, the top of the tent sagged down on our heads because it was covered by snow, and my partly wet hair froze into pieces of ice.  6 inches of snow laid on the ground by morning. I realized with a shock that there was no way we could to cross the mountain pass at 16,500 feet. The boulders leading to the pass would be frozen with a thin black layer of ice, called verglass, that would make the walk very treacherous. I was so disappointed at first, realizing I would have to walk the same paths I had come on, staying at the same campsites, seeing the same things over and over again. I had trekked so deeply into the mountains, but I wasn't even able to finish the trek. However, as we began to walk that same trail back the next day, I realized how much I had missed the first time around. I noticed types of trees I had never seen before. The river rushing through the valley looked completely beautiful in a way I had never seen before. I never realized that taking a second look would be so exciting. Also, as I walked the same trail again, I had time to reflect on myself, without thinking so single-mindly about the pass that had consumed my thoughts for the past days. I thought about the time I spent outdoors. I thought about the new friends I made on the trek who had supported me so much and who I had become so close to. I thought about what I wanted to do with my life, who I wanted to become as a person, and how much I just loved spending time in nature. Nature was so beautiful. Without having to worry so much about seeing new things, crossing that elusive pass, I was able to take a closer look at the things I had already seen and a closer look inside of myself.