trek lessons

My friend Andy Coopland just finished a solo trek into the back country of Nepal.  Kudos to him!!!  It takes an astonishing amount of mental energy (as well as physical toughness and courage) to do that.

I left him a comment on his facebook story regarding his latest adventure:

  "Most of the effort is done in your head!!" was true w/ my travels w/ you... and also true of this 'cancer trek' that i've embarked on

we did relatively easy stuff in India and Nepal.  and there were times that Andy knew i was hurting and made choices that lightened my load.  I particularly remember one conversation we had when i was in full determination-mode [i had became utterly focused on breathing and the step in front of me, one step at a time]

Andy: "You are not complaining"

Me: "What good would that do?"

Andy, laughing: "None...  and i would like you less!"

 there ya go.

this is a trek into new territory, requiring me to assess the conditions of the terrain ahead, adjust as i can, drop some weight and pick up a staff/support here, re-provision (add some odd items to my kit i've never bothered with before)

and keep the head game well in hand... to be realistic about what dangers i face right now, but not over-dramatic about the dangers that could be stalking me, out of sight... as Andy advised:

Don't watch horror movies before you go off alone - Some sections of path are creepy at times and the imagination must be under control.