That's right. November 19th is my birthday.
Last year on my birthday I was stranded in a mountain village in Nepal waiting for the weather to break so Sherridan and I could catch a flight to Kathmandu. We'd been in Lukla for days waiting for the rain to stop and the clouds to lift along with hundreds of other trekkers who had just finished their walk in the Khumbu Valley and were looking to get back to the flushing toilets and hot showers of the Nepal capital once the airport reopened.
This birthday I'm sitting in one of my favourite cafes doing one of my favourite things - enjoying a very long, very late breakfast with Sherridan. All the cafe's newspapers have already been grabbed by the other diners so while I wait for my coffee to arrive I entertain myself with thoughts of our trip to Europe next year.
My first thoughts concern the dates we'll travel. We decided early on that we should be there at whatever time of year was best for the trek, probably Spring or Summer we thought because that might be when the weather was most reliable. Spring in Europe is Autumn at home so I guess that means somewhere between April and June. In addition to the weather we have to consider our own availability because we have the kids to think of and what we can arrange for their care while we're away.
It occurs to me that I have no idea at this point what the best time of year is to do this walk. What's more, I'm not sure how long it will take, where we start, how hard it is or any other details. All I know at this point is there's a mountain in Europe called Mont Blanc, it sits at the juncture of the French, Swiss and Italian borders and we're going to walk around it in six months time.
Compare that to six months before embarking on our walk to Mt Everest. I'd been looking forward to that walk for so many years and had been collecting information and ideas for so long I had a very clear idea about what to expect and how to complete the walk. This trip is different though because Sherridan and I have only recently decided on the Mont Blanc walk and it almost feels like a contrived idea compared to our lifelong wish to walk to Everest. As a result I'm starting from not just a low knowledge base but also a lower level of motivation. I'm very keen on the walk, no doubt, but the truth is we've more or less forced ourselves to make a choice about where to go on our next big expedition and it doesn't have the same natural sense of inevitability as the trip to Nepal.
None of that makes sense to anyone but me, I'm sure, so in short I'll just say that compared to our trip to Nepal one year ago this trip holds many unknowns for me.
So I guess my next step is to get busy learning about the logistics and the attractions of circumnavigating the highest mountain in the European Alps. The thing I most want to understand is how bloody hard it'll be! I think the walk can take you to the tops of mountain passes and the bottom of valleys so that sounds like a lot of altitude changes. Also, will we be in snow conditions on the higher sections? I've read about "refuges" we can stay in along the way, but they must be different to my notion of a refuge which is more akin to a two-walled shelter from the elements. I'd be happy with that, but I suspect these refuges are something like cabins. If so, how big are they and do they accommodate a lot of people? Are they like the huts we encounter on the walks here at home, with open plan communal dining areas and bunk rooms? Are they commercially operated by live-in owners or are they provided by the governments of the area like here?
I also understand we might be walking into villages occasionally so I wonder what that will be like. I hope they're small and simple places with very few people but suspect they might be bustling with tourists and businesses and visiting them will be a significant change from (what I hope will be) the isolation and quiet of difficult wilderness trekking.
See how little I really know about this walk? I have a lot of romantic ideals in my head about what to expect, like endless mountain vistas and snow-capped peaks, challenging but rewarding trekking in verdant and isolated regions, and log fires and hearty meals provided by local peasants who welcome us with toothless smiles into their humble pensiones. More likely we'll encounter crowds of people on well worn paths dotted with stalls selling Coke and camera batteries and we'll have to stay in concrete block dorms with dozens of noisy and inconsiderate tourists warmed by electric panels hung from the ceilings.
I guess I really need to do some research, huh? So that's what I'll do next and will report back what I learn in the coming days.
3 comments:
Hey babe, it's your trekking buddy here. Hmm, it's interesting the different ways we look at things. Yes Base Camp is the iconic hike which so many of us have had on the must-do list for so long. I guess I saw the TMB as a kind of fascinating smaller scale undertaking. From memories of being in the area I know there are definitely endless mountain vistas, alpine village and no shortages of hearty meals to be had. And yes, there are also the touristic mountain resort towns of Chamonix and Courmayeur. But we don't have to hang there for long before we take to the trails. I don't think we'll find it as remote as walking say here in the Walls of Jerusalem, but then again, it will definitely be way less busy than Base Camp Highway number 1. I think there are options for taking less popular (harder) trails if we want to be more isolated.
This website has some pretty good info. http://www.walkingthetmb.com/planning.html
In terms of when we go, can we make it in the break between uni semesters? I was thinking last week of June until mid July.
After the 11 day walk we could treat ourselves to some r'n'r in Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, maybe even catch up with Athena Carey before heading home.
But remember too, if this idea seems too contrived, we can change plans. We could even decide not to plan anything yet - just earmark the three weeks from June 24 until July 15 as our next big thing, and let the decision for where we go come about more organically. We really have no need to force a choice at this stage. Maybe India has more appeal; or a bike ride across Vietnam or even somewhere in our own country.... lots of possibilities.
do you 2 talk or just link electronically?s has appetites that prompt perpetual quest, academic career child focused for now- a high speed traveller . they will leave D on his last timber deck until the virgin dollars run out or he tumbles athena on a higher peak.s is an enigmatic writer of great skill with forceful intellectual purpose.neither stop posting plse am enjoying the patina too much!
btw no malice or intrusion am a student of the net and for Phd (Psych) research am researching interpersonal functions via this newest of insight mediums.. the exposition of human relationships when projected to a world wide platform (an algorithm chose you btw) the motives to "publicise"on the worlds largest forum the most intimate of thoughts ,feelings etc .A modern thesis topic.:-)
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