Local map of northern Yunnan; my starting point of Dali in the center. Crossing the mountains, heading west from Erhai Lake, I will trek northwest toward the Tibetan border, with stops in Lijiang and Deqen (Shangrila) to resupply. Continuing north into Kham Tibet (Ch. W. Sichuan), I want to summit one of those 5000+ m. peaks so I can reach my elevation goal of 16,000 ft. (5000 m.)!! Maybe I'll do something crazy like border-cross to summit Kawakarpo! The "Bad Beginning" of this trek has not been fun--more like an organizational, logistical, travel non-stop sprint. To be more specific, the pre-trip portion has not been fun, since I haven't actually started the trek. I've been consumed with planning and packing and re-packing and organizing and re-routing and minimizing; freaking out about reducing pack weight and shipping gear and buying gear and finding new boots and creating feasible time schedules. I've been in two amazing new cities, Hong Kong and Kunming, with little time to enjoy them; there's a To Do List every morning. In the evening, I can't fall asleep for the stress of it all and the internal questions that will not stop: What the hell am I doing? Can I do this? Can I carry that pack for days on end? Is this even going to be fun? Filled with doubts, I wonder if this trip is such a grand idea anymore. I still want to do it--I am determined--but my mind is filled with conflict about whether I should have just stuck to day hiking instead of a long-distance trek. In Hong Kong, I focused on getting my visa and trying to organize some of my gear. I also had to deal with getting the last of my gear shipped from Chengdu to Kunming. Now, in Kunming, I've organized the gear that arrived from Chengdu, and forwarded that on to Dali. I've slowly been paring down what I will carry in my pack. The biggest challenge I face is weight and pack space (or perhaps, my own negative self-talk). The plan for this trek I am about to commence was birthed in 2013, when I lived near the Appalachian Trail, and began dreaming of a long-distance trek (and here I am in China, 6 years later, facing the precipice of that goal; about to begin the journey and about to achieve the goal! I want to feel excitement rather than worry!). In all my research about trekking -- which included reading numerous trek blogs-- I learned not to trek while overburdened with a massive pack. Ideally, the pack should not weigh more than 30% of one's body weight. I read story after story of people trekking with 50-70 lbs. of gear... that's insane! That sounds miserable, no matter how fit and strong a person may be. Thus, I am determined to keep my pack weight a maximum of 40 lbs.: 25 lbs. for gear and 10 lbs. for consumables (food and stove fuel). I simply don't want my days filled with drudgery and pain caused by a heavy pack. And to be entirely transparent, I'm not in top form physically at present, and a heavy pack will wear me down physically and discourage me mentally. It's going to take several weeks to one month to regain the strength and endurance I've lost this year. That is one of the reasons I am doing this: to get physically strong, fit, and thin again. I am seriously out of shape and overweight. Click "Read More" to the right!
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