Trekking solo

[sibisoro]

Hi,

Thanks for the info on "Trekking in January".

I am very keen on doing the trek on my own - just to ensure that I have maximum freedom. But obviously, there would be some issues.

1) should I worry about people trying to steal etc

2) should i worry about accidentally getting hurt with no one to help out..

3) would it be ok to occassionally sleep in the open - i am sure you would agree that there is a certain thrill in doing that!

I was also wondering if a lot of people do this. If that is the case, I would have more confidence in going ahead and doing it myself!

I have created a new thread since the issue is different. Hope that's fine.

Thanks,
Sibisoro.

ps : I am still working out the details of my trip. Will perhaps come back to you folks as things begin to take shape!

[yakshaver]

Followint is just my view on the various questions. Others may add to this of course, or have other views.

1. Trekking solo, issues about stealing: Nepal is much safer than most other places you are likely to travel, inlcuding western destinations in Europe or North America. Common sense will tell you not to be too ostentatious in the display of your stuff, and to keep an eye on it. Having a little padlock to look your lodge room is useful. Some lodges will profide a padlock or a key. Most of the time you would not need to worry. But there are some areas where you may not want to trek alone. Like the area between Gorepani (Poon Hill) and Ghandruk, or the area between Tatopani and Beni, etc. Still, it is easy enough to find someone at the lodge who will have the same route for the day.
The big issue of going alone is if you want to go solo on more remote stretches, like from Lukla to Chukkung or etc. By the way, sad to say this but recently (March 2004) a young English trekker, Gareth Koch, has didspeared while trekking solo in this very area. Which leads me to the next point...

2. Getting hurt and being on your own is a big issue. Also having AMS or something like that, and no one to support you or consult with. This is more likely to happen. Appart from the headaches, the next thing happening when you get AMS is that yout judgment is affected. You think you can continue, and if you are goal driven you think you can continue or perhaps you can sleep it off when in fact you need to descend stright away - and have no one to give you a reality check: you can end up dead. AMS can kill people in a couple of hours.
Related to these issue is also the joy of sharing your experiences (and there would be plenty to share in the Himal). But it depends how sociable you are. Remember trekking in the Himalaya takes time. It is not a couple of days in the European or the New Zealand Alps. It is a day in day out slog for 10-20 days usually. It can be pretty hard, the lodging conditions or food may not be what you are used to, altitude will get the wind out of you. It is good to have someone else to share stuff with.

3. Sleeping in the open. This is exciting. But if you mean really sleeping in the open, without a tent, beyond a certain altitude you won't be able to do it. And at various times of the year you won't be doing it at any altitude, whether it's the cold or the monsoon rains preventing you. Which brings us to the subject of tenting, and going solo... As you move above 3000m altitude, you will regret any extra kilogram you are carrying. Unless you plan to really rough it on some remote valley (not advisable to do on your own), carrying a tent on one of the popular treks (Annapurna, or Khumbu or Langtang) just for one or two nights of "freedom" seems like an extravagant exercise. First in most places you will need to tent in a village, most probably in the yard of a logde. And what is the point of doing that? I have seen a group of Canadians with World Expeditions, who were tenting in the lodge yard at Machermo (4400m altitude) in April. We had snow, lovely stuff, but the temperature dropped to below 0 overnight. I am sure they would have prefered the lodge. They were using the lodge toilets anyway.
To conclude:
a) not many people do tenting on the popular treks like AC, ABC, Jomsom, Gokyo, EBC or Langtang, despite the fact that large tour operators still sell "original", "in the footsteps or Hillary" tenting "expeditions" etc. Essentially tenting is a overkill on all these treks, as you have good lodges everywhere, and you don't have much "wilderness" to pitch the tent at leasure until you really get high up. And these are the very treks where you can go solo. The other treks wich require tenting, like around Manaslu, or around Dhaulagiri etc, are definitely not to be done solo. Unless you are Reinhold Messner or some other freak.
b) some people do go solo on the popular treks - no problem with that at all. And while you start out solo, you can join a group, or another trekker along the way if you feel like it. I get more out of trekking when I go with my Nepali friend, an excellent climbing and trekking guide whom I employed a number of times.

[sibisoro]

Thanks for the comprehensive info yakshaver. That definately was helpfull.

I must confess that I am beginning to have second thoughts about doing it in january. The more I find out, the more dark the picture gets. For someone going to nepal for the first time, and especially for someone wanting to do it solo, I suppose it would make sense to choose a more comfortable time.

Well, thanks anyway.

[Sharon]

I wouldn't call going in january dark. It will be a great experience but get a guide or porter. You have the freedom of bveing on your own and setting your itinerary or changing it at will after taking altitude into account. Trekking alone anywhere in the world is foolish. You can slip and fall off the trail down a bank, get AMS and your judgement is affected, get diarrhea and need some assistance.
At home here several years ago a local resident was hiking on Whistler Mtn by herself, yet in plain view of many tourists on a sunny Oct day. Taking a short cut down she fell and broke her femur. She was reported not showing up for work that night but it had clouded in and started snowing by then. Massive search and rescue parties combed the alpine, tourists were interviewed , film developed all trying to trace her movements. However winter set in and she was never found. In the Spring mountain staff were watching for animal activity to locate her and did.
It is foolish at any place to be out on your own, Gareth Koch made that mistake this past March.

[sibisoro]

hi sharon,

thanks for the post. It does help to lift the spirits!

On the question of going solo, you definately are right. The risks of trekking, climbing or travelling in general go up considerably when you are alone. But then, isnt it always a tradeoff? Any enterprise is a risk, but the risk is in lieu of a payoff. And the payoff in this case is the feeling of being alone. If there are people with you, it is but natural that you are conscious of their prescence. That unfortunately takes something away from the experience. Not everyone are sensitive to this (I would consider them lucky!) but for some, it is a big deal!

I have done a few solo treks, and am almost always asked about the risk of going it alone. What I have written represents the stock reply!

cheers!

ps : there is also the question of cost. if you are on a budget, the porter would disturb it a bit :) but that's a minor point!

[Sharon]

I never walk with my porter or guide chained to me so I have space but safety as well. Also a much greater understanding of the culture is obtained as well. I still mountain bike, hike, trail run on my own. When I broke my leg this summer I was lucky to be in cell range. A true sense of bein g alone is very difficult to obtain the Himalaya. Lot's of back country in North America for that, thankfully.
If you can afford the air fare.... you can afford a porter.... The Nepalese people need all the currency injected directly into the system they can get. Skip the companies and hire a porter directly ensuring he or she is properly clothed and fed.

[sibisoro]

Well, I suppose i need to mention that I am from India! Doesnt that change a few things :)

For one, the curiosity about the culture is relatively less. A lot of us especially from the big cities crave for that sense of being alone. That is one of the biggest attractions of these treks. I cant tell you how often I dream about the kind of outback that a country like canada offers!

And, coming from india, the economics looks a lot different as well! It's really more train rides rather than plane rides! Ofcourse, I do see and appreciate the point you make.

Incidentally, what is a trail run? A long run on a nature trail? That should pretty much define strenuous....

[Sharon]

Trail running is well just that. Trails of a similar variety of quality that you enjoy while trekking in Nepal only you are in running shoes and with perhaps a water bottle or camel bak. Fortunately there is no shortage of oxygen here...Seeing I live in the mountains I'm out the door and running in wilderness.
I tried something new here, attached a photo of part of the view on a popular 25 km trail run with about 3500 feet elevation gain and loss.

[Lars]

Sibsoro,

I very much agree with you on there being advantages of going without
the aid of guides or porters. I have trekked alone several times without
any major issues. Even when starting out alone I have mostly, to some
extent, teamed up with others for part of the trek, but also indeed gone
all alone for a week or so. Three times from the Jiri trail to the lower
Arun Valley.

Certainly you are more exposed when trekking solo. Not only to the bad
encounters though but also to the good. You have a greater chance to
truly interact with the locals when you come on your own. Actually you
have to. Not to mention making friends with other trekkers.

Here is a picture of me and Ajinder between Lobuche and Gorakshep. He
is an Indian trekker I made friends with on my last trek. Just a couple
of days ago he mailed me an invitation to his upcoming wedding. He is a
real friend, not someone I have employed or otherwise met through
business of some sort.

As for sleeping in the open, I have done that too. Returning from a
failed trek to Makalu, pass snowed over, me and a friend had to spend
two consecutive nights in the open on the western side of the upper Arun.
It seems we picked good spots because soon after we had made camp
the first day three young Nepalis, two girls and one man, came up to us
and explained that they had a simple hut, or a lean-to rather, very near
and they said that if it should start raining we would be welcome to
share their shelter.

Where we camped the second night another Nepali couple made camp
some 50 metres away. The man came over to us and said should
anything happen we should just shout and he would come to help.

Fortunately, very fortunately, most trekkers and mountaineers have
behaved well and treated the Nepalis with due respect so that one really
feels quite overwhelmed with the friendliness and generosity one meets.

Obviously it would be particularly dreadful to come down with AMS or
similar when you go alone. But even then, if at all there are people
around, some would help. Being somewhat experienced, and indeed
having had AMS myself, I have many times brought up the subject with
fellow trekkers, non-groupies, when approaching higher altitudes, that
it is not enough to be aware of ones own symptoms but one also has to
keep an eye on others, and be ready to help. I have not met anyone who
has not, at least beforehand, agreed with me that if nessecary we would
be ready to accompany anyone, of any nationality, down to safe altitude
even if it is in the middle of the night and frigging cold.

I don't say you should go alone, but if you do you may find that it was
quite an experience.

[sibisoro]

Thanks Lars!

That's the most positive response I have received todate on going it solo! Incidentally, if you google for solo trekking, a lot scandinavian results turn up. So it is no coincidence that you happen to be swedish!

[yakshaver]

Scandinavians may have a preference for going solo because they spend a lot of time in winter in crowded saunas full of ...other... bodies... (I think). One needs a big rest from that and, what better rest to find than trekking solo??