We had been climbing uphill for 2 hours and had another 3 hours of uphill climb to go. We were also at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. This is not a good time to run out of stamina!
My wife and I just came back from Nepal where we did a 5-day trek through the foothills of the Himalayas. It was absolutely stunning and I’d be happy to share pictures, but this story is not about that. Rather, this story is about how we were caught a bit by surprise with how strenuous the second day of the trek would be. It was only the night prior that we learned that we’d be climbing steeply uphill for 5 hours straight. We were on our way to Ghorepani – a hilltop village with a gorgeous view of the Himalayan mountains. The food available to us would have been sufficient for routine daily life, but a trek is nothing close to routine.
We set out on that second day around 8:15am. By 8:45am my calves were beginning to cramp and I was breathing quite heavily. While I consider myself to be in decent shape, this was a completely different type of workout than I was used to. We would take short breaks every 15 minutes or so, ensuring to hydrate and stretch our muscles if need be.
Around 10:15am, not even halfway through the day’s physical demands, I began to hit a wall. Keep in mind that we were about 6 hours away from the nearest road, so I had no option but to power through the climb. Fortunately my wife is a great packer and remembered that she had brought a couple Journey Bars along for the trek. Bingo! I ripped open the barbecue flavored bar and smiled with each bite. It was delicious. More importantly, it was like stumbling upon an oasis in the desert. The bar rejuvenated me with the fuel I needed to continue the trek and make it to Ghorepani.
Thank you Journey Bar!! You saved me in Nepal.
Andres