Hiking in the mountains is no escape from the distractions of electronic gadgets. It used to be that you could throw some gear in the back of your truck, roll out into the hills, and completely break out of the buzzing and bleeping grasp of the telephone and the TV for a few days. That was long enough to let the ringing in your head silence out and to get a few coherent thoughts through. Of course for that we would have to go back quite a few years to truly be without portable electronics. For a long time we have had things like radios, video games and now even cell phones that can work way out in the boonies. Now we have GPS, XM radio and satellite phones to keep us wired into the rest of the world from no matter where. For many of us that leaves less willpower to force ourselves to break away from the chatter of the world. You would have to go to great lengths and personal restraint to distance yourself from all the temptations of checking in on your office emails and to hear innovative doublespeak vocabulary terms from our clever political leadership.

Alcohol consumption is a customary part of Sherpa culture, and it seems that it is available to everyone of all ages in Nepal. Traditionally the Sherpa people brew their own “chang” (rice beer) and drink it heavily for social gatherings and parties. This is actually a very mild alcoholic drink, with an alcoholic content comparable to weak American beers. It is served warm (like Japanese sake) and it is a little sour with a yeast smell (like pizza dough). The Sherpas will prepare a batch and let it sit at least a month to get a richer flavor and higher level of alcohol. The Sherpas prepare “rakshi”, distilled from potatoes like vodka, but again it’s kind of weak (Pema will be hurt). I didn’t see anyone passed out from the drink, and I never heard any complaints of a hangover while we were on the trails, so it doesn’t seem like there is much of a drinking problem in the mountains. However, you would think someone was hitting the sauce pretty hard by seeing all the porters carrying enormous stacks of beer cases up from Lukla. Those cans of beer (San Miguel) are priced a little high for the Sherpas I’m guessing, so it’s for the benefit of the trekkers.

After spending some time camping in the mountains I got to really like some of the equipment and the clothing layers that we adopted for the environment. Typically you make good use of Nalgene bottles, carabiners, your daypack, and lots of fleece and wicking materials. Those things turn out to be very useful and adaptable in the rest of the world too, and some of the ideas have stuck. I see carabiner keychains all the time and I especially grew accustomed to the warmth and comfort of wearing a layer or two of thin fleece to keep warm and dry. It seemed no matter what the activity level or the weather conditions that was a great base layer. Of course I could wear a thicker fleece vest or jacket over that, but most of the time the one long-sleeve shirt was perfect. Wearing my polypro undies as pajamas is just fantastic. I also got to like the thin hiking socks a lot. They’re made of a mix of materials that give good texture and they’re pretty warm. I see Richard wearing his Mountain Grabbers™ fleece vest most of the time, so it looks like he took onto the habit as well. Clothing made for hiking is just so comfortable, relaxed, and versatile that you feel you could get out and do anything, or just sit down and have some more hot chocolate.

Everything we do in life comes at some cost, even if it’s just watching PBS instead of renting a movie. My economics 101 class called it an opportunity cost, and it is a true maxim of the universe that there is no free lunch. This is really plain to see if you start daydreaming about wandering the continents and exploring exotic points on the map. I was very fortunate that I had a month free to go trekking in Nepal and I had a great time. Most people in this world can’t see clear to take all that time out of their busy lives. It is unimaginable to break away from paying bills, jumping through hoops at work, and missing so many episodes of [insert name of insipid but addictive TV show here]. The kind of people who do break away for a month or longer from the rest of the world usually quit their jobs and move into a wooden shack in Montana or they brazenly set off to conquer some magnificent natural monument (with a one-way plane ticket). There’s a lot to gain personally by taking that time away, and most people find great clarity of perspective as they meet adverse conditions or enjoy the serenity of hiking in solitude. This can be a priceless revelation that most of us can never seem to afford.