Nehru Institutue of Mountaineering - Basic Mountaineering Course - Part 1

This past March while traveling in India I decided to go on a month long Basic Mountaineering Course in the Indian Himalaya.  Why in India you ask?  Why not...  I have been an avid hiker for years, but one thing that has always appealed to me were the mountains.  And where on Earth can you find the most bad ass mountains??  In the Himalaya of course!  So with my mind set on finding a mountaineering course somewhere in the Himalayan mountains I began researching my options.  Turns out there are a number of world renowned mountaineering institutes in India and Nepal, go figure... Eventually I settle on the very official sounding Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, Uttrakhand.  I am told that I am welcome to join, and that the course will be comprised of 2 foreigners and 70 Indians.  Right then I knew that this is going to be one hella interesting journey...

Rope 8

Finally the day arrives, and after 6 hours traveling by train from Delhi to Haridwar I hop on a bus for the bone shaking ride to Uttarkashi, deep in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.  I get in to town and start asking people if they know where this place is.  Nobody has any idea what I'm talking about.  Now it's a pretty small town, and the institute is well known, I figure surely somebody should know where it is.  Still nothing.  Eventually I ask "Do you know where NIM is??"  Maybe they know it by it's abbreviation.  Blank stares, and now I'm starting to worry...  Eventually, after asking maybe the tenth person I get frustrated and say "How do you not know where NIM is???  You know, N.I.M!!  Ahhh, he says, N.I.M, why didn't you say so!  He then leads me around a corner to a waiting bus with NIM splashed all over it.  Friggin India...
Day 1 - The guys I have met are pretty cool so far.  I'd say about half can speak English, the other half are from the military.  Turns out a lot of units send soldiers here to get their mountaineering training.  My true trial by fire begins when I am assigned a bed, only to find rat droppings all over the pillow.  No big deal I think, I was in the army myself, I can handle some grossness.  I gather my sheets and go to the quartermaster to exchange them, but he doesn't want to, they are low on sheets.  Now I consider myself tough enough, but hells no I ain't sleeping on rat shit sheets!  Eventually they replace them when they realize that I'm not going to back down.  I tell my roommates the sordid tale, expecting a bit of sympathy, but they aren't really surprised, in fact they say it's all part of the course.  What have I gotten myself into...   
So far my assumptions have proven me an ass, per usual.  I can pay with a credit card right??  Nope, cash only.  I walk down to the lone ATM in town and pray it will let me take out 30,000 Rupis at once.  It lets me get the money all right, but only in 500 Rupi notes!  30K in 500's is a lot of bills stuffed down your pants, I can tell you that much.  Well at least the classes are mostly in English right?  Wrong again...  For every 20 minutes in Hindi there are maybe 2 minutes in English.  At least my rope (group) mates are willing to help translate.  Obviously we will get hot showers though, I mean that's a given right?  Guess again.  Freezing cold showers, and the temperature is dropping every second.  They really aren't kidding when they say don't assume...
Day 2 - Our first full day starts bright and early at 5:30.  Our schedule is as follows: tea, then PT (physical training), followed by tea, then a lecture, then you guessed it, tea.  I'm only slightly exaggerating, but they really really like their tea here.  Also on the agenda, souvenir buying.  Souvenir buying?!?  I just got here, I don't need a souvenir yet!  Turns out the souvenir shop also stocks gloves and hats and whatnot.  Still, I thought it was funny.  We are also confronted with our first truly important choice. Which meal plan do we want for the duration of the course: veg, non-veg, or the ever popular eggetarian.  Food is great so far, but is basically the same every day.  Omelet for breakfast, then rice and dahl (lentils) for lunch and dinner, sometimes with some meat thrown in for us non-veggies.  Tastes great, but can I really eat rice and dahl twice a day for a month?!  I guess I' just going to have to find out.

Day 4 - Started with early morning PT per usual.  Some of these guys are starting to fall apart already, what's going to happen on the mountain??  Had a couple lectures, including one on mountain etiquette.  "If you get lost, just ask someone where you are."  WOW, that's way better than using a map and compass, I should have thought of that one earlier.  At least we started practicing some rock climbing techniques.  They have a pretty nice climbing wall, and tomorrow we hike over to Tekla Rocks, where we will begin practicing our climbing skills outdoors.  I can't wait.

Tanque Verde Trail - Saguaro National Park

This past weekend I hopped over to Saguaro Natl. Park for a quick hike on the Tanque Verde trail.  Saguaro Park is interesting in that it is split into two parts, with the city of Tucson smack dab in the middle.  The Tanque Verde, located in the Eastern section of the park is a narrow and rocky trail that snakes up over 9 miles to Tanque Verde peak at 7049ft/2148m.  I certainly didn't feel like doing 18 miles in a day, so the plan was to hike up to Juniper Basin, a campsite about 6 miles up the trail.

The cool thing about this trail is that you pass through a number of different mini ecosystems on your way up.  The Saguaro and various other cacti gradually give way to desert grassland, which then turns into oak and eventually pine woodland.  My favorite though was definitely the majestic Saguaro cactus that gives the park its namesake.  These "monarchs of the desert" can grow into the oddest shapes, and in the right light they may even take on human characteristics.  I could have sworn a couple times I was being followed, only to look over my shoulder and realize it was just some cactus checking me out.  Overall it was a fantastic hike, with great views of Tucson and some very peculiar looking cacti.  Definitely worth checking out if you're ever in the area.

Leave No Trace Master Educator Course

I was extremely fortunate enough to attend a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Leave No Trace Master Educator course in Grand Canyon National Park recently.  The course was taught over 5 days, four of which were spent backpacking in the Grand Canyon itself.
Leave No Trace, or LNT for short, is a set of principles that govern how we as human beings ought to  act in the wilderness to minimize our impact on the environment.  More than just a set of seven principles, it is a philosophy, some might say even a way of life.  I'm not sure about that last part, but I certainly learned plenty.  The course was taught by two instructors, one from NOLS and one from the Parks Service, and included nine students, ranging in age from mid 20's to mid 50's.  We were a varied bunch, consisting of a couple wilderness rangers, some volunteers, a girl scout, an outdoor educator, a mountaineer from Croatia and myself. 
The course began early Friday morning.  Not surprisingly, the fact that I had strained my back the day before did not help matters at all.  Talk about bad timing...  Undecided if I should even bother attending until late Thursday night, I eventually maneuver myself into my car for the 6 hour drive from Tucson to the Grand Canyon and roll up in the dead of night.  Friday was pretty chill, focusing on introductions, gear prep, some fun ice breakers (Ninja anyone?), and a class on LNT Principle 1: Plan Ahead and Prepare.  Seems pretty obvious, right?  You would think so, but it's surprising how many people can mess this one up, like the guys who showed up super prepared for their Grand Canyon backpacking trip except for the fact that they forgot to get the necessary permit a couple months in advance.  Whoops...  Anyway this relatively easy day allowed my back some much needed recovery time, so that by Saturday I was ready for the trail.

Sunrise on the Mesa

Saturday bright and early all 11 of us carpool out to the Grand View Trail Head.  Of the roughly 5 million people that visit Grand Canyon National Park each year, only about 10% will go below the rim.  Of these 10%, almost all will take either the North/South Kaibab trail or the popular Bright Angel trail, which together make up what is known as the corridor.  This leaves the other trails fairly empty for folks like us.  When it comes to hiking, at least in my mind, the more does not make the merrier!  The Grand View Trail was relatively empty as we plodded our way down to Horseshoe Mesa, about 3 miles and 3000 feet below the rim.  Horseshoe Mesa is pretty well equipped; campsites, composting toilets, some old miner artifacts (even one of those old school ore carts) and a fresh water spring that's one hellava climb down a steep gully to get to.  After setting up shop classes were taught on LNT Principle 2: Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces.

Hiking down to the Tonto Plateau

Sunday we started with my class on LNT Principle 3: Dispose of Waste Properly.  A fascinating subject if I do say so myself, including the debut of my LNT rap.  After lessons on LNT Principle 4: Leave What you Find, Principle 6: Respect Wildlife, and an interesting discussion on trash versus treasure, we suited up and headed down Cottonwood Creak another 1000 feet of elevation to our next campsite on the Tonto Plateau.  Here the camping is 'at large', meaning no formal campsites or, god forbid, composting toilets.  After settling on a nice patch of land near the stream we cooked up a feast and learned about LNT Principle 7: Be Considerate of Other Visitors, as well as a rousing discussion on Wildland Ethics.

Nice and cozy in my "water proof" tent.

Monday saw us climbing some pretty gnarly switchbacks back onto Horseshoe Mesa, as well as covering our final subject; LNT Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts.  Settling in for our last night in the backcountry, things invariably get interesting.  The 20% chance of rain that was predicted for Monday night pulls through, and we get dumped on.  What are the odds?!?  My old school Eureka A frame, not the most weather proof tent out there, suddenly becomes hot real estate as we somehow manage to cram all of us into it for a quick meeting.  It may only be 6:30 pm, but it's cold, dark and wet outside.  Sounds like bedtime to me!
Tuesday is cold but dry as we hike up back to the rim.  We go over Action Plans, aka what the hell are we going to do with all of this new found LNT knowledge back in the real world, clean group gear, go over a few more things and yippee, it's time to graduate.
So what have I learned from all this?  If you have been following the LNT principles, you have probably noticed that they are all pretty obvious.  I mean, who doesn't plan ahead when they go into the backcountry, and what kind of idiot isn't considerate of other visitors?  Well, you'd be surprised.  Not only did we go over the seven principles ourselves, but we learned how to convey the LNT message to as wide an audience as possible.  Plus, I learned new and interesting teaching methods, met some pretty cool cats, and hell, I hiked in the Grand Canyon for 4 days.  What could possibly be wrong with that?!?