How We Graduated to Full Time Trekking

My husband has a penchant for walking on any Indian mountain trail that diverts from the main road. I am usually given two options- either to walk with him or wait for him in the hotel room. So I often end up going on off the beaten track! And it is no surprise that we graduated to full time trekking after a while.

Otherwise he is a pretty sane person. But as soon as he sees a mountain trail in the Himalayas all logic deserts him. Till date I have always dragged my feet along with him.

We were walking in Dalhousie (India) once at the forest reserve Kala Top. He spotted a dirt road and wanted to follow it. Thankfully, a forest reserve officer came to my rescue. He told us we cannot go there without a guide. We returned back to our hotel. But the respite proved to be short lived. Next day, my husband found a guide and we marched about 12 kilometers through forest from Kala Top to Khajjiyar. No doubt Khajjiyar is very beautiful but it can also be reached by bus or taxi from Dalhousie or Kala Top in less than half an hour. But not when my husband is around.

Next time it happened when we were walking around Renuka Lake near Nahan. Again, he saw a dirt road leading to a Parashuram Temple ahead at 10 kilometers. Again we took that road after a feeble attempt on my part to protest. After 8 kilometers uphill, I was completely spent. My husband of course saw the temple, which anyway was just an excuse. We did not find any lunch on the way. So I logged a total of 16 kilometer that day on an empty stomach. I had the best tasting Maggi noodles and omelet that evening once we came back to our hotel.

It happened at to me Chail and Almora too. The only time my husband admitted defeat was at Jageshwar when I started feeling giddy and refused to move an inch. Little wonder then, that soon after we have graduated to full time trekking.