Three Days in Nepal by JeanDavid Blanc

Author:JeanDavid Blanc [Blanc, JeanDavid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443424042
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2013-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

XIII

Realizing My Mistake

How was I to keep going without anything to eat, especially given all of the energy I had been expending? Three little squares of chocolate weren’t much to begin with, but losing them was a completely different story. It was 3:30 p.m. Instead of stopping to wring my hands, I pushed myself to move on. I had to keep going to make it back home.

The mountainside grew steeper again, and I couldn’t remain standing. I went back to sliding on the seat of my pants. A noise started to get louder and louder and turned out to be another stream. I was in luck—I figured that if I followed the stream, it would eventually lead to a river that might take me in the correct direction. A river would flow into the valley and join bigger rivers that would eventually flow to the ocean. It had to be the right way to go.

As I continued, the stream grew wider. It was much warmer in the bottom of the ravine, and I was still wearing my helmet, a full-body motorcycle suit and three sweaters. I took off the layers from my upper body to cool off a bit in the spring water. Although I had been able to wade in the stream when I first found it, it soon became a creek flowing over stones and around boulders. I jumped from rock to rock to make my way. They were covered in slippery green moss, and I nearly twisted my ankle.

The riverbanks gradually became steep cliffs, and I found myself trapped in the bottom of a canyon. The current had gotten faster and transformed into rapids that took a sharp turn in the distance. I couldn’t make out what came next, but it was clear I couldn’t continue; the river had become too rough. I needed to find an alternative route. I had to retrace my steps.

It hadn’t been easy following the river down the mountain, but climbing back up was even harder. I had to scramble over slippery obstacles, often climbing on all fours. Sometimes I had to turn back and try another way up. I spent an unimaginable amount of time trying to get past the places I had just jumped over or let myself fall into on the way down. Each boulder became a challenge to overcome; every obstacle tested my will to continue.

I had to get out of the riverbed and back to higher ground. Should I climb the bank to my left or my right? How was I to know? I chose at random. I figured I would just keep going to the right, the direction I had already been heading down the mountain.

I scrambled, climbed and finally made it up the slope. The struggle was exhausting, and I was way too hot. With effort, I got myself up onto the bank and out of the riverbed and started back down the mountain, hoping I wouldn’t find myself on the edge of a cliff. Soon, I could see the landscape below open up.

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