Take a hike, Dave... a really long hike!

Ever have one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities? I've had several... and this is a blog about one of them.

In November of this year, I'm going on a trek. This is not just any trek, but a trek to Everest Base Camp. I'm not climbing Everest, but I'll be getting 3/5 of the way up its 29,028 foot elevation, reaching over 18,000 feet.

Lance Trumbull - EverestPeaceProject.org

I'm doing this trek with Tomas de Leon, a few of his friends (and a dozen strangers!) on an excursion organized by Tusker Trail.

Those who know me probably don't think of me as a huge outdoors kind of guy, or a world traveler, or an endurance athlete. And I'm not. But I'm not going to let that stop me... I do like the outdoors, I like traveling and different cultures, I love photography (especially scenic shots, culture), and I like a challenge.

You, my friendly reader, will probably find humor in my quest to prepare for this event. I'm starting with no real gear, no real experience beyond normal hiking, and not much else to prepare me. The humor potential is enormous, and I'm cool with laughing (with you) at myself.

But why am I doing this trek? Here's just a bit of background:

After being a runner for most of my life, I had a "career ending injury" while training for the Tobacco Road Marathon in 2010. With my knees telling me, "No more running, Dave, seriously", I took up biking in 2012. My longest ride prior to 2012 was about 30 miles. In May, I did my first metric century (100km) in the Ride for Life sponsored by The Spiritual Spinners (TSS). I started doing Monday evening rides with them, where I got reacquainted with Tomas de Leon, whom I knew from when our daughters played soccer together many years ago. Tomas was training for a Tusker Trail excursion to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro. Wow, That sounded cool! I then rode with Tomas and other TSS riders at Bike MS New Bern in September 2012. Not long after Bike MS, Tomas started asking if anyone was interested in doing an Everest Base Camp trek.  Having done both my first century (100 miles) and double century (back to back 100 mile rides) that weekend, I thought I was up for the next challenge.

So, I got interested. Then I got really interested. Then I started to worry, what if I can't do this? This is a long trek (Nov 2 through Nov 18) at high altitude. I've never done anything like this before. But my hesitation was brief; I knew I'd regret if I didn't do this.

So now I'm committed. Stay tuned, and I'll share my experiences of this journey from here to there. I'd love to hear your comments, your encouragement, and, yes, even your laughter. Let's take this trek together.