October 12th Our last morning with the gang we all had one last breakfast of cornflakes together and then everyone went their separate ways. Our first mission was to get a train out of Delhi as fast as we possibly could. We all hopped on the metro and made it to the train station, but as we were looking for the tourist office, a gentleman came up to us to say it was undergoing construction and had temporarily moved... we ended up taking a rickshaw to a travel pla...

October 9th Today we got back in jeeps and ventured back to Ranikhet where this whole adventure first began. We bought a huge bag full of guavas from kids running down the side of the road and we stopped in Bageshwar again to eat at King Kong which was very tasty - Paneer Tikki Masala! On the last leg on our ride, we spotted a band of 30 monkeys just chillin' in the trees and we arrived at our destination just after dark for dinner and an overview of the next da...

October 5th We're off on our own! The first leg of our journey was rainy, but pleasant and peaceful. We arrived at our first checkpoint in Rilkor and actually met up with Nate's group who was still waiting for a hot, fresh lunch. I guess Tibetan food is pretty involved so we were there for about 2 hours while the food was mixing with the spices and we were drinking cups of chai. Unfortunately, a different NOLS course (backpacking) came in and invaded our peace an...

October 2nd Our group leads first today, our first day without any guidance from the mountain gurus, and we start it off with a steep descent over long, slick grasses to a ravine crossing. Everything goes smoothly and Nate's patiently and kindly waiting for me to follow. Surprisingly, all of the other guys seem to be reigning in their usual speed-racer tactic of hiking as well.Our pace and the fact that we stayed together for the most part contributed to the awes...

September 29th Finally! Our first layover day in 7 days and it was /well/ deserved! Today we added to our knowledge of snow pro and made anchors with pickets and ice axes. Our other classes were on ice climbing (though we didn't get to go) and leadership / a review of the previous, outrageous day.September 30th "My first glimpse of grass and I've left the world of white behind me. After a comparatively easy day, we reached the rocks and then the alpine meado...