• Pace yourself and don’t try and compete with the person in front of you. Start slowly and try and maintain an even pace. Rushing downhill only to crawl up will add to fatigue. If you are carrying your own backpack, try and stop no more than once every hour for 5-10 minutes. If you have only a daypack, then try and rest once every two hours for 10 minutes. But this doesn’t mean you don’t stop for photos or to identify a bird or flower. Remember, the secret of a great trek is enjoying the walk and not simply trying to get to the campsite at the end of the day.
• If there is a particularly tough incline which seems to go on forever, I set myself small goals: rest for a few seconds every 150 paces. Then as I walk, I count those paces and feel wonderful if I manage to achieve my goal. It’s amazing ho much distance one can cover this way.
• While going downhill, particularly over scree, I find that going slowly and carefully actually makes me even unsteadier. So I take small rapid steps forward, keeping my weight lightly on my toes rather than leaning back into my heels. If there is a particularly sharp decline, especially in snow, uses a side step, angling your foot so that it is parallel to the hillside. Then, with each step forward, angle your foot in such a manner that the weight falls on the boot-edge closer to the hill, rather than on the outside, and wedges your boot into the small step that you have created.
• Change into your sandals for river crossings. Try and cross-rivers early in the morning as, by afternoon, the water levels rise with the melting snow. Of the river is fast-flowing, link arms with others and face downstream so that even of you are swept off your feet, you can see what’s ahead and have a chance to regain your footing.
• Carry a wide-brim soft hat for treks in hot, sunny areas. Dip it in a cool stream to wet it thoroughly. Then squeeze out excess water and wear to keep your head cool for the next few hours. Do the same with your bandana and sponge your neck and arms.
• If you are likely to be walking in snow, gaiters can be devised with plastic and elastic bands. Wrap the plastic around your calves from the knee to the top of your boots and secure with elastic bands. Ensure that the plastic goes well over the top of your boots till your laces. This will keep your legs dry and prevent snow from slipping into your boots from the top.
• Carry dental floss. This can be used in an emergency to replace anything from broken shoelaces to guy ropes for your tent to securing a splint in case of a broken leg
• Carry salt in a bag in your pockets, if you are walking in leech-infested areas
• Don’t think you can make it up that hill? Carry sweets, toffees and dry fruit in your pockets for quick energy boosts.
• Carry enough water for the day. Unless you know of springs, try and avoid drinking untreated water from mountain streams. In Kinnaur, I was I bliss, drinking water from sparkling mountain streams only to discover, as I climbed higher, that a number of villages had their bath houses on stilts directly over the same streams!
• One can use a few drops of chlorine or iodine (8 drops/ litre) to purify water, but along with microbes, both kill the taste of water as well. Pregnant women of those with thyroid problems should not use iodine.
• The best way to purify water is to boil some in the morning before starting the trek and then some again in the evening when you arrive at the camp. This should take care of the entire day and night’s requirements. Heat kills microorganisms at temperatures well below the boiling point. Don’t waste your kerosene on boiling water for 10-20 minutes. Bringing it to a boil is good enough to kill all bugs.
Carry some iodine to purify water in an emergency, in case you start running short of fuel.

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