Running Nepal's 3 Passes Trail Takes You Off The Beaten Mule Path
Trail Runner|July/August 2019

Running Nepal’s 3 Passes Trail takes you off the beaten mule path.

Kim Strom
Running Nepal's 3 Passes Trail Takes You Off The Beaten Mule Path

I pull myself upright after retching.

“Are you German-monking,” Dan calls from 20 yards ahead in an annoyingly chipper tone.

Some years ago, there was a popular TED talk by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk. Google it. He teaches that happiness comes from gratefulness, and gratefulness comes from recognizing that the most valuable thing that can be given to you is this moment. This one. At this moment, what we have that is so valuable is the opportunity to enjoy, or at least the opportunity to learn from, a challenge. Dan and I have latched onto this mantra, and for years, have miss-called it “German-monking” (Brother David is actually Austrian). And as much as I am trying to do the enlightened thing, my let-me-just-wallow-in-my-pain, leave-me-to rot-on-the-trailside look I shoot back at him reveals that maybe, just for a moment, I’m not German-monking. I just want to stop. Just like on the ground and call it done.

By this time, we can’t have more than five miles to go. We’re over all three passes and nearing Namche, the end of our route. We should have cruised into the finish hours ago, but I have to stop and puke again.

Running the 3 Passes Trail is what drew Dan Patitucci and me to the Khumbu. For Dan, a hardened outdoor-sports photographer, of Interlaken, Switzerland, it’s his eighth time to Nepal’s Himalaya. For me, an avid trail runner, but comparatively a puppy when it comes to big mountains, it’s my first. He often comes up with these schemes, projects, objectives, things to teach me, and I’m typically game to go along with the experience. That’s how the relationship works, and how we ended up running in Nepal.

This story is from the July/August 2019 edition of Trail Runner.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July/August 2019 edition of Trail Runner.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM TRAIL RUNNERView All
You Cannot Erase us
Trail Runner

You Cannot Erase us

Over the years and through thousands of miles of running, I have thought about the words that marked the beginning of colonialism on the land and the end of Indigenous sovereignty.

time-read
2 mins  |
Fall 2021
Inside The Adaptable Mind
Trail Runner

Inside The Adaptable Mind

How Courtney Dauwalter uses adaptability to stay cool, calm and collected when the going gets tough.

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2021
Take it Easy
Trail Runner

Take it Easy

How to stay at aerobic pace when you live in the hills

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2021
Here Comes the Sun
Trail Runner

Here Comes the Sun

Where pessimism meets its match

time-read
3 mins  |
Fall 2021
Connecting the Dots
Trail Runner

Connecting the Dots

How Laura Cortez uses her passion for trails to build community.

time-read
4 mins  |
Fall 2021
Carbohydrate Confusion
Trail Runner

Carbohydrate Confusion

When it comes to food and nutrition, we tend to overcomplicate things. Eat this, not that. Run fasted, restrict sugar. Unfortunately, much of the controversy stems from observations and sensationalized media headlines vs. actual data, leaving the consumer more confused from their Google search than they were before.

time-read
2 mins  |
Fall 2021
This Wild Life
Trail Runner

This Wild Life

ONE MAN’S 92-MILE RUN OF GRIEF AND SELF-DISCOVERY.

time-read
5 mins  |
Fall 2021
Our Town
Trail Runner

Our Town

Trail running is all about the community it fosters and the beauty and diversity within the community. Here’s a look at seven places, and the faces that call them home.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Fall 2021
Fueling for Females
Trail Runner

Fueling for Females

Here’s how female runners can use recent research findings for performance breakthroughs

time-read
4 mins  |
Summer 2021
Lose Weight with a Shake
Trail Runner

Lose Weight with a Shake

Being a health and nutrition correspondent means that companies frequently send me their products, and ask for my stamp of approval.

time-read
3 mins  |
Summer 2021