July 10, 2015

Early Friday morning, the students donned their hiking boots to climb Mt SECMOL, one of many of the not-so-small mountains that surround the school campus. We left shortly after sunrise, with a group of Ladakhi students as our guides and climbing partners, and after one turn were out of sight of the school and all other signs of the built environment. Valleys became ridges and saddles between peaks, and after about 2 hours of steep ascent, the group reached the summit. We shared a breakfast of bananas, Nutella, chapati, and Kashmiri cherries under a banner of weathered prayer flags while taking in an incredible view of the Indus valley. Many photographs later, we all returned to SECMOL, tired but walking a little taller, having risen to a physical challenge and enjoyed such a fine reward.

– Sarah and Jonathan