Dornoch fundraiser (73) says Highland Hospice Himalayan trek could be his last 'big one' after struggling with the altitude
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A DORNOCH fundraiser, who has completed three overseas treks for the Highland Hospice, says he has no plans to undertake any more.
Steve Farquharson, Bumblebee Cottage, Embo Street, has raised an amazing £20,000 in total from the expeditions.
But at the age of 73, he struggled with the altitude on his last trek to the foothills of the Himalayas last year and it took him longer to recover from the journey once he returned home.
“This is probably the last big one that I will do,” he said this week. “I find everything a bit tougher and this last one was a bit harder because the altitude got to me in the last part of the trek. I couldn’t catch my breath and had to come back down to the campsite.”
Steve, a retired furniture manufacturing company manager, said that the reason he decided to raise money for the Highland Hospice was because he was so impressed with the care given to a friend of his suffering from cancer at a hospice in Yorkshire.
“I saw a sign that said ‘Trek the Grand Canyon in aid of Highland Hospice’ and I decided to go for it”, he said.
That trip was in 2016 when he was aged 66, and he followed it up two years later with a 10-day expedition through the Canadian Rockies.
To raise money for the expeditions, Steve came up with some smashing ideas – inviting people to try their hand at breaking crockery on a stall at Highland gatherings and village shows.
He also opened his garden to the public, shook a bucket a local markets and held raffles among other initiatives.
The Hike the Himalayas expedition was originally scheduled to begin in 2020, but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Further delays followed due to flight disruptions.
However, Steve finally flew to Delhi last September along with 12 other Highland residents, including Andrew Leaver, the hospice’s head of income and development, to trek through the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.
The group took a sleeper train from Delhi for the first leg of the journey to their base at Dharamshala. This was followed by a three-hour drive.
Dharamshala is situated 5000ft up in the foothills of the Himalayas and was developed during the British Raj as an escape from the summer heat of the cities. More recently it has become become the home of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan Administration in Exile.
From there, the group covered over 30 miles in five days, reaching altitudes of 11,000 feet. They travelled through rhododendron forests, passing through Hindu settlements and Buddhist monasteries with stunning views of the mountains, while camping overnight in a tent. The challenge concluded with an exploration of the Taj Mahal.
The 13-strong group raised a total of almost £58,000 – enough to fund the full employment costs of a nurse on the hospice’s inpatient unit for a year.
Steve said that he would like to publicly thank everyone who had supported him on the Hike the Himalayas trek and also on his previous two expeditions.
