Standing more than 17,000 feet above sea level, surrounded by snow-covered Himalayan peaks stretching to every horizon, Jaihan “JJ” John paused before beginning his descent.
“I felt like I was in the middle of an ocean of mountains,” he said.
At Kongmaru La Pass, the highest point of his seven-day trek through India’s Ladakh region, the recent Hun School graduate, and Pennington resident, pulled on a bright American Cancer Society T-shirt and posed for a photograph.
The journey had taken months of preparation, but John said having a purpose beyond reaching the summit helped carry him through the challenge.
“Having another purpose would help me push myself farther than I’ve ever done before,” John said. “Having a cause that is helping others…that’s really the fuel that was helping me throughout the hike.”
This fall, John will begin his freshman year at Rhodes College. Before heading to campus, however, he chose to challenge himself in one of the world’s most dramatic mountain ranges while raising money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.
From national parks to the Himalayas
John’s love of hiking began much closer to home.
Over the past several years, he visited seven national parks, discovering a passion for mountains and the outdoors. But he wanted something that would push him beyond anything he had experienced before.
For three months, he trained after sports practices, spent additional time in the gym and completed a week of hiking in Acadia National Park before leaving for India.
Nothing, however, prepared him for the scale of the Himalayas.
Unlike the isolated peaks he had seen in the United States, mountain ranges stretched endlessly in every direction. Over the course of the week, the landscape transformed from rocky desert terrain to lush river valleys before climbing into snow-covered alpine passes.
“It was completely otherworldly,” he said.
Finding peace without a phone
The physical challenge wasn’t what surprised him most.
For a week, there was no cell service. Days settled into a simple rhythm: wake up, eat breakfast, hike for hours, read, sketch, share meals with fellow trekkers and sleep beneath the stars.
“I just fell in love with it,” John said. “It was the most at peace I’ve ever been.”
The simplicity changed his perspective.
“Usually everyone needs some shot of dopamine…that’s where the phone comes in,” he said. “But you really don’t need that. Something simple like just reading or drawing and talking to the people that you’re around…it just fulfills it all.”
Even the people around him surprised him.
Initially nervous because nearly everyone else on the trek was decades older, John quickly realized age mattered far less than shared experience.
“It doesn’t really matter about the age gap,” he said. “It just matters if you’re willing to talk…that’s what helps you build a community.”
More than a fundraiser
The trek wasn’t simply about completing a difficult hike.
John created a journal connecting each stage of his journey with the experiences of people battling cancer. Each day reflected a different theme — beginning an unexpected journey, facing uncertainty, finding resilience, appreciating ordinary moments and continuing to climb despite adversity.
Throughout the climb, those themes became increasingly personal.
“I felt really happy that I’m the one that’s fighting for cancer and not the one fighting cancer,” John said. “I felt like the bad days didn’t really hit me as hard.”
By the time he reached the summit, the mountain itself had become a symbol.
Standing beside fluttering prayer flags, he reflected that while the climb had challenged him physically, it could never compare to what cancer patients and their families endure.
A family tradition of service
John wasn’t the first member of his family to discover the Himalayas.
Three years earlier, his older brother Rowan completed a different trek through another region of the mountain range while raising nearly $5,000 for the American Cancer Society. Although the brothers followed different routes and made the journeys years apart, JJ said hearing Rowan describe the experience helped inspire him to take on his own challenge.
“Everything that Rowan has said about it … he never had anything bad to say,” JJ said. “He really enjoyed the peace that he found hiking up and challenging himself… Having the ACS in the back of his mind that pushes himself and being able to raise money for it was also something that really spoke to me.”
For their parents, Kieran and Shobita John, the most meaningful part wasn’t watching their sons complete difficult treks.
“As parents, one of our greatest rewards isn’t seeing Jaihan and Rowan accomplish something difficult,” Kieran John wrote. “It’s seeing them choose to use those personal experiences to benefit others.”
Rather than teaching community service through lectures, the couple tried to make volunteering part of everyday family life through years of work with organizations including the American Cancer Society, Younity, the Hopewell Valley YMCA and the Pennington Environmental Commission.
“I don’t think community service is something you can simply teach through words,” Kieran wrote. “Children learn far more from what they see than from what they’re told.”
He said he hopes his sons’ experiences show other young people that service doesn’t have to follow a single path.
“If you’re passionate about sport, music, science, the outdoors, or almost anything else, there is usually a way to use that passion to make a positive difference.”
One step at a time
Both brothers said they hope their experience encourages others to find their own way to support causes they care about.
“We went to the Himalayas, but no one has to do something that profound in order to help,” Rowan said. “We did that because it made sense for us. … From the smallest thing in your own local community to your school to whatever community you’re a part of, anything really helps.”
For JJ, one of the biggest lessons had nothing to do with hiking.
“The power of simplicity,” he said, came from spending each day walking, reading, drawing and talking with the people around him. “I just fell in love with it. It was the most at peace I’ve ever been.”
Asked what he would tell someone facing their own mountain — whether cancer or another life challenge — he returned to the lesson he learned on the trail.
“There are always going to be good steps and bad steps,” he said. “As long as you’re still trying to make that step forward, you’ll get through whatever you’re struggling with.”
If you’d like to contribute to JJ and Rowan’s ongoing fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, visit their page here.
The John family will also be continuing their efforts by raising money for the American Cancer Society in October at the annual Making Strides walk in Pennsauken.
