Heading Down the Mountain

Rush - Limelight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dzt1EwAE-U&feature=related Promises for more pictures and posts as we head into area with Cyber cafe's!

Final Day in Base Camp

Katie Perry - Firework (Inspired performance) http://youtube.com/watch?v=rYpUavuANJc

Base Camp!!! Yeah!

Arrived in Base Camp! BLack Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feelin' (We'll be dancing at the highest point in the world you can sing) We are gonna "burn" THE ROOF! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1WSgN_edQQ&playlist=1%list=PLC4FF5BFC865A07F8

Loboche and last stop before Kalla Pattar and EBC

Rush - Tai Shan (I know its in China, but the lyrics imagery is spot on) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwoEuS3WXg4

Last day in Dingboche

Greetings from the trail. Today was our last test before heading up the trail to base camp. We climbed Nama Tshing (could have butchered the name dont hold me to it) with is 18,000 feet tall. 4 hours up, 1 hour for summit lunch and then 1 hour down...6 hours round trip. This is our trip leaders test to see if we are up for the altitude at kala patar and basecamp. I passed!

Tomorrow we head up the trail and from all acounts out of range for awhile so send good karma this cold snap stops (dont think it broke freezing today) and for the snow flurries of the afternoon to stop..(makes it colder than it is).

There were pics from today but will have to wait for a later post.

So deep up the trail towards Mount Everest...not much in the way now....

To 18,000 feet we go!

Crossing the Dudh Koshi River suspension bridges over the canyons and up, up, up! The Bravery - Fearless (gotta give a shout out to my coach's son Sam Endicott , the singer!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2QPJ2xGMiY&feature=artistob&playnext=1&list=TLECVu7qzyEvA

Now at Dingboche

Pic and todays story below, but for those who do not know the trail to everest, here is an itinerary. I've lost track of what day it is..but here is the basics of where we are going...and then back to the regular blog! First day trek, LUKLA2800 meters- Landing here on the small carefully loaded twin otters as you approach you can see a cliff in front of you, the stall alarm sounds and you quickly come to a stop on the uphill landing strip. Lukla Airstrip is port of call for Yaks, porters, Mountaineering expeditions and Trekkers. Goods and people are delivered here in the morning hours prior to the afternoon mountain weather setting in. The trek begins today slowly toward Mt. Everest, following ancient trading routes still used by Rai Magar, Tibetan, Brahmin and Sherpa traders on their way to and from Namche Bazaar. The trail climbs through Mushe and Chaundrikartka at 2680 meters to Chablung, then drops to Ghat at 2550 meters where you spend the night in a quaint little house along side the river. From here on the trek is pretty much up, up, up. Early morning starts in the Khumbu Valley. Rise around 0700, bags packed on the trail at 0800. Today is one of the hardest days of the trek. Walk for 2.5 hours stopping for lunch break in Monjo, gate to the park headquarters. Arrival in Namche Bazaar at 4:00pm. NAMCHE BAZAAR: 3440 meters-Namche Bazaar is a village lying at the junction of the Dudh Koshi and a lateral valley that leads to frontier pass of Nangpa La 5500 meters. It is tucked away in a "bowl" at a height of 3440 meters. The first Europeans entered it in 1950 and many more have come since then. However, the basic character of the village remains unchanged. It has an airplane landing strip high above and a temple with a stream of clear water flowing past it. Prayer flags, inscribed with words "Om mani padme hum" flutter from every rooftop and every house has a cottage industry where Yak wool is spun and woven into carpets. Facilities like a bank, a post office, hotels and shops where one can purchase climbing equipment as well as tinned food have sprung up over the years. Namche Bazaar is the major regional training center, and contains the headquarters of the Sagamartha (Nepalese for Everest) National Park. Day 05: 6 hour hike to help our bodies acclimatize to the new altitudes to endure in the days to come. Visit the Sir Edmund Hillary School in Khumjung. Views of Mt. Ama Dablam, Everest, Nupste and Lhotse . KHUMJUNG- KUNDE: A day hike to Kunde - Home of the Sir Edmund Hillary Hospital Day 06: Begin making the journey up the Everest valley. Walking for about 5 hours directly underneath majestic peaks with Mt. Everest in the distance. Stop for tea at the Ama Dablam guesthouse owned and operated by Lhakpa Dorjee (who summited with the first Canadian on Everest Laurie Skreslet from Calgary) the trail winds along the top of the valley offering incredible views. Lunchtime drop down to the river for lunch at the village of Phunki. This is the last blast of rich air before making our way up to the top of the hill to Tengboche. Tour of the monastery. TENGBOCHE: 3870 meters-or Deboche Thee most famous monastery in all of Nepal is here, the Tengboche monastery. It is one of the important centers of Buddhism in the region. The largest gompa in the Khumba region, it was built in 1921 and then destroyed due to a fire in 1989 and has been carefully rebuilt partly with aforeign aid and volunteers. From Tengboche, one gets a panoramic view of the Himalayan giants Kwandge, Tawache, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Kantenga, and Thamserk. Day 07: Today's walk will take you across the Dudh Kosi river, through a rhododendron forest and up to Pangboche for lunch then on to Dingboche. Day 08: Dingboche for the night. Day 09: Start as per normal up at 0700 on the trail by 0800- trek for 4 to 5 hours. The trail climbs to Phalang Karpa at 4340 meters then Dugla (lunch stop) at 4620 meters before reaching Loboche at 4930 meters. The trail looks down on Pheriche (place of the high altitude medical facility). make your way to Lobuche for 2 nights. We will start to feel the effects of altitude now and accommodation is not as comfortable as it was lower in the valley. Day 10: a more aggressive day attempting the summit of Kala Pattar. Non-technical hike, no climbing skills or equipment required. Return to Loboche lodge for nights stay. KALA PATTAR: 5545 metersEVEREST BASE CAMP 5300 meters- Kala Pattar is a small mountain 5545 m high on the southern flank of Pumori (7145m). It is a trekking peak and every year tourists climb the peak to enjoy the fantastic panoramic views it offers of the Khumbu glacier, Everest and nearby peaks like Lhotse and Nuptse. The east Makalu, Ama Dablam, Pumori, and Cho Oyu are visible. From here you can look down onto Everest & Pumori Base Camp, as it is higher. The views of Everest are far superior to being at Everest Base Camp itself. Day 11: Up early 0600 for a full day- 7 hours trekking on the rocky moraine to Everest Base Camp. Upon arrival stay in tents. Meals with the expedition and the excitement of climbers starting to make their summit bids. After that..get the hell out of dodge, down the valley back to lukla and hopefully a plane home. Please read post before these photos..sorry at the internet cafe I am at, it is the only way I can format! Now at Dingboche.....with everest in upper right corner Harvesting of potatoes..buried in fall, kept in ground over winter till spring thaw... Now we change yak styles....now the long hair himilayan yak...much larger...here is one on the trail The view back down the trail we are going up. This morning clear...but V cold himilayan goats across the valley our tea house this morning with everest in center...notice the jetstream vapor trail The inside of the monastary we visited Outside...change of clothes as its getting really cold More yak photos...amazing beasts one more...lol

snow as it started, getting hardeer till the valley disappeared

our thundersnow am wake up

Yesterday was a long day. We started with a 2am thunder snow. Woke up to an inch of snow on the ground and cold.Turns out it stayed below freezing the whole rest of the day.Thanks to a little help from Cipro, I am back to my old self and feeling normal again. Just what the doctor ordered! Our hike started in flurries and as we got down the path, it continued to get heavier and heavier. By the time we were heading down to the river we could barely see across the valley. With trail muddy, I managed to take a spill and although I’ll be taking a few advil for the bruised spine, it was my ego that took the beating. I hate to look stupid like that. We enjoyed lunch near the river (Had authentic Dahl Bot...sherpa food of potatoes and veggies, flavored with rice), then crossed another suspension bridge….(this one with hand rails way out to the side so they were useless for those of us who need Zanax to cross these things) and while talking to myself and hyperventilating, managed to get across…only to find the trip leader (Tim) right behind me….busted. So I turn to him and casually say “bet you cant tell that is one of my phobias, can you”. He was kind and said I did fine. Not fine would have been to crumple into a fetal position. After the bridge we followed it up with a 3 hour up to the top of the mountain. We anticipated it to be a very hot day with sun and dehydration to be the big worries, but what really turned out was a whiteout….we could see the ground and all around us but not more than a hundred yards ahead. No heat and dehydration! Top of the mountain was bitter cold and howling winds. Ang Sherpa got us into the local monastery and a special tour. Photos to come. The trip into camp was treacherous with muddy slopes down the path. Unheated rooms (as all this trip) and it went down to somewhere between 15-20 degrees (depending on who was saying what it was). For my birding friends, during the decent a raven was absolutely screaming at me on the trail. I stayed by distance and after a minute or so he hopped onto the trail, then hopped to the far side of it, then took off….3 seconds later I see a hawk swooping after him, jet black, 24” windspan and an Baltimore oriole orange tail. Anyone can you help me on this? Not anything close to the rust color of a red tail….BRIGHT orange. Today was a relatively easy hike of only 6 hours without any epic up or downs. Just what the doctor ordered (reprise because once just isnt enough)! It started out with stars in the sky before bed where I could see every star in the sky. Named a star....NSK...for never eat salad in katmandu....(thing I think got me there) very cold but warmed up to the high 30s by midday with the sun. Wind was strong so a layer change was necessary for the last hour or so of the trip. No wireless internet for the next several days so we hear so this will be posted from a cyber café. Now its snowing again and dropped back down into the 20s before dinner...gonna be a cold trek!

Heading up the Everest Valley

Today we are heading up the Everest Valley proper where the crowds thin out quickly. Rush - Tom Sawyer (and LOL...with special quest appearance by South Park) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFGVDWc_5Q8&feature=related

last day in namche and heading up the kumbu valley

Last word on this post. Tomorrow is a very long hard day and I may not have energy to post for a day or two but will get any new photos out to you as soon as internet and my exhaustion let me. Let me tell you how much you have to want this to be able to handle the physical demands of this trek....even with sherpa help! Namaste! Namche from above just before we climbed down the trail back into town. the blue are the roofs of the buildings.

Sir Edmund Hillary School where kids from grades 1-9 all get schooled within the valley. Familes send their kids to other families sunday PM to friday PM to get an education.

A gumpa (religious reference point) along with the stones here that actually have carved nepalese prayers on them. In buddist tradition, gumpas and other religious monuments are passed on the left.

Large traditional Tibetian bowls used for cooking or storage. Most sherpas use single bowl cooking so as not to require much cleanup and not to waste anything.

And of course every sherpa home would not be complete without dried sheep meat in reserve for special occasions or a yak tail for ceremonial purposes.

Here is their traditional kitchen where meals for the entire family are made. Sherpas do not use traditional beds, but bed rolls, rolled up each night and the entire family sleeps in the great room in the house all together. If they have teen age children the parents may guide the children to sleep in a different spot each night.

Here is the dried yak dung in the basement, just like a pile of firewood (which is very rare as Nepal is painfully deforested)

Here we each receive a ceremonial lanyard blessed by the lama for good spirits and wishes to each of us for our travels.

For lunch we were invited into the family home of Ang Lima Sherpa, one of the lead Sherpas on the expedition. This is his backyard view. Sitting out back and enjoying the view is not something that he ever probably considers just sitting out one day and watching (the sherpa work ethic is incredible...they work ALL the time!) but it is EPIC.

Here is a modern day sherpa house. The lower floor is for storage of potatoes and other food stuffs and for storage of the dried yak dung that is used like firewood for heat over the brutally cold winters. The families live on the second floors. The yaks also live indoorson the lower floor all winter...so their warmth will radiate up from the lower floor into the living spaces helping to heat the house. Absolutely nothing goes to waste in the sherpa culture. The tend the land with respect and precision and are working hard to keep the region pristine.

Some of the other peaks and glaciers.

This is peak 32. See the massive icefall facing us..the only safe ascent is right up the icefall face...which has periodically broken, killing climbers regularly.

Everest in background...still poking into the jetstream, causing the vapor trail you see coming off of the center peak...that is how tall it is!

A football field sized runway for delivering supplies to the high communities above the valey. See the plane about to land? 5 sherpas emptied the cargo and he was back on his way in 5 mins.

How can you not have a great time, when this is the background of your day?

Tim, giving us instructions on the days events, the path we'll take and how to do the trekking walk. Turns out their is a special pause the sherpas do that gives them a momentary rest while walking and helps to explain how they can walk 6+ hours with packs and not take a break.

Before the rest of the post, gotta say these yaks are not nearly so docile as people lead you to believe. They wander the street, have free reign and keep me on my toes! See above photo snapped the moment before I got the hell out of dodge...he saw me and wanted to play mattidor.

On the first full day of treking, I had the lucky/unlucky award for the first to get attacked by a yak. Walking up the trail the yak train was heading down the trail and I was lucky enough to be by a stone fence a couple of feet high and walked to the break in the fence and up about 4 feet onto the hill. All yaks passed by without incident till the last one....which passed me, turned around and ran full bore thru the break in the fence and into this persons back yard. Me? I hoped the fence back onto the trail to the laughter of all who saw it. The sherpa said he could not imagine what could have made the yak do that. Yup, me and animals...the irony is just amazing.

I have caught several yaks attensions unintentionally since then and watched a sherpa woman slap a yak to get him to move and he came right at me. I jumped to the side and she slapped the yak back in line and laughed as he went on his way...now the other trekkers see a yak and immediatley surround me so as not to let the yak see me. Hysterical.

One other guy on the group caught a yak horn as he passed, the yak swung his head around and stratched his arm. No worse damage but yup, these suckers have a temper...and some small white guy seems to attract their attention. Tonite two yaks were walking up the 200 stairs to the lodge and I waited till they got all the way past the hotel to duck inside....better safe..LOL

Now back to the trek!

some photos along the way from leaving kathmandu to namche bazaar

Coming into Namche Bazaar... named for the saturday event that is known nepal wide...our home for 2 days to acclimatize. From here on...internet may be spotty so I apologize for any delays but I can only update as their is a way to do it.

Just to prove I was there....yuck, yuck...

Here it is....with the jetstream winds coming off of the roof...first view of everest!

Now a view from right before where you get on....notice the wind blowing the prayer flags? 30 mph cross wind....very, very scary!

Take a look at the beautiful whitewater river...then notice the suspension bridge WAYYYY above it!

Entrance to Everest National Park (called sagarmatha in nepal)

Another of the many...

Yeah, I was MADE for this...LOL (ok, now the truth...these bridges bounce and sway and I had near panic attacks crossing them....yes, many fellow trekkers giggled about it...)

The first of many suspension bridges

Hiking out of Lukla....

See the cliff at the end? That is the fun of when we leave. No second chance.

Our climbing and trekking team were two of four flights that got in this day..heavy cloud cover turned several planes back...that and some turbulence over the mountains (ie your stomach drops out and one of the wings suddenly dips dramatically!

This proves it made it!! See the stone wall at the end of the runway? 900 ft airstrip (75% the size of an aircraft carrier) and no cable to stop you from the wall!

I think I read about these in the history books!

Our plane....one OLD flying tin can!

Brutal Day 2 Hike to Namche Bazaar

Safely arrived in Lukla on April Fools Day (more irony) and completed the first day of trekking. Day 2, 7 hours Up, Up, Up while fighting a GI bug. Brutal. Hardest up hill hike to Namche Bazaar, Very long, eshausting day. Switchfoot - Dare you to move (Double dog dare you...what do YOU have the courage to do?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9zo_EdQJns&feature=related

April 1 (Flying into the most dangerous airport in the world)

Rush - Roll the Bones (because it is what it is...so roll the bones!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV9yUvNp6z0&playnext=1&list=PL2E887128E1AB3E96

Final Day in Kathmandu

Our last day in Kathmandu, doing the tourist thing....see below the best of the photos..have to get off quick as its 3pm and the power just went off...hope to save the battery of the laptop to post from along the trail to base camp....tomorrow...LUKLA!!! Let me start with a disclaimer...never in my wildest dreams would I do this....anyone who knows me knows this is the LAST think on the planet I would ever do...but photograph some other stupid fool...sure I can do that. the monkeys before the attack... The monkey temple of Kathmandu

The monkey guarding the temple....yeah I was shaking....

Interiror of the temple

Coming up the stairs into the famous Monkey Temple

The prayer wheels

The interior of the temple

The famous monkey temple of kathmandu

yup...it is what you think it is.....

Monkey family....(anyone who knows me knows that this picture was WAY outside of my comfort zone to take this picture...LOL

Downtown riverfront property....

The thought is that the soul of this elder could not be stopped and has continued to enrich the world around him....

Hindu temple of the pigeons....no really, I cant make this stuff up!

The oldest platform (1000ad) reputed to have been made out of a single great tree.

Inside this castle is where the hindu high priestess stays....now age 6, she is isolated and considered the envy of all...taken care of and carried everywhere even to the point she is not allowed to touch the ground...

Oldest temple...1000bc

Dont know why but this banner made me laugh....guess its that irony thing.