Cold as Ice- Foreigner

 Hike up Day 10- Big Day to Everest Base camp, and sitting here in a somewhat warm tea house in Gorakshep, I think every bone in my body hurts. We covered 6 1/2 miles almost all of it was up. The toughest terrain yet on snow and ice. 

                                                                                                  Base Camp!

                                                              Approaching Base Camp

                                                                       Kumbo Icefalls

A few things stuck with me today. It’s not an easy feat to make it to base camp but there were over 2,000 people at base camp and 475 are permitted to summit and base camp is just half way there. The Khumbu Icefall is located at the head of the Khumbu Glacier and the foot of the Western Cwm, which lies at an elevation of 5,486m on the Nepali slopes of Mount Everest, not far above Base Camp and southwest of the summit. This area is by far the most dangerous part of the summit trek and the area is massive. Due to the clouds we never saw the top of Everest, just the shoulder mountains and they were huge. 

                                                                    Kumbo icefalls

We plan to hike to Kalapattar around 4:00am in hopes of seeing Everest at Sunrise. After that we start our descent that will take four days. 

Hit the road Jack…Ray Charles

 Hike Up Day 9- Left a chilly snowy Dingboche after a hearty breakfast and began our 5 mile hike up to an elevation of 16,249 in Lobuche. Honestly it finally felt like we were trekking Everest. It’s just as you would imagine, snowing, cold, cloudy and rocky. The trails were very busy both ways up and down. Once again legs and cardio feeling strong and no issues with altitude thus far.

                                                               Pema braving the elements

Today I would like to Introduce our Guide Pema Dorje Sherpa. Pema has been a Sherpa his entire life. He was born in 1958 and has Summit Mt Everest 3 times in 1982, 1984 and 1988. He is a devout Buddhist and is a Sherpa by birthright. You cannot not train, earn or buy the Sherpa title. He is married to Mingma and they have four children who all live in the US with high degree educations. He has three Grandchildren. They make their living by Pema’s Guide business and runs Tea Houses in Kumjung Village when he was born. He built a larger Tea House in Phortse in 2004 where Mingma primarily runs the day to day while Pema guides. This trip has been especially unique from a typical Excursion Company because of his knowledge and experience in the Everest Region and he takes you off the beaten path to see areas most never see. His stories have been entertaining and educational. 

                                                                   Who are those guys?

                                                                      Snow Trekking

                                                                        Getting close

                                                   Above the tree line gets rocky and snowy

Tomorrow afternoon we finally will trek to EBC “Everest Base Camp.”

The wait is no longer a wait, it’s now going to be a reality!

Yakety Yak Don’t Talk Back- The Coasters

Hike Day 8- Another acclimation hike where we hiked up to 15,548 ft, 5.82 miles in 4:42. The morning started off clear and warm ish 36 degrees but as the norm here weather changes quickly and became quite cloudy and cold. First time I actually wore gloves. Legs are doing really well and recovery each day has been better than expected.

                                        

                                                                           She is a NAK

                                                           Night view from our Tea House

Now let’s talk about Yaks and more specifically Yak Dung. It’s everywhere and it’s really at the core of the the locals existence. It’s collected, dried and then burned in all the tea house kitchens and in the dining areas for heat. It’s their only source as we are now above the tree line and there is no firewood. There are downsides too, it’s known as the Khumbo cough. It’s very common and comes from inhaling the smoke from the Yak Dung and from inhaling the urine and dung along the trails. Surprisingly it really doesn’t smell at all. The Yaks are prized possessions here as they provide meat, milk converted to cheese, wool for warmth, horns for tools, transport of supplies, to plow their fields and I’m sure many other uses I’m not aware of. Here the Yak is King!

                                                      They dry the Yak Dung on the walls too

                                                                           Dung drying

Just Breathe

 

Hike Day 7- after a hearty breakfast we left out of Phortse for our longest trek yet. We made our way and about 3 hours in merged in on what they call The Everest Highway. Foot traffic and Yak traffic increased significantly. We are told there has been about 600 people a day enter the park for their trek to various destinations to Everest. Helicopter traffic is nonstop as well. We have seen Everest poking her head thru the clouds a few times.

                                                                          Everest Highway

We stopped in a small village called Shomare at 4043m. We put in 5.5 miles in about 4 hours before lunch.

Today we learned the Pressure Breath technique. Once you’ve mastered the belly breath, you add resistance to your exhalation by pursing your lips and exhaling forcefully, and this is what mountaineers call the Pressure Breath. This is one of the most important breaths for climbing at high altitudes and helps combat the decrease in atmospheric pressure. Today was all about breathing!

Arrived in Dingboche our final destination for the day, altitude 14,206 ft. Hike today covered 9.65 miles in 6:54. Tea houses here are a bit more primitive, we are told no power till tomorrow, no cell phone service, bought a 24hr Wifi access card but as of me writing this not sure how that works with no power. It has been snowing since we arrived so should be interesting  for our plan tomorrow. 

Things beyond your control, so I’ll revert back to my title…. just breathe.

                                                                   Hike Stats- Big Day

Himalayan Thar Rules

 

Day 6- Day 2 in Phortse. Another acclimation hike to 14,125 to a beautiful vista view of Mt Chouyo  at 26,906 ft.

                                                                     Stupa near Phortse

                                                                  On the trails with Pema

The prayer flags - Blue represents the sky, White represents the Air, Red symbolizes Fire, Green represents Water and Yellow represents the Earth. Together signify Balance.

                                                                       Pema in Prayer

Also had an encounter with a Mountain Ram they call him a Himalayan Thar looking over the vast scenery of his land. 

Finished our hike with a visit to the village Monastery. A nice lunch of potatoe soup and steamed vegetable Momo, a long nap, hot shower and a relaxing evening and dinner.