Today is a very big day. For the Trekkers, it is summit day. Today we are going to climb to the summit of Kala Patar (18,500 ft.) in the morning and then trek to Mt. Everest base camp in the afternoon. That is a big day by anyone’s standards. I think everyone is very excited for this day.

The day begins at 5:00 am as we are leaving early so we can watch the sun rise over Everest. Unfortunately, the altitude has caught up with me and I have gotten sick. We are already at 17,100 ft. and I wasn’t able to sleep, was nauseous, and have had a headache most the night. Generally, you just feel sick and fatigued. It had been building for a couple of days, but I think the higher altitude and cold just caught up with me. When I got up, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to summit kala Patar as I wanted to make sure I got to Everest base camp feeling decent. However, I had some tea and gave it a whirl.

When we got outside it was really cold and every step seemed very difficult. Luckily, Kami, one of our Sherpa took my backpack and began to help me out. Vern tajas stayed to the back of the back with me as well and helped me with my pressure breathing and pace. I was at the very back of the group and just focused on one step and breath after another. After an hour or so I was thinking that I needed to turn back. However, kami stayed with me and coached and encouraged me step by step. This was definitely the hardest day and thing I had to do on this trip.

After an hour or two we got a great break. Vern yelled to look at Everest. The sun was just peaking out over the summit of Everest. Was a great moment and some great pictures as the suns rays streaked across the sky over Everest. For a few moments, I forgot all about the fatigue I was feeling.

From there, we continued to climb up to the peak of kala Patar. Again, it is 18,500 ft. which is higher than any mountain in the continental US or in Europe and just 500 ft lower than Kilimanjaro. This is by far my own personal record. It really was a very hard climb for me because of how bad I felt and to be honest it was also a very emotional summit. It really didn’t think I was going to make it and I was so happy and proud to have accomplished it. However, I would not have made it without Kami. I am posting a picture of kami and I at the top. I could not have thanked him enough because I would have been so sad if I didn’t summit.

It had snowed a little the night before so the rocks at the top were very slippery so you had to be careful. It was a small summit and about 25 people trying to position themselves at the very top for photo ops. We stayed there and looked out at the amazing views of Everest and the Khimbu valley. That is why people climb kala Patar. It has the best views in the valley of Everest and the surrounding skyline. If you ever go there, I think it is a must do personally.

After 15 mins at the top, it was time to make our way down. Luckily, down is not as hard on your heart as up – just on this old man’s knees. The gameplay was to climb down by lunch time and meet up with the climbers at the tea house to begin our journey to base camp. I can’t tell you how much I welcomed the break before we started our trek to base camp.

As a side note, I did not like gorak shep. It is very small (maybe only 3 tea houses) and very dirty. Sanitary conditions deteriorate as you get to the higher elevations – and they start very low! It is just part of the gig, but it doesn’t make it any easier. At this point in the trip you really begin to want a hot shower or the ability to really wash your hands…not just use your hand sanitizer.

Also, we got bad news too. Several of the folks had gotten money stolen from their bags in their rooms. All in all, it was thousands of dollars which is a lot of money in Nepal. They were smart in that they did not take all of their money, just part so folks would not immediately recognize it was missing. Also, no one was sure whether it happend in gorak shep or lobouche which was the town before gorak shep. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be anything anyone will be able to do.

After we got down from Kala Patar we went back to the tea house for lunch and to rest. By the time we got down the climbers had met back up with us at the tea house for the final push to base camp. I still felt bad from the altitude and the climb up kala Patar, but I was excited that our final destination and goal was in sight.

The trek from gorak shep to base camp isn’t too bad. It only took about 2.5-3 hours. The landscape on the way to base camp looked a lot like a lunar setting. Mostly gray rock with lots of boulders and mounds you have to scale up and down. At this altitude, there is no vegetation so the backdrop is rock and ice. As we got closer to base camp the weather continued to get colder and the snow began to fall lightly. No matter. We were finally arriving at base camp.

Base camp is pretty big. It is probably a half a mile long or more and has many different camps for different climbing companies. Ours, alpine ascents, was all the way to the back or towards the highest point – the ice fall. It was exciting to arrive at the entrance and to congratulate each other. At that time, we said goodbye to one of our guides, Carole tajas, who was heading back down to lukla.

While it was great to be at base camp, we still had a 45 minute hike to our camp. It was very icy and slippery as we worked our way through the various camps. It gave you a good feel for the organization of the camps. The thing to note is that base camp is built on a moving glacier. While it looks rocky, it is actually moving ice with about 1-2 inches of rock and dirt on top of it. You were reminded of this at times as you would step on pure ice and slip as you walked

The thing I learned is that each year the Sherpa have to carve out flat spaces for each and every tent that is placed at base camp each year. That is hard work as they have to move rock and dig into the ice. That includes my tent which was dug into a spot near the ice fall. When I booked my trip and negotiated staying at base camp I had to pay more because they said that they would have to build a platform for my tent. I thought they meant a wood platform, but they meant an ice bed for my tent.

We finally arrived at alpine ascents camp set up I which was cool and nice. 3 main tents – dinning, kitchen, electrical/communications. The dinning tent is the main tent where you eat and hang out. It has one long table in the middle with about 30 chairs around it. Other than your personal tent, it is the only place to hang out and get warm, if the heat is on, which it only seems to be at night.

They also had 3-4 tents as rest rooms. Just small tents set up in the rocks with buckets buried in the rocks as toilets. I actually preferred these to the tea houses because they were so much cleaner. Cold, but cleaner.

Then there were the tents for the climbers spread about. Nothing fancy. For me, just a 2 man tent that I shared with my roommate mike MacNair. Tight quarters, but you don’t want a lot of space due to the cold. Less area to heat up.

It was snowing and cold as we arrived so everyone stored their stuff in their tents and got settled in and then headed to to dinning tent. There we were met by the camp cook Ali. She is this cute little blond with these big sun glasses. Not what I expected. She had prepared these salmon and capper appetizers and this amazing meal. Vegetable chili and salad. Wow, I hadn’t eatin a raw vegetable since I had been in Nepal – not advisable. But here, you knew you were safe as safety and health are the top priorities. I gobbled it down even though I had lost most my appetite due to the altitude.

After dinner, you usually hang out, talk, play cards, write on your blogs, and try to keep warm until you go to bed. We have a large and diverse group which made it interesting as you could move from one group or individual to another each night. I tended to be one of the later night owles, but that isn’t saying much. Most people started to bed about 8 pm. Altitude makes you sleep more but I couldn’t sleep anyway so laying in a cold tent didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Once you were ready for bed you filled your 2 waters bottles with hot water to put into your sleeping bag. It was cold when you get to your tent so you basically wanted to throw your bottles in, strip down to base layers and jump in and zip that sucker up over your head. It was so cold in our tent that the condensation from our breathes formed snow in the tent roof and on our bags and heads. When you moved in the tent, the snow would fall on you. By morning, I was covered in the snow.

The other thing about the night there is the sounds that keep you up at night. First, the sounds of avalanches and rocks slides. We were right below the ice fall. The avalanches sounded like they were going to come through our tent. Very scary. Unfortunately, it was a sign of things to come. However, these avalanches and slides are a normal occurrence as the ice refreezes at night and expands. Again, we are camped on a living moving thing – the glacier.

The other sound at night was that of the the climbers walking by on their way to the ice fall. They go at night from 12-5 am to climb in the dark. They have to start early in the morning to get a start on their climbs. Imagine climbing on ropes on the side of ice and crossing over crevasses – all in the dark with a small headlamp on your head. Then imagine hearing the sound of an avalanche and not knowing where it is coming from or if it is going to hit you. That is what these courageous folks deal with regularly. All night I could hear the sound of their footsteps in the ice and the clank of their gear as they went to and from “crampon point”. The place they gear up for as they enter the ice fall.

I wasn’t actually cold in my sleeping. The hot water bottles really helped. Unfortunately, when you wake up at some point you have to get out of your bag and try to get dressed as quickly as possible. Then off to the dinning tent. Cool, my first night at base camp completed.

I am interrupting my blog flow to report on the avalanche that hit at Everest base camp and killed 12 Sherpas with four others missing and presumed dead. This accident makes it the single worst loss of life in Everett’s history. All in all, it is a very very bad and sad day.

I had just started my way down from base camp 2 days earlier after 2 amazing nights and days at base camp. It is a very cool, surreal and very functional place. Lots of climbers preparing for their climb, lots of guides and support people – it is a major operation to support even just one person making the climb and there are over 500 climbers at base camp. There are also many many Sherpa who serve in a variety of roles. Some are guides, some will support individuals up the summit, some help with camp logistics, and some help with cooking. Our climbing company, Alpine Ascents, is using Lakpa Rita Sherpa as the lead Sherpa. He is a legend and has climbed Everest 18 times. He is responsible for all of the Sherpa and they respect him greatly and he cares for them dearly.

Most of them are from the same small village of Thame. We went there on this trip and stayed at Lakpa’s sisters tea house and and had tea at his parents home. It is a very small, close knit Sherpa village. Most of the 30 plus Sherpa who supported our group come from there and are related in one way or another. Unfortunately, we believe 5 of the 14 Sherpa killed were from our group – Alpine Ascents. This is a major blow to the team, the climb, their families, and their community. It will be interesting to see how the various groups decide to move forward, if at all. This is not just something you can recover from. It will leave a lasting impression for years to come.

From what I understand, the avalanche happened about 6:45 am as Sherpas worked above the Khimbu Ice Fall and camp 1 about 1,500 ft. above base camp. I have pics I will attach once I get Internet access. You will see the magnitude of the falls and the danger they present.

My tent was right below the Khimbu falls. At night, all I could hear was the sound of climbers assembling their gear for the climb in the dark and the sound of the avalanches which fell throughout the night. They all sounded like they were coming through my tent and would keep you up at night. I can only imagine what they sounded like when you are standing in the dark, tied to a line, and hanging on a 1,000 ft ice fall.

It has been strange here as there are many mixed emotions. We are happy that we have completed our mission in climbing Kala Patar and spending 2 days at base camp. Both were amazing and emotional accomplishments for most of the us. At the same time you are saddened by the loss of life. No matter which Sherpa you know they are directly impacted. Then there are the climbers. I can only imagine what’s going through their minds. They are very strong and tough individuals, but this is so much bigger than anything they can control. It will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next couple of days. They still have about 6 weeks to go until it is time to summit.

Please make sure to say a prayer for the courageous, simple and nice people that are the Sherpa. You can’t leave this place without great respect for them as climbers and people. They do a very dangerous job and all the while with a humble smile and willingness to help in any way. God bless those who were lost and their families.

The pic of me with the man in the red jacket is Lakpa Rita the head Sherpa guide. The pic of the tent with the flags is mine with the Khimbu ice falls behind it.

Day 9 was a big day for trekking. We climb up from 14,100 to about 16,100 ft. That is a big elevation gain for one day at these altitudes. It was a great trek and you could feel the gain in a couple of ways. First, it is getting harder and harder to breathe. Each step, particularly up take a lot of energy and you have to breathe really hard. We use pressure breathing techniques to help bring more oxygen in and keep from getting hypoxic – which is low oxygen in your blood. Second, it is getting much colder. When the wind blows it is cold. When we stop to rest we have to add layers to keep from getting too cold. It actually snowed right after we arrived at the tea house. It looked pretty against the mountains. But again, it is cold. It is so cold the bathroom had frozen water on the floor and the water in the toilette was half frozen too.

We are not in Kansas anymore. We are in the high country and it is more rustic in about every way. The food is not so good. The bathrooms are rough. The rooms as very basic and cold. Probably about 30 degrees last night. Thank goodness for my -20 below zero sleeping bag and my pee bottle. It is just too cold at night to go out to the bathroom to pee. Everyone has a pee bottle they keep with them at night. As there are no bathrooms in the rooms and it is cold and disturbs everyone if you are walking about.

In the afternoon we climbed to Dookla’s pass. It is there they have the memorials for all the folks who have lost their lives on Everest. It is pretty moving especially when you are traveling with folks who are going to risk their lives to summit. Not a lot said there as everyone walking around with reflection and thought. There are a lot of memorials there. Some big and some small, but all represent someone special who’s luck did not go there way. I think it was at this spot that you could see the focus for the climbers begin to rise.

I also got to meet Joby today. He is the guy who is going to jump off of the peak of Everest in a wing suit and fly down to base camp at 200 miles an hour. Discovery channel is going to show it on live tv sometime in May. The film crew are actually NBC sports people. We have been staying with them for the past few nights. Really great people. Most are veteran climbers. I got to meet a the 2 guys that will be filming from the summit. They have a very dangerous job as they maybe at the summit for up to 3 hours.

Joby was very nice and I had a chance to talk with him for a while and get my picture with him. He seems very nice and laid back, but I know he is dialed in. Talk about danger. This guy is talking it on. The whole production is quite a feat and bringing that much equipment and organizing a live tv feed in such a harsh and remote place is worth watching alone. What Joby is going to do is just crazy. I will be watching for sure.

I really enjoyed the climb today, but it was definitely harder than some of the previous days. Really starting to get deep into this trek. At this point, we are 3 days away from Everest base camp.

Today we woke up to snow on the ground and a bright sky. It was beautiful and as usual we had to pack, breakfast and hit the road. Today was a pretty easy hike of about 3.5 hours and about a 1,000 ft elevation gain. We are now at 17,000 ft and at the base of Mt. Kala Patar (18,500 ft) and the entrance of Everest base camp. The hike today was cold and it began to snow for the last hour. The cold and snow this early in the day are a bit unusual. We had to hike on rocks, snow and ice so you had to watch your step. For us, this is kind of a rest day as tomorrow is the big one.

We are going to leave at 5 am to summit kala Patar and watch the sun rise over the mountains. That is about a 2,500 ft vertical climb and provides the best views of Everest. Kala Patar is higher than any peak in the Continental US or in Europe so that is pretty cool. We will climb back down and then head to Everest base camp for 2 days.

We could see the glacier entrance to bace camp and some of the tents. Base camp should be crazy as there will be all of the climbers, the discovery/NBC team there to climb Joby jumping off Everest, and they are filming the movie version of “into thin air” the book about the year I believe 11 climbers died on Everest which was in 1995 or 96. Base camp is big. About 1/4 – 1/2 mile long of tents and people. This is where most of the climbers stay for 5-6 weeks while they prepare for summit day. Most Trekkers like me don’t ever get to stay at base camp. Most climb and get their picture and climb back down. We are lucky as we are climbing with my friend john as we are being allowed to stay for 2 nights. That is going to be awesome, but be careful for what you ask for as it will be very cold.

Today is a acclimatization day as we get ready for the really high altitudes. While the team took a short climb I decided to stay behind and rest my knee that is troubling me as tomorrow is a big day. Ahh…it felt good to sleep in, take a shower and chill. There is no heat by day so a couple of us hung out in the “sun room” on the top of the tea house. It has beautiful views of the valley and is very relaxing. It’s snowing for the first time which is exciting and beautiful to see, but it is a sign of the colder weather to come.

In the afternoon we had the Himalaya Rescue Association, hospital lead doctor come and talk to us about altitude sickness. It was about like being in drivers education when I was younger. Good to learn about but a bit sobering at the same time. If we take good care and follow the program we will be fine. It is really always cool to see doctors who donate their time in remote places to save lives. They operate purely off of donations so I bought a couple of hats and shirts from them. Where else can you get this from, but here _ they don’t sell them in Kathmandu or Wings back home:-)

Not a whole lot to report today so I think I would just share a few observations. First of all the Nepali people are extremely nice and decent people especially in the Khumbu valley. They are simple and poor people with a lot of pride and seem to be very happy. They are very family oriented and their religion and thick culture reign.

There is a caste system here they follow. On the trail you see this most prevalent with the Sherpa climbers, Sherpas and porters. The Sherpa climbers are top of the food chain. Not everyone wants to do it because it is so dangerous. You do enough climbs like Lakpa and eventually the mountains will get you. They are well paid and highly regarded. Lakpa has actually moved to Seattle and has a lovely home. His children are getting well educated in the us and I believe a couple maybe going to medial school and such.

The Sherpas are great too. They go to base camp and serve several roles. They carry our heavy bags, they help prepare the food, they serve us our meals, and they take care of about any need you have. They do all of this with a smile and pride. It is a good job and they are well paid for Nepal. The average person makes $1,000 a year or less. Some may aspire to be climbing Sherpas but lost seem happy with their role. At night they get together and party a little bit too.

The porters are lower in class. Watching them work is amazing. They are little people. Maybe 120 pounds carry up to 160 or more pounds on their backs. You pass them on the trail bent over with everything you can imagine on their backs. The most amazing ones are the ones carrying 12 pieces of 4 foot by 8 foot plywood boards. I am not sure how much that weighs but it is a lot. They do this bent over all day sometimes only wearing saddles like you might wear at the pool. Wow. They get paid between $3-10 a day. Again, stay in school kids and make money with you minds.

All of the folks running the tea houses have been nice too. They take good care of us and seem to be constantly cooking food. I thought I would loose weight on this trip but I am not so sure. We eat all the time trying to nourish our bodies. About the same thing every day. Porridge, eggs, and toast for breakfast. Soup and some sort of starch, carb for lunch. Soup, carbs and starch with maybe some meat – we had yak burgers the other day with desert – lots of Apple pie. I am not used to so much start and carbs in my diet, but I am eating like a champ which a good sign. Loss of appetite is a sign of altitude sickness.

Lastly, we spend lots of time at night talking , playing cards, trying to charge our electronics and trying to get on the interest. It costs about $3-$8 day to get on internet and they charge you a couple of dollars an hour to charge you iPads, phones, cameras etc. it’s the same routine everyday which is ok, but can get old too. I can’t imagine what it is like to be hear for 2 months like the climbers. Especially when you are staying In a tent and it is -20 degrees outside without the windchill.

Today we hiked from Tengboche to Pharoche which is at 14,100 ft. It was a much tougher trek as we are climbing in higher elevation so the air is thinner and we are going up mostly. It was another spectacular day as the bigger mountains now surround us so the views are amazing. I know I keep using that word, but not sure how else to describe it. The temperature is beginning to drop and the winds off the mountains are beginning to blow so the afternoon was quite chilly. We have been lucky though as it has not rained on us, fingers crossed.

The highlight of the day beside the awesome views was that we stopped at one of the monasteries where the head lama of the Khumbu valley worships. His name is Lama Geshe. He is a legend. He has blessed about every climber who has climbed Everest for many years. We all gathered in a room and we sat with him for about an hour as he told us about the Buddhist religion and the prayers. His daughter translated for him as he does not speak English.

After that, he performed a ceremony we here we went one by one, knelt in front of him and present him our katas, which are the silk scarves we were given back in Namche as part of that ceremony. The lama blessed us and presented the scarf around our necks and then tied a small orange string around our necks. The string is called sunde. It is meant to provide us good luck for as lomg as we wear it. We are not supposed to take them off. They are supposed to fall off at some point. However, several of the climbers who are back here for multiple times still have theirs from years gone bye. I think I will keep it on!

The climb in the afternoon was hard. The air is definitely thinner and we are heading up. By the time I stopped I could feel my right knee hurting. Unfortunately, the climb is taking a toll on it and it is becoming inflamed. Today, day 8, I am laying low to help it heal some as the next couple days are going to be big climbs and a lot of altitude gain.

One by one you are starting to see people deal with certain issues. Colds, sinus, discentary. Everyone is working hard to stay healthy which is getting a bit harder to do. The altitude too makes you tired and gives you a head ache. I feel that way in the evenings but then I eat, drink lots and lots of water and get rest. By morning I feel fine.

Aris and Athan. Here is a picture of a baby yak just for you. They are hard to find as I mostly see the big one carrying loads. I will try to put him in my backpack and bring him home!

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Today we hiked from Khumjung to Tengboche which is at about 12,500 ft. It was a couple hour down hill walk to the river valley. Walking down is nice, but hard on the knees and the other thing is you have to go back up. We went down about 2,000 ft and stopped for lunch by the river. The skies were blue and the sun warm there. I could have sat there for a long long time as it was relaxing. However, it was time to go and head up another 2,000 ft to the Tengboche monastery. It was several hours of up hill climbing. Probably the first time I started to get really tired from the hike.

The view along the way very amazing. We are really in the Himalayas now. 20,000 a 28,000 ft. Mountains to your left and right. These mountain are anywhere from 6,000 – 14,000 ft higher than any mountain in the continental US and that does not include Everest which is 15,000 ft higher than any US mountain. I have posted some pics but I assure you they do not capture the magnitude nor the beauty. Trying to decide what the post is about impossible.

Once we reached the peak where the Tengboche monastery – there it was – my first view of Everest. I was so excited as we have been trekking for 6 days and haven’t seen it yet. It almost felt like you had arrived, but as close as Everest looked we are still 5 days away from base camp. We will be arrive at EBC on April 13. Things are much larger and farer than they appear.

Michelle asked me to explain that I am not on Everest yet. You can’t just arrive at Everest. You have to hike through the Khumbhu valley for anywhere from 7-12 days depending on your skill and experience with altitude. We are taking it slow as not to get sick. Good plan. Everest is very remote and you have to earn the view and chance to be here. I like that. No short cuts as this isn’t some tour.

Our tea house for the night was just below the monastery by the river in a very remote location. The view from the tea house is unbelievable of Everest and Lhotse (28,000 ft). It looks fake it is so picturesque. I sat outside the tea house for 2 hours just staring up and watching the clouds float by. The close ups i posted are of Everest and Lohse. Everest on left and lhotse on the right. I sat with the climbers and Sherpas and talked about the routes up the mountain. This is starting to get serious for the climbers. They were observing the winds on the summit and estimating that they were over 100 miles an hour. Not climbable as high winds kill due to the cold. They still have another 4-6 weeks to summit so time for the trade winds to die down. Serious stuff. We watched until the sun went down and until the cold really creeped in. I started to get really cold and could not help but think how cold base camp was going to be. I got some hot tea to warm up.

Tonight at the tea house is crazy. The NBC / Discovery Channel film crew is staying here along with the man who is going to jump off Everest in a flying wing suite for a live tv show on discovery. His name is Joby. It was kind of cool being in the same small tea house. I actually think we will follow each other up the rest of the way as the same climbing company, alpine ascents, is guiding him and his crew as well as my group. There are about 50 of us here so it is definitely the most lively night.

Tomorrow is another big day. We are going to begin to get in the real altitudes. Around 14,200 tomorrow and then 16,200 in 2 days. To put this in perspective the highest mountain in the continental US is 14,500. We will see how it goes. Some of the other Trekkers in our sister group are already getting sick. Not good to hear. Staying heathy is my top priority.

By the way. The big pointy mountain isn’t Everest. It is the more flat looking one in the close up and with the clouds around it. It is to the left side. It is an optical illusion that the others are taller. Everest is just to the back.

We went early this morning to Lakpa’s parents house for tea. Quite a treat to be able to go to a locals house. We were told they are affluent for the area which probably only has 80 people. The home was only 2 rooms. A kitchen and a multi-purpose room where they eat, socialize, and sleep. It was a long room with long tables and benches. It held all 24 of us. Lakpa’s father was a Sherpa, but retired after he got frost bite during a climb. That is a theme as I bought a small painting today from another former Sherpa who lost all of his fingers to frost so now he paints.

In the khimbhu region children are named after the day the were born. Lakpa means Wednesday. His brother kami was born on a Monday. Their middle name is Rita which is a girls name. Lakpa’s parents did this to give their children lower caste names to protect them from the gods and folks that may want to harm higher caste members. At least that is how I understand it. Their last name is Sherpa as that is what they are born into. Therefore his name is Lakpa Rita Sherpa. Another interesting fact is that the oldest son is expected to leave his parents home while the youngest son is expected to stay with the parents. The youngest son then inherits the parents property.

As we hiked we climbed to a Buddhist monastery where the monks were in there chanting as they each read different prayers out loud. Was a very relaxing and spiritual sound. We went inside and sat with them. It was a small room with about 8-10 monks. We were very lucky to have an opportunity to witness this and be able to sit with them.

The morning trek was pretty relaxed, but it got intense after lunch as we climbed up a couple thousand feet over the mountain to the village of Khumjung. It’s amazing how slow we walk as the altitude makes it difficult to move quickly. It is testing my ADD.

We finally arrived about 3:30 or so which gave us a chance for down time and “milk tea”. My new addition. Very sweat tea with milk and sugar. Man, that stuff is good. I thought I would loose weight but between the milk tea and snickers bars I am not sure that is going to happen. We get lots of sugar, carbs and starch in our diets here.

I also posted a pic of me getting water. You get it from where everyone washes their hands outside the rest room. Nice. We then treat it with our steri pen which is a small device that has an ultraviolet light that kills the bacteria. At least in theory. The water come from right off the mountain.

That’s it for now. 9:20 pm here. Plus my blood / oxygen saturation is 77% so you get a bit tired. Hopefully my body adjust over night before we start a pretty serious trek tomorrow.

The morning began with breakfast and a spiritual blessing ritual for climbers. The owner of the tea house and his wife prepared a special rice wine in a silver,goldish ornate cup. One by one we placed our right ring finger in the wine, flicked our finger to the sky 3 times. We repeated this for a second time then tasted the wine off our finger. After that the man placed a special silk scarf around our necks, tied them and blessed us for a safe journey. Very cool. We then braided the scarfs and ties them to our backpacks to keep us safe. Very cool ritual. Made me feel like I was part of something very special even though I am not summiting.

Then it was off from the comforts of Namche to a more rural route and stay in Thame. Thame is a very very little village, but we went there because our head Sherpa, Lakpa, is from there. He is a Sherpa legend. He has summited Everest 18 times which is only 3 off the record. We stayed at his sisters tea house which was simple, but nice. We could definitely tell we were getting more rustic – spartan I would say.

The trail to thame was nice as it was the road less traveled. Much less people and yaks. Basically we had the trail to ourself. We hiked about 5 hours along the river going up and down all day. It was my favorite hike because it was so peaceful. The weather was sunny during the am which made it warm. The sun here is very strong so it heats you up. You have to wear buffs, bandanas over your head and face all day. This serves 2 purposes. It keeps the sun off of you and it protects your lungs from the dust and yak poop that is all over the trail. They call it the khimbhu caugh which you get from the trail. It’s not good so you try to avoid it by covering you face all day. Upper respiratory infections and high altitude don’t mix.

We climbed to about 12,500 feet to thame and then we went another 500 ft 13,000. ft) up to the monastery above thame. As the day and hike moved on the clouds and fog moved in. The temperature drops but it actually feels good as long as you are layered up. The clouds, fog made it hard to really see where we were at. When the morning came the sky was clear and it took my breathe away to see our surroundings. Beautiful, snow covered mountains. I posted a pic as part of this blog so you can see. All I could say was wow.

At night everyone meets for dinner in the main room. Each tea house has 1 large room that everyone eats in and hangs out. It has heat! Sometimes wood and sometimes they burn yak poop. There will probably not be any wood burning places as we get higher and above the tree line. Yak poop will be it, but it will keep me warm. In the tea house at night we sit around and talk and fight over the very weak internet signal that you pay for. When everyone gets on it gets real slow. Most folks start heading to bed between about 8:30-9:00. Once you go to your room you jump into you sleeping bag to get warm. Nothing else really to do in your little box room. The schedule is pretty much the same each day. Packing begins at 6 am, breakfast 7, hike at 8.