Travel

Continued from Part Three

A few hours after setting off, the trees start to slowly fade and I find myself in a sub-alpine meadow at about 4000m (13,100ft). I sit and gaze at a massive gash in the mountain across the river, caused by a recent landslide. As I’m daydreaming about climbing Aba Dablam, now shrouded in clouds, some familiar faces crest the hill behind me. It’s Darren and Tanya — somehow they had gotten behind me. We greet each other warmly and set off together towards Pheriche, our next destination at 4200m (13.8kft). Soon we’ve crossed the roaring river again (on a sketchy! plywood bridge). By 1pm or so we’re situated in our hotel of choice, the Himalayan Hotel, which would become by far the most memorable of the trek.

Pheriche

As we sit down for lunch a group of other Brits run into us that Darren recognized from earlier. We celebrate our early arrival with a beer (quite effective at 14k feet!) and a delicious lunch, and decide right then and there to take a rest day the next day; not because of any need for acclimatization but rather due to the (relative) poshness of our environs: a brand-new cozy dining room with seemingly unlimited free reading material (so key!)

At Pheriche there is a semi-permanent camp of the Himalayan Rescue Assocation which happened to be staffed by three Americans while we were there. At three we decide to attend a talk about altitude sickness and it is excellent. The dude had a Gamow Bag, and due to my wearing an altimeter I got to take it for a ride. The doc gave it a pump for a few minutes and I watched my altimeter drop hundreds of meters at a time, until it read 3400m or so. It was pretty cool — a bit claustrophobic but extremely effective for treating altitude sickness.

We spent the next couple of days lounging around the hotel, reading, playing cards and eating. I took a short day trip to Chhukung (4730m/15.5k ft), another beautiful (forgive me if I sound like a broken record, but everything is stunningly beautiful up there) village nestled below the giant South face of Lhotse (8516m/28k ft). Unfortunately I was pretty much in the clouds and couldn’t see much. A nearby hill by the name of Chhukung Ri (5550m) would’ve been by next objective, but I figured there’d be nothing to see up there. Instead I headed back down the valley to Dingboche and Pheriche. Little did I know Cameron was staying in Dingboche when I walked past!

Early the next morning Darren, Tanya and I departed (Simon, one of the others, was feeling the altitude a bit so they stayed behind) for our next destination, Lobuche, at 4910m (16.1k ft). It was going to be a big day elevation-wise, a gain of 700m, so we took it fairly slow. It’s worth mentioning that about Pheriche, the hiking is never difficult or even strenuous, but the altitude starts to make things a bit unpleasant. By lunchtime we arrived, and right around then I started to feel a bit dazed. On my expedition to Mexico a few years ago I didn’t feel any effect from altitude until around 15k feet — this time I was a bit more acclimatized. Regardless, I felt a bit spacey during lunch and felt a moderate headache come on — I decided to pop some Ibuprofen and take a nap.

After waking up I felt awesome — the perfect cure for a hangover! Err, altitude sickness rather. I ambled down for dinner, and there I met a group of Americans in their 50s who were going to attempt Lobuche East, a 6100m trekking peak just west of town. It was especially interesting talking to their Sherpa, a former guide on
Everest, about the nature of commercial expeditions as well as the guiding lifestyle.

Gorak Shep’s alpine beach

The next morning we set off again early, excited to make it to the terminal town of the trek, Gorak Shep at 5140m (16.9k ft). We were all feeling pretty good, with slight headaches easily remedied with Ibuprofen (the wonder drug!)
Again we made excellent time and were able to have lunch at our destination. We seemed to have escaped the scourge of the clouds, as well, and finally were able to admire the astounding peaks all around us. The next day’s climb of Kala Pattar, the trek’s terminus, was looking pretty good, not to mention Base Camp…

To be continued…

Continued from Part Two

I step outside our room into the courtyard, turn to go into the kitchen, and am stopped in my tracks. A massive white peak glows in the twilight above. After a cloudy afternoon it is my first good close look at a 6000m peak, presenting itself in dramatic fashion. I snap a picture and smile into the dining room.

Thamserku (6618m) looming over the hotel

A few hours earlier Cam and I set foot on the trail. I was excited to get out of Lukla and finally into some peace and quiet in the countryside. It came quickly and was wonderful. Though this section of the trek is fairly heavily populated, the pace of living quite suits someone who grew up in the woods of Northern New York. We meander through the towns, greeting other trekkers and porters, and eventually make our way to a waterfall by the trail. A short, steep climb brings us to what looks like an amazing hotel. It is perched on a hill with one side looking at the waterfall and the other the fertile river valley below. We immediately get a double room ($3 USD), ditch our packs, and go the dining room to order some food and a gigantic pot of milk tea. There we meet a solo trekker from Switzerland and a British couple. They were headed up, and in a few days I would be joining them.

Dinner was delicious and by 8pm we had passed out, weary from the long day. This would be the start of a pattern — bed near dusk, rise at dawn. A very welcome change from my night owl lifestyle back home. The next morning we headed out early and walked for a few hours before making it to Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,300ft), a beautiful terraced town cut into a bowl in a hillside. Namche is the “Sherpa capital” and largest town in the Khumbu, so we had our choice of dozens of hotels in town. We ended up picking one right in the middle — it had a spectacularly positioned dining room looking out over the gorge to the Southwest, from which we proceeded to gorge ourselves on lunch.

From the start of the trek Cam had been complaining of weariness and coughing, so we decided to take a rest day; mainly for acclimatization but also to give his body a chance to shake out the respiratory infection. We slept in, changed to a “luxury room” (attached shower! wooohoo!), and I set off on a day hike to Thame, a famous Sherpa village four miles up the churning Bhote Kosi Nadi river. It’s a gorgeous walk along a hillside above the river and I chat with a group of cute Sherpa kids on break from school in town. By one pm I’ve made it to Thame (3800m) and have a huge lunch of (unlimited!) Dhaal Bhat, a dish of rice, lentil soup, and vegetable curry. The day is rather cloudy but once in a while the clouds would part to reveal a massive 6000m snow-capped peak a seemingly stone’s throw away.

By the time I make it back to Namche it’s late afternoon and drizzling a bit — we order dinner and I take a (much-needed) shower. Cam is starting to feel better, so we plan to rise early and hike to the next town.

We round a bend in the trail, and something strangely familiar comes into view. In a gap in the clouds two massive mountains appear, and I recognize one instantly: Everest. I stop in awe for a few seconds and snap some pictures — though they’re still 25km away they seem larger than life. It’s a pretty, warm day and I can’t help thinking about what the conditions would be up there..

First glimpse of Everest and Lhotse

A steep drop back down to the Dudh Kosi and back up the other side eventually brings us to Tengboche (3860m/12,660ft). Its famous monastery dominates the town and owns half of the hotels in the village. I know the view is supposed to be incredible, but the afternoon clouds have again robbed any chance of sightseeing. At this point Cameron was feeling pretty rough and was anticipating needing two days to rest. Not looking forward to sitting idly for two days, we decide to split up and meet up at the top of the trek. Luckily, we run into Darren and Tanya (the Brits) again at our hotel at chat it up over dinner. We’re enthused to keep going and I decide to go along with them the next morning.

I wake up excitedly the next morning and peer out the window at a massive cirque of peaks. Rushing outside, I gaze in the splendor of the most superb view of my life. Nothing had ever even come close. Two massive peaks (Thamserku [6618m] and Kangtega [6783m]) dominate, and I mean utterly own, the sky to the Southeast. Their glaciers creep down 2800 vertical meters of their flanks, connecting to the summits less than 6km away. To the North Ama Dablam’s picturesque summit foreshortened the Everest-Lhotse massif just beyond — stunning alpine scenery at 6am.

I pack up after breakfast and bid Cam adieu, setting off on my own. The trail drops down to a thick rhododendron forest and I’m not psyched to be off on my own…

To be continued…

I’m sitting here in a hotel dining room at 11,500 feet (3440 m) surfing the internet. Ah yes, satellite internet; not cheap at 10 rupees / minute but almost expected in this day in age. Needless to say, this is gonna be a short post.

On the 30th I touched down in Kathmandu, Nepal to a warm rainy evening after a layover in Abu Dhabi, United Aram Emirates. The taxi ride to my hotel was absolutely insane — anyone who’s been in a large city in India would understand…immediately I was put off by the rather destitute environs and by 5am the next morning Cameron and I were off to the airport to escape to the mountains.

So two days ago we landed in Lukla and started our trek — now I’m in Namche Bazaar at the last large village before continuing our ascent to Everest Base Camp (5530 m). Kala Pattar, a lookout point adjacent to Base Camp, is our ultimate goal.

I have been amazed thus far at the magnificent generosity and warmth of the Nepali people. Out here in the mountains there’s next to no worries about crime or even distrust, and I expect this to continue as we get higher.

Oh, and the scenery’s pretty good. Pictures are forthcoming…