High Up In The Himalayas

We haven't had internet connectivity since Dingboche. Since we've finished the everest Marathon and are back to civilization in Namche Bazaar (even with the yaks running through the streets), here are some posts of our adventures up high in Lobuche, Gorak Shep, Kala Pattar and Everest Base Camp.

May 25

It rained most of the night. The sound of the raindrops on the tent was soothing and helped to drown out the night sounds that sometimes keeps you awake -- the snoring of the other campers, the clanging of the yak bells, the tent zippers from other people getting up.

The morning broke clear. The rain from the night befor froze on the tent. We got up at 5:00 am and climbed to the ridge above camp to watch the sun rise. The glow of the sunbeams over Nputse was beautiful. I just haven’t been able to capture it on a photo.



The clouds began rolling in up the valley, so we went back down to camp, had coffee and got a bowl of warm washing water. Even though it was in the 30s, I stripped down to my waist and washed my hair, face and upper body, and shaved. It’s been six days since I’ve had a shower.

We hike to Lobuche today, a climb of 1,641 ft to 16,105 ft. This is higher than any point in the continental US, I believe. It’s at this point that people really start struggling with the altitude. We’ll see how it goes.

The first part of today’s hike is to Tukla, where we will stop for lunch. It’s the same hike we did yesterday in the snow. Along the way, I talked to one of the sherpas, Dogha, who has summated Everest twice. He showed me a picture of him on the summit. After being a Sherpa on a mountaineering expedition, it’s hard to believe that he is a porter for a trekking group.



The walk to day was slower than yesterday because the rest of the group was along an there was no snow to slip and slide on. There was a lot of helicopter activity in the valley, evidently some rescue operation. The copters have been grounded for two days, so someone could have been in trouble for quite some time.

The skies was partly cloudy so the views were once again amazing, You just don’t get tired looking at the scenery.

More trekkers were on the trail today almost all going down. Many of the Everest expeditions are starting to break camp and head back to Lukla and Kathmandu.

We made it to Tukla by 10:30 and had a leisurely lunch. It was sunny and warm and it was nice just to lie around for a couple of hours.



After lunch we had a tough climb up to the edge of the Khumbu Glacier moraine. With the increasing altitude and steepness, it was quite difficult. At the top, there were memorials to many of the climbers, sherpas and foreigners, who have died in the surrounding mountains. It was a very somber place, almost like a church.



The remaining hike to Lobuche was gradually uphill next to the glacial moraine. The landscape has become very barren, mainly with rocks and sand. In a few places where soil has gathered, some small grasses and flowers manage to grow.

Got to camp feeling good -- no headache, nausea, stomach issues or anything. Several in the group have had various maladies along the way. I hope that I can last for a couple more days.

Once in camp, we grabbed our stuff and dove into the tent for a quick nap. A cloud rolled in and it began to sleet and then snow a bit. That’s mountain weather for you.

After the afternoon tea, Gerry and I hike up to the ridge across the valley to see the Khumbu Glacier. Since the glacier is retreating, there is a lot of rock and gravel on top of the ice underneath. The glacier is about ½ mile wide. Even though we were 300 feet above it, you could hear the ice cracking and groaning as it moved slowly downhill. Or the rest of the hike, we will be following the glacier up to Everest Base Camp and the Khumbu Icefall where the climbing expeditions begin.



From the ridge top we could see a large glass pyramid, know as the Italian Pyramid, where scientists study the effects of high altitude. It looks bizarrely out of place here but they do good work there.

I ran into Rob the Hungarian in the lodge. He’s been staying here for a couple of days getting some running in for the race on Saturday. He said that he ran up to Kala Pattar today in 58 minutes and ran back in 19. I think that he wants to give the Indians a run for their money in the foreigners category.

Tonight will be more of the same: dinner at 7:00, Damche’s briefing for tomorrow, a little reading and in bed by 9:00 or so.

May 26

Had kind of a rough night last night. I had a headache and sore throat and didn’t sleep very well - signs of mild altitude sickness and pretty typical.. Most of the people in the group are suffering from something. A couple of folks have been told that they will have to go back down the mountain and not run the race. So I guess things are not too bad for me.

Got up a little later than I have been -- 6:00 -- washed up, had a cup of coffee and felt a bit better. The weather is partly cloudy this morning. A lot of copters are flying up to base camp again. I wonder what’s going on.

The hike today is a relatively short one to Gorek Shep. At 16,859 ft., it is the last stop for most trekking group who will make day trips to Kala Pattar or Everest Base Camp. We will spend one night here before going up to Everest Base Camp for two nights before the race on the 29th.

Several in the group want to climb Kala Pattar because you get the best views of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse there. At 18,185 ft., it will be the highest point on the trek as well. We’ll climb it at the end of today’s hike or first thing tomorrow morning.

The first part of the walk today was up a gradual valley. About a half mile in, a couple of us turned up a side valley to visit the Italian Pyramid, a modern glass pyramid that was built as a research station in the upper Everest region. It is so bizarrely out of place in thus desolate landscape. The facility manager gave us a tour of the labs. They do meteorological and geological research at the site.




The remainder of the hike constantly steepened as we crossed the glacial moraine and a finger of the glacier. The last bit up the steep, rocky trail was difficult. I was huffing and puffing and struggling for breath. You can really feel the thin air at 16,800 ft.

Although it was partly cloudy, it was cool and windy and snow fell periodically. After lunch, I tried to take a nap but my cold and the effects of altitude made it difficult to sleep. It was snowing lightly all afternoon.

A couple of people climbed up to Kala Pattar, but it was so cloudy that they could not see anything. We’ll try first thing tomorrow.

There was a lot of yak and porter traffic today, mostly going downhill. EBC is beginning to break up for the season.

I wandered around the other lodges at Gorek Shep looking for an Internet café. I found one but their satellite was not working. I’ll try again at EBC.

May 27

We climbed Kala Patter first thing this morning for the best views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and the Khumbu Glacier. A group of us left at 6:30 with Doghe, the Sherpa who has climbed Everest twice. At 18,159 ft, it’s a climb of 1,300 ft from Gorek Shep and the highest point that we will reach on our trip. We will actually summit a peak in the Himalayas.

It snowed last night but was cold and clear when we started. The lower part of climb was not particularly tough but at this altitude, we were sucking wind right away. The snow got a little deeper at the top and the climb got a bit more technical be we summitted in about an hour.

The weather was clear so we had great views of Everest, Lhoste, Nuptse, the Khumbu Glacier, and the other surrounding mountains. It was the prototypical pictures that you see of Everest. Just indescribable. This is what we came to Nepal to see.



The weather was good so we spent over an hour at the top taking in the views and taking pictures. A couple of other groups began coming up and it was getting crowded so we decided to go back down to Gorek Shep for breakfast.

The morning was pretty leisurely because we would not be leaving for Everest Base Camp until after lunch. We spent the time in the dining room of the lodge since the porters had already taken down the tents.

Although it was only 5K to Base Camp from Gorek Shep, the hike was tough because of the altitude and the terrain. We climbed about 700 ft across moraine and the Khumbu Glacier. At the end thee really wasn’t a trail, just areas where you had to climb over the rocks and boulders. It was like trying to walk on loose bowling balls.

There were a lot of porters and yak trains coming down fro EBC because most of the climbing expeditions are done and breaking camp. The helicopter traffic was again very heavy due to some of the more well funded expeditions ferrying their members to Lukla for the flight out rather than making the four day trek.

Everest Base Camp is quite a large area -- probably a half mile long by 200 yards wide -- on the Khumbu Glacier at the edge of the Khumbu Icefall. The ice fall is where the climbing expeditions and danger of Everest begins. The ice fall is a maze of towering seracs and crevasses that much be negotiated to reach the higher climbing camps and upper slops of Everest. The icefall is constantly changing so ropes, ladders and bridges must often be replaced or repositioned.

EBC has tents strewn all over the place with little apparent organization. Wherever a flat spot is or can make made relatively easily, there was a tent -- a sleeping tent, a dining tent, or a toilet tent. Our camp was on the site where an expedition group had just left, so there were several flats spots for tents.




Getting to your sleeping tent, the dining tent or the toilet tent was always an adventure. You had to scramble over rocks and boulders, down slippery ice and across glacial streams. At the altitude, it was all you could do to stay upright. Everyone was worried about injuring themselves just trying to move around. To add more difficulty, it began snowing putting slick coating on everything.

We all were tired from the climb and the altitude (17,500 ft) made you breathless and dizzy most of the time. Just a little exertion had you panting. I wonder what the race will be like. We spent most of the first afternoon in our tents just resting.



In my next post, I'll describe Base Camp a bit more, the "mock start" we had the day before the race, and trying to run on loose, bowling ball size rocks for the first 5K of the Marathon.