Reality check

As we started our ascent up the mountainsides, the raging blue waters of the Khod Dosi river coursed down their mountain riverbed below us. I tried to convince myself that this was real. I'd anticipated this adventure for so long. I'd imagined what it might be like. I'd watched videos and read about the trek. It was always "months away".  Now, it was no longer in the future… it was actually happening. As I craned my head up to gaze at the spectacular views, I had difficulty actually believing I was really here, hiking in the Himalaya, the "abode of the snow."

After our first night on the trail at The Star Lodge in Phakding, we woke to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, diced apples in warm milk with cinnamon sugar. We felt right at home. The agenda for the day was a reality check: one of the toughest hikes of the entire trek was ahead of us. Following a morning spent criss-crossing the river, climbing up and down (and up and down... and up and down) the steep mountain slopes that plunge into the river, we would spend the afternoon climbing almost 800 meters to get to Namche Bazar.

A small glimpse of the kind of scenery that met us
as we ascended through the Khumbu valley.

The sun was bright as we started hiking at 9:00 AM. The equally bright sky matched our mood. Each time we came around a bend in the river, we were met with a new sight that surpassed the last. We were treated to a stunning waterfall, the sight of a snow capped mountain peak with its sharp edges cutting into the azure sky, and cable bridges,stretched taut and high above the river like ribbons of pewter.

I was very quiet this day because I was overcome with emotion—so grateful to have the opportunity to put my life on hold for three weeks and embed myself in another world, so appreciative of the stunning beauty that surrounded me. I tried to express my disbelief to Eric and Amy, two of our Tusker Trail guides, but I don't think I succeeded. The thought that struck me on this first full day of trekking was that even if I had to turn back today, it would all be worth it, every penny spent, every hour of training.

The morning trek helped us find a good rhythm. The previous day's trek was a cool way to start, but it was a bit rushed. In the morning, we could slow down a bit, take in sights, watch a yak train pass us on the narrow trail, or linger at a shop while Tiffany shopped for new sunglasses or a buff. We could take moments here, pause for photographs there, and start to get to know each other. We had lunch in Monju in a nice sunny room right off the trail. After lunch, I stopped along the riverbed and gathered a collection of a dozen smooth river stones; I had plans for these—more about that in a future post.

As we came to the confluence of the two rivers, we climbed up the east side to a high bridge, suspended 150 meters above the river below. The wind gusted as we crossed the swinging bridge. We then started our steep climb into the Sagarmatha National Park. Mingma Sherpa gave us an overview of hiking through the park and some history while we gathered under the large entry gate. The trail was very steep at times, with lots of switchbacks and stone steps. I noted there was hardly any trash on the trail. I liked to think that everyone on the trail respected the land we were visiting, but I suspect that the local people do a little extra to keep it clean.

I had no difficulty with the climb—my knees felt good and my muscles didn't complain at all; it was invigorating. We set a good pace, but paused often to rest, so the climb was less strenuous than I thought it would be... easier than the Colbert Ridge Trail in North Carolina! Our Sherpa guides set a good, consistent pace that we could all maintain. We could sense the strength of these men, and knew that they can easily climb much, much faster than we could!

View the sights and sounds of our trek from Phakding up the Khod Dosi river, 
then up the steep slopes of the Sagarmatha National Park to Namche Bazar

By 4:30, we had reached Namche Bazar, a large town built on the steep slopes of a horseshoe-shaped valley, filling three sides, with the south opening to the valley we had just ascended. We were rewarded for our effort with our arrival in the Zamling Guest House. This was not just a nice lodge with a welcoming lodge room, each room had a private bathroom with hot showers! Such a luxury! And electricity to recharge our batteries and devices!

Sunrise over Namche Bazar

The next day, Wednesday, November 6, was a "recovery and acclimatization day" after our big hike; we would spend two nights here. I got up early to walk up the ridge past the monastery and tried to see some wildlife. There were lots of birds, but my camera was too slow to catch them. I did capture the sun breaking over the mountains east of Namche Bazar. After breakfast (oatmeal, toast, omelettes), we hiked up the trail to a lookout high over Namche to the south, then
around the bend for our first view of Mt. Everest to the north. Spectacular! The skies were again crystal blue and achingly clear, so we got lots of pictures of Everest and Lhotse and Lhotse Shar, Everest's neighbors to the east.

Our first view of Mt. Everest.
Everest is the peak in the center with the snow, caught in the 29,000'
jet stream, blowing over it. Nupste to the left appears large because it
is much closer; same for Lhotse and Lhotse Shar to the right

On the way back down into Namche Bazar, we visited the Sherwi Kanga Centre, home of the Khumbu valley Sherpa museum where we got a glimpse of the life of a typical Nepalese Sherpa family. The Centre also has an Everest museum featuring photos of the people who have summited Everest and lots of news articles of various summiting efforts—many successful, some tragic. There was also a Nepalese Khumbu cultural center where we learned more about the daily lives of the valley's residents who welcome visitors like us to traipse through their country. A short video highlighted their wedding traditions. Little known fact: one tradition is to spread yak butter on the heads of the bride and groom.

Our day in and around Namche Bazar was a precursor of the rest of the trek, 

including our first view of Mt. Everest, hiking, and beautiful weather.

This trip was already turning out better than I had hoped for. I really enjoyed the company of everyone in our group. I was quieter than most, and I spent a lot of time writing in my journal, but we were all comfortable being ourselves. Each night I fell asleep easy, eagerly awaiting the next day of trekking in this wonderful, beautiful Khumbu valley.

Lukla or bust

It's Sunday, November 3, on the eve of our trek. But... the trekking commences in Lukla, a 30 minute flight from Kathmandu. The weather's forced the Lukla airport to close the last three days. Following gear check and baseline health check (pulse: 61, oxygen saturation: 97%) and a nice group dinner featuring Nepali Thali and dessert of fried dough balls in syrup (which of course elicited many jokes about "yak balls"), there's nothing else to do but to enjoy a night's rest at the Hotel Shangri La in Kathmandu and see what the morning brings...

The next day, Amy tells us the Lukla airport is operating, but it will take a while to clear the backlog. If our flights fall through, Tusker Trail will have to hire helicopters to get us to Lukla.

Soon, Lukla clears up, but smog has grounded flights out of Kathmandu! But eventually everything clears up and we gather our bags and get on the bus to the airport. As we arrive, we can see wild monkeys climbing the roof and power lines of the domestic terminal building. We weigh our bags (we must pay 200 rupees for each additional kilogram over 15 kg) and settle into the waiting area, which turns into a good opportunity to get to know Amy.

Soon a bus takes us across the tarmac to the Tara Air Dornier 228-202K/212. Fourteen of us can ride this plane; Jugdeep, Eric, and Mingma have to take a second plane. The flight to Lukla is easy... the landing on the 460-yard runway at Tenzing-Hillary Airport was a thrill. The landing (not me - honest, I was a rock) was too shaky for me to get any good video.

 The Kathmandu-Lukla travel adventure

After a nice lunch (tuna salad, soup, potatoes, and warm mango juice!) at the lodge where we met our sherpas we grab our daypacks, fill our water, and start the trek! It's early afternoon - much later than the normal departure. Our itinerary allocated five hours to hike to Phakding, but it's already 2:45... Amy told us we would try to hike faster and finish in 4 hours. We expect to be hiking in the dark.

Not what we wear when
hiking in the dark

This close to Lukla, there are many lodges along the route. We start the hike at about 9,000' and immediately start  descending towards the Kohd Dosi river. We are rewarded with great views, waterfalls, many yak trains, and many other trekkers, most of whom are returning to Lukla at this late hour. The trail has a lot of up and down, but the surface is good and my sturdy Asolo Drifter boots are serving me well and my feet are comfortable. I also use my trekking poles, which are a help on some of the steeper ascents and descents.

The sun soon sets behind the mountain peaks that surround us and we all turn on our headlamps. (These are nice light LED head lamps.) After about three hours of hiking, it is now pretty dark; I figure we have another hour of hiking. We cross the river from east to west on a long cable bridge. On the other side, we come to a nice looking lodge, The Star Lodge. It looks pretty good - then Amy tells us we've arrived! We'd covered our first six miles in about three hours, a very good pace.

We settle into the lodge room for tea (or coffee or hot chocolate) and popcorn - awesome! I'm not a coffee drinker and while I can handle tea, it's not my favorite either, so I drank hot chocolate at most of our breaks (which is probably why I did not lose any weight on this trek!) We went to our rooms and cleaned up a little, then returned for dinner (soup, spaghetti, carrot&cabbage salad, rice, garlic toast, and diced veggies - I'm definitely not going to go hungry on this trek!

The trek begins

Tomorrow, the real climbing starts. After a 6:30 wake up call (which in Nepal means sherpas knocking on your door) and breakfast, we'll hike from Phakding (2,640m) to Namche Bazaar (3,440m), but the first half of the day will be a lot of up and down, so the total climb will be much more than 800m.  It's time to get to bed and get some rest.

Getting there is one sixth the fun

I met my goal—I made it to Everest Base Camp on November 12!

There, I've violated all literary tradition and given away the ending, robbing you of all the suspense I could have built up by blogging about each day of the trek, hinting at my worries that I would miss a plane, get turned away at a border, freeze to death, break an ankle, fall off a mountain, or get carried away by a yeti to be "peeled like a potato".

But my friends will probably want a few more details, so I will oblige. I'll start at the beginning, which is, I am told, a very good place to start.

I woke early on October 31 (Debbie's birthday) and Ellen drove me to the airport (thanks, Ellen!). We picked up Tomas along the way and met Mat at RDU. All went well (it's a big relief when the agent takes my info and gives me a boarding pass—"Yes, I'm here on the right day! My passport has not expired!"). After a brief but crowded 5:50 AM flight, we met Thomas and Tiffany in JFK and boarded a 777 for Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific really sticks it to you, making you walk past Business Class mini hotel suites/cubicles on the way to Economy Class.

The flight to Hong Kong was pretty cool, even from seat 67K—lots of movies, plus live plane-cam shots of arctic ice, and animation (alternating between English and Chinese) of the plane flying over the North Pole. It's a long flight, about 15 hours ("How much fuel does a 777 carry? What is my CO₂ footprint?")

We grabbed some breakfast (or was it dinner? ...we're now 12 hours ahead of Eastern time) during a 3 hour layover in the Hong Kong airport, then catch the next flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh to connect to Kathmandu.

Wow, I'm actually in Kathmandu! At the airport, we get our first experience of a bathroom in Nepal, which is not the way you really want to be introduced to this country, which is truly wonderful (except for its bathrooms).

Arriving in Kathmandu

Our driver Kumar was there to meet the five of us, holding a Tusker Trail sign (a welcome sight after 30 hours of travel) and we each get a lei at the van (Tusker really does everything right). Our driver takes us through the city: the houses are lit up for Divali, the festival of lights. Then, amidst the construction/destruction/rubble that is the road that is not a road, we arrive at the Hotel Shangri La, an oasis in a dirty, poor, crowded city. Among other amenities, the Shangri La has nice bathrooms.

Matt, Tomas and I checked into a large room the first night (we booked an extra day at the beginning of the trip to help get over the jet lag; it was a good idea). It was 1:00AM local time, so we went to bed.

I was up a little earlier the next morning, so I put on my Tusker Trail cap and went downstairs to get some pictures of the grounds before breakfast. Amy Micks-Frank, our Tusker Trail lead guide (and co-owner) saw the hat and came over to introduce herself, and we chatted until the others came. Several other trekkers had arrived and we all had breakfast at the Shangri La buffet, which was good.

The sights of Bhaktapur, Nepal

We hired our driver Kumar and a van for the day and he took us to Bhaktapur, one of the old capitals; there is a really cool old palace there. We hired a guide, "Roger" who took us around; he spoke excellent English so we learned a lot. It was a fascinating place with many cool photographic spots, even though most of the area was a heavy tourist area. My favorite memory, though, was spotting some kids playing kickball from the second-story window of a shop.

The next day we visited Patan, and Amy's longtime friend Archana was our guide. Patan is another cool palace and old capital of an independent region from before the three separate kingdoms merged into the country of Nepal.

The sights of Patan, Nepal

The rest of the crew had arrived at the Hotel Shangri La, and we anticipated a nice authentic Nepalese dinner together on Sunday night. Getting here has been fun. I won't say it was half the fun, but it was a grand adventure.

Then, we learned from Amy that there was heavy snow up on the trail and some groups were turned around before getting to Everest Base Camp. Also, the Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla, where we are scheduled to fly to at 6:30 the next morning has been closed for the last three days and has a huge backlog.

The next day, maybe, we would fly to Lukla and start our trek.

Maybe.

Did you see me?

Red panda, Yak, and Bharal (Blue sheep)

In a week, I'll be in Nepal!

One very personal item that I'll be carrying with me will be this set of "Did you see me?" Nepal flora and fauna cards that Ellen handmade for me for Father's Day this year!

White-bellied musk deer, Whistler's warbler, Red-whiskered bulbul

There are twenty cards. Each 4-inch by 3-inch card has a hand-drawing on the front; the back contains the animal's or plant's name.  I've scanned them so I can take the laminated copies with me and keep the originals safe.

Tibetan snowcock, Large-billed crow, Indian Pond Heron

I've reproduced my "Did you see me?" cards here for you. I put the card's front and back side by side.

I think my favorite is the White-bellied musk deer.

Himalayan bulbul, Rufous sibia, Steppe Eagle

These cards are one of many special things I'll be carrying with me - the well-wishes and messages of support, I will carry in my mind and in my heart.

Soapnut, Chinese rhubarb

I will report - hopefully with photographs - a list of the critters and plants I saw.

Neem, English walnut, Fragrant wintergreen

Indian gooseberry, Himalayan mayapple, Indian madder

Aren't these just awesome?

Gettin' real

I got my Nepal visa in the mail this week.

The trek begins in two months.

It's starting to feel real.

Last week, I received my 30-day tourist visa for Nepal. I had to mail my passport to the Nepal embassy in Washington. If anything will make you nervous, it's sending your passport (with postage paid return envelope) through the mail to a foreign country's embassy...

And another load of reality - the Tusker Trail bill was due at the beginning of the month... and we paid the credit card bill this week.

Gettin' real, indeed.

And for those who are following this blog, you can see all my pictures from our Colorado 14er's training trip on my Flickr page. I hope you enjoy!

The triple 14ers

14ers day 3 of 3: (Read Day 1, Day 2)
We saved the "combo" for Wednesday. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, we thought Quandary would be an easier (though longer) recovery hike after our hard first day, because of its Class 1 difficulty rating on 14ers.com. Ha, were we (or 14ers.com) wrong, wrong, wrong! Quandary was much harder than we thought it would be. We met hikers who thought we were pretty insane for doing back-to-back 14ers... then we told them we were doing three days in a row... and then we told them we came from 400' elevation in NC and NJ!

The view north, from the saddle between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron, after a climb of about 1,450' from
the trail head. We took the trail to the right to ascend Mt. Cameron, another 750' up.

When we arrived at Kite Lake, we judged the hike to Mt. Democrat to be too hard for us to do and still summit multiple peaks (I know, wimps, right?). Instead, we decided to climb Mt. Cameron (14,239') and Mt. Lincoln (14,286'). Unlike the 750' descent/climb between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron, the saddle between Mt. Cameron and Mt. Lincoln is only about 200'. This climb had a much gentler profile than the first two days, although it certainly had some steep parts. Wednesday also brought us the best weather of the three, although all three days gave us great hiking weather and no rain.

Your humble author at the peak of Mt. Cameron, with Mt. Lincoln in the background.

Like Mt. Sherman, the peak of Cameron was constantly hidden from is as we went up the ridge, turning and climbing. However, from Mt. Cameron, the view of Mt. Lincoln is great - although the short peak to the 11th highest peak in the continental US was the steepest climb of our entire three days, really a scramble up on hands and feet. Tomas and Tiffany then took the trail past Mt. Bross (the Bross summit was closed) and I returned across Mt. Cameron (my third 14er of the day!) and hiked down with Matt. I'm glad I did, because the descent from Mt. Bross was very steep and I did not want to risk knee or foot problems. (Tomas said the Bross descent was so hard—he had to back down at some points, holding onto rocks because the fine gravel was so slick—that it made one woman cry.

Tomas and Tiffany head for the final ascent to the peak of Mt. Lincoln, 14,286'. The snow visible in the previous picture (which showed Mt Lincoln in the background) is just to the right of this section of the trail.
You can also make out three other hikers on the summit.

Most of the mountains we hiked were on private land, but the owners allow hikers on the trails (although Mt. Bross was closed this week.) The trails are maintained by Colorado Fourteeners Initiative volunteers.

The 14ers.com site was a great asset in planning our hikes and ensuring our safety.

Day 3 synopsis: Hike distance: 5.9 miles; elapsed time: 5:36; elevation gain: 2,600'; average grade: 16.4%; GPS track. Lessons learned: Regular breaks helps a lot; Teamwork gets the job done on the mountain.

Tomas' bling from Breckenridge

14ers synopsis:

Mountain	Hiking distance	Total time	Elevation gain	Average grade
Sherman	4.70 mi	5:30	2,100'	17.2%
Quandary Peak	7.25 mi	6:50	3,500'	18.6%
Cameron/Lincoln	5.90 mi	5:36	2,600'	16.9%
Totals	17.85 mi	17:56	8,200'	17.7%

Lessons learned: Training pays off; at altitude it is forgivable to ask "Pass me my halogen" when you really mean "Pass me my Nalgene"; it really helps to go with friends who can encourage and inspire you.
I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity to go out to Colorado and really push myself, build my strength, endurance, and confidence. Nepal/Everest Base Camp - I'm coming for you next! We leave in three months.

“Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks are fountains of life.”
—John Muir

Quandary Peak

14ers Day 2: (Read Day 1 of our 14ers trek, if you missed it.)

I took the luxury of sleeping in until 5:45 Tuesday morning because we were going to tackle Quandary Peak in the Tenmile Ridge, just south of Breckenridge. At 14,265', it is the 16^th highest peak in the continental U.S. The trail head is much easier to get to... at the cost of being much lower: 10,800', which meant a climb of about 3,500 feet over 3.6 miles, and a round-trip hike of 7.25 miles. We allotted 7 hours for the hike. The lower half was beautiful, coming up through the forest, past wildflower glades and spectacular scenery. Quandary Peak lived up to my expectation for these mountain hikes - the nature of this mountain and surrounding vistas was very different from Mt. Sherman.

View of North Star Mountain (the Western Continental Divide)
from the East Ridge Trail of Quandary Peak. That is Tomas in his orange backpack.
Note the spectacular, deep, blue sky.

Just out of the treeline (near 12,000'), there is a steep grade, consisting of steps made out of stones set in the hill. Just past these steps, we met a large group of young girls (Girl Scouts, we presumed) who were descending. They started their ascent at 2:00AM!
After this, we turned up the ridge, heading west toward the now visible peak, one a half miles ahead and still 2,300 feet higher. You can see the line of hikers stretched out ahead, just starting to tackle the toughest, final leg of the climb.

Quandary Peak rises up above us.  (Challenge: spot Tomas and his orange backpack amongst the climbers at center left.) The climb in the distance is about 1,000' climb in about 6/10 mile - about a 31% grade.

Tomas kept walking while we took a break to drop some layers now that we were in the sun. While I was trudging up that steep slope, a female trail runner zoomed past me. That level of fitness is pretty humbling. I rationalized it by telling myself, "She's not carrying a 25 pound pack... or 25 extra years" Yeah, right.

A mountain goat ignores the hikers on the Quandary Peak trail

I kept on moving on and up. I found a good, steady pace for the toughest part of the ascent, stopping to take pictures every once in a while. (I carried my Canon 40D DSLR and a Tamron 10-24mm wide angle lens in a camera case attached to the front straps of my backpack.)
I reached the crowded summit shortly after Tomas, after four hours of hiking. It was pretty cold and windy up top, but it was worth it—the view from the summit was simply spectacular.

The view from atop Quandary Peak. Nothing higher than us anywhere close by.

The 2-½ hour trek down was long and pretty hard on my old knees; my leg muscles were shaking when I had to step down. Happily, I didn't need any Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) on this or any other day of hiking.

Tomas and your humble author at the summit of Quandary Peak.
I can easily say that Quandary Peak was my favorite hike of our three days.

The U.S. Coast & Geodedit Survey marker at the top of Quandary Peak

Day 2 synopsis: Hike distance: 7.25 miles; elapsed time: 6:50; elevation gain: 3,500'; average grade: 18.6%. GPS track. Lessons learned: Moleskin is an essential piece of gear; there is always someone who is stronger/faster and I'm OK with that; when rating trails, "moderate" in Colorado does not mean the same as "moderate" in North Carolina.