Nepal/Everest 2015

Nepal/ Everest 2015

"Nemaste" (Nepali greeting) to y'all. Nepal is a small country, sandwiched between India (on the west, south and east of Nepal) and China/Tibet on the North. It contains tropical areas at sea level as well as part of the Great Himalayan Mountain range in the north. Of the 14 world's tallest mountain peaks over 8,000 meters (26,247 ft above sea level),  eight are in Nepal including Mount Everest (8848m/29,029 ft).
A misconception that I had before coming to Nepal was that the whole length of the trek to Everest would be barren and above the tree line. This picture from Lukla (the fly in village from Kathmandu and our starting point) one can see the beautiful greenery of the surrounding forests  merging with the majestic Himalayan mountains, already blanketed with snow.

Lukla

I had been enticed by Everest as a climber, but never considered climbing to the summit. Partially,  that reluctance was from the ever increasing costs to climb there (now greater then 80k$ as I understand it-as well as a three month-time commitment) and also largely from the allure of other great mountain peak settings. Everest also has been observed from the 1990's on  to draw from a large number unqualified climbers anxious for a "bucket list check off" and from overanxious climbing guide companies who cater to them. A statistic that I have heard repeatedly applied to Everest is that  "for every 2 climbers who summit Everest, one climber dies." This flies in the face of another climbing axiom used often by the American climber, Ed Viesturs (first American to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000+ meter peaks)-"getting to the summit is optional, returning safely to bottom is mandatory."

This adventure of ours was started by Ryan and Gretchen,  my brother in law and sister who put a great deal of time and effort to get us to Nepal at the best time and to use the best guide service (Mountain Monarch-they were superb). The numbers of the original committed trekkers was reduced by the effects of a devastating earth quake on April 25th and from an embargo by India on gasoline. I was not committed to go until virtually the last minute and even then, there were some perplexing concerns. The question, as it came down to the final group of 5 trekkers, was would we be able to fly in and out of Lukla and would we be able to take a helicopter from Pheriche, saving us 5 days of trekking down to Lukla, with a petrol embargo?  My niece Brylee and Ryan's friends,  Rob and Camille and I,  comprised the 5 trekking companions.

Lukla has an ultra short, upward inclining runway. From the view of the plane traveling in, it looked like we were going to run right into the mountain 

I arrived in Kathmandu at 1 am. A day later than Ryan, Brylee and  Rob and Camille. After two hours of sleep we  took a 45 minute flight to Lukla.

 

From Lukla (8,530 ft), we went to Prading over the Dudh Koshi ("milky")  river. 

Buddhist Stupa-many seen high above the villages

Dipen, our wonderful lead guide

Camille, Ryan, Brylee and Rob

Seems like I always find a dog. These Himalayan dogs loved to bark between about 2-5 am.

On Day three we entered a huge pine forrest with many terraces and repeatedly crossed the robust and thundering glacial river- Dudh Koshi on these hanging bridges

Yaks were seen daily transporting loads between villages

Porters with heavy loads, supported by a  belt over the top of their heads, were a common site. Just seeing a 55 kg man hoisting a 65kg load to their head, caused us to  wonder of how much damage this could do to their cervical spine/nerves? These men (and some women) felt privileged to have the opportunity to earn money for their families.

Day Three & Four- Namche Bazar

Namache Bazar

Namche (11,286 ft)  is a very  pleasant village to visit and with a hike up the mountainside.The mountain here above Namche is called Tawche. We got our  first view of Everest and one of my new favorite peaks, Ama Dablam. We also took a second day in Namche to hike higher for acclimation ("climb high-sleep low"). Namche is within the the Sagamartha  ("Head of the Sky", which is the Nepali designation for Everest) National Park. TheTibetans refer to Everest as "Chomolungma"-which means the Mother Goddess of the Universe, or as the Sherpas, say the "Mother Protector of Everest."

Ama Dablam "Mother's Necklace/Jewel" 20243 ft.
Buddhist Stupa in foreground 

Ama Dablam.
Reminded me of my favorites-The Grand Teton and The Matterhorn

Everest-first glimpse (middle right, snow capped peak)
From left to right-Khumbrila, Tobeche (dark one) Neptse, Everest and Lhotse

Our wonderful guides, Dipen (right-head guide) and Dawhat (left-assistant guide)
They were excellent in helping to acclimate to the altitude, pace us and taking us on side trips to learn the culture. Whilst most of Nepalese are Hindu, the bulk of the Sherpas and Himalayans are Buhhist. We visited several monasteries.

Day 5 Trekking to Thyanboche-Six hour trek to (12,468ft) Our lodging, in "Tea Houses" along the way,  was very practical and adequate, but not fancy. Rooms had a bed with a foam pad. No heat and rarely a light. It was rare to have a bathroom in the room. They were in"multiple use" rooms-mainly "squatters" (you will see a representative picture below) down the hall way. The food was mainly noodles, rice and eggs. We were warned that all meat was transported (sans refrigeration) from Kathmandu via porters or yaks. Dal Baht (rice and lentil soup) was the mainstay. We did try a "tuna pizza" by Rob's brave example, which was pretty good. Breakfast was porridge, Tibetan Bread, eggs or an occasional pan cake. We were up between 5-6am. Had breakfast at 7:30 and hit the road by 8 am. We did have a morning break for "tea"-generally lemon tea or hot chocolate. Lunch was the largely the same menu as dinner. After dinner, we could strategize the next day's trek and then we collected our water in our nagalene bottles for the next day. The heated water in the bottles, which had been boiled to kill off  bacteria in the water, served to  heat up my sleeping bag and kept my batteries warm at night as well.

Dal Bhat

B

Day 6 & 7 Dingboche-6 hour trek (14,304 ft)

In trekking to Dingboche, we passed the Thyanboche monastery as well as several other Monasteries that were in the area. Sir Edmond Hillary (part of the Hillary-Tenzing Norgay team that first climbed Mt. Everest in 1953) rebuilt the Thyanoche monastery after if had been destroyed by fire. We visited the  Pangoche, monastery which is amongst the oldest in the Khumbu region. Khumbu is the name of the massive glacier that comes from Everest/Lhotse and the "Khumbu cough" is what I had from the dry weather. We also had a rest day at Dingboche on a Sunday. So we had a short Sacrament meeting with the 5 of us and Dipen.

Dingboche

Love the Kids

Typical "Squatter Bathroom" at the end of the hallway

The Everest Team

Trekking up to our lunch spot-the weather was wonderful every day- so each day, our  lunch was outdoors.

A happy lunch smile from Brylee. She loved the Tibetan Bread with honey

Dingboche

A monument to Sir Edmond Hillary for helping build the monastery and the  schools

The alternative to Yaks - mules

Yak dung Fence

Yak Dung was also used to heat up the restaurants at night and to boil our water for the next day

The Nepalis grew rice (at lower elevations), wheat, corn and other vegetables in tariced gardens 

Very common to have even a steeper stairs as part of our trail. A heard of mules was just about to descend  this stair case behind us

Day 8- 5 hour trek to Lobuche 16,175 ft.

During our trek, we met many trekkers from all over the world including Australia, Austria, the UK, Germany and Canada-French Speaking. We also trekked with and shared meals with Andy and Katie Fisher, the children of Scott Fisher, who died in the 1996 Everest disaster, which was chronicled by Jon Krakauer in "Into Thin Air" and more recently in the movie "Everest". Andy was nine at the time of his father's death and Katie was younger. They are very nice young folks and we felt their emotions as they came closer to Base Camp and particularly saw the Rock Cairns in memorial to their Dad, Scott Fisher and others who lost their lives on Everest. This was their first time to be in the area of Everest.
In our approach to Lobuche we also saw the Khumbu glacier for the first time as we  got well above the tree line. Also noticeable were the day time temperatures, which plummeted as well.

Lobuche

Going over the second bridge. We did have an occasion that a team of Yaks came over the bridge at the same time we did, pushing us off the the side a bit. We were hopeful that the bridge would not snap with the weight (no department of bridges declaration on the maximum weight was seen. We just prayed and hurried to the other side).

Those who have seen the movie 'Everest' will recognize the two bridges from the movie, one below the other

Upward trek now above the tree line

These are inscribed cylinders found in monasteries,  but also may be seen just on their own. One is advised by the Buddhists to spin these for good Karma/Luck. Also, we were told that when approaching a shrine or a stupa, to always pass it on the left side.

Rock Cairns

Scott Fischer's Cairn

With Dipen ("Dipen for dependable")

With Dawhat ("Monday" in Sherpa Language)

Our porters

This shows you the pack I hauled on the left, compared with the pack our porter's hauled with the rest of my 'stuff'. Their motivation was to get the pack to the next area, so they did not hike was us. We did not have access to other things like sleeping bags, down coats etc. in the pack unless we anticipated the need for them.  These porters  were troopers. 

Mount Pumari

Khumbu Glacier

 Day 9. Trek to Gorak Shep (5288m/17,349 ft). Three hours and to Everest Base Camp (5300/17,388 ft) and back-5 hours.

A loose boulder trail to get to base camp

Gorek Shep

We can see the origins of the Khumbu glacier, the longest one in Nepal. Which means we are almost there!

On the Khumbu Ice Fall (Everest/Lhotse)

Yea!!

We did it!!

 Day 10-Climb to Kalapathar (5546m/18,195) 4 hours and trek to Periche 14,000 ft) 4 hours

Kalapathar is a rocky peak on the south west ridge of  Pumori. It is about 670 ft above the Everest Base Camp. In expedition fashion, we got up early (about 4:30 am) to get a head start to the top. It was fun to see the lights (from the climbers) in a line processing up the mountain side, well before sun rise. It was cold, but so worth the beautiful views that we gained.
Afterwards, be made our way to Gorak Shep then passed by Lobuche to go to Pheriche. In an answer to many prayers, the helicopter made its way (with gas in the tank-remember the petrol embargo) to Pheriche and took us to Lulka where the second helicopter then took us to Kathmandu.

Radio Tracking station seen on the way up Kalapathar

Looking down at base camp and over to Nuptse, Everest and Lhotse. Prayer flags in the foreground. 

Climbing to the top of Kalapathar

A blind woman that we had seen several times, being led up to Kalapather

Back to Gorak Shep

Pheriche

Two young women harvesting spinach outside behind the resort. That night it snowed and covered this garden (see pics below)

Got to eat dinner and enjoy conversations with our porters the last night in the mountains

I let them look at pictures of my family and other mountain adventures on my iPad

Boarding the helicopter in Lukla heading to Kathmadu

About to board the helicopter in Pheriche to fly to Lukla

The night snow fall in Pheriche (where the spinach was the night before)

Back to Kathmandu-eating great pizza and 'Fire and Ice Pizza'

Conclusion

George Mallory, one of the first Everest climbers, was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. He simply said "Because it is there!". Another outdoorsman said "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find our that going to the mountains is going home." Least you think that these were the words of some modern day pundit, explaining our need for the outdoors to combat the daily grind of our modern lifestyles,  John Muir made this statement in 1901. I loved being in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. I love  the mountains and the mountain eco systems. I love mountains also  as a metaphor for life. Spencer W. Kimball said, "We have paused on some plateaus long enough. There are great challenges to be met. I welcome the exciting prospects and feel to say to the Lord, 'Give me this mountain. Give me this challenge.'" Our task is to "press forward" to take on these challenges with a "with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope" that we can conquer these challenges of ours, and that we simultaneously have a "love of God and of all (men, women and children and all the places and cultures we find ourselves in)."

Bonus/Addendum -Kathmandu

Because of the uncertainty of the helicopter ride back to Kathmandu, we had a buffer day built into our agenda. We were able to get a tour with Mountain Monarch, which included the Bhaktgapur  region west of Kathmandu that dates back to the 8th centrury. There were many Buddhist and Hindu shrines that we were taken to.  In addition, we were taken to "Great Boudha Stupa" (seen in the 2014 film "Meet the Mormons") and the Pashupatinath Hindu Temple.
With the  petrol embargo, there were endless queues of deserted cars waiting for the gas stations to offer gasoline. Kathmandu seems to have no street signs; no traffic signs (stop lights, stops signs, yield signs etc). It is pure chaos. It reminds me of the Gainesville Florida streets, hours before the start of the  Gator football game in the "Swamp"- where traffic (pedestrian, bikes and cars) is spontaneous and the mindset is "no rules-let the best and craziest man/women/car, go by."
We left Nepal to fly back home at 11 pm and flew 6 hours to Hong Kong, 12 hours to LA and I soloed for another 4-5 hours to get to Tampa-talk about 'jet lag', but it was sooo worth it.

There was extensive damage to many of the structures from April  earth quake (7.3), which killed over 9 thousand people including at least 19 on Everest from a avalanche started by the earth quake.

Rope and rug making

More damage. These structure did not have adequate structural studs and beams let alone rebar 

Drying peppers.

Pottery

This is the  Boudha Stupa. It had severe damage to it as well. It had large triangular-brick tower that extended high from the top of the stupa, which toppled with the Aril earth quake. A careful look to the sides revels piles of the damaged brick

Buddhist Chanting 

Hindu Temple with monkeys in the foreground

The Hindu ceremony of getting holy water from the River for a recently deceased body wrapped in orange.  We were told that this river connects with the  Ganges River in India

Cremation Sites

Apparently lower caste cremation site

Buddhist Monks call to service (both had horns)

Great little children