Everest Trek Out-Takes, 3

Continuing the series...

Trail toward Thukla, memorial cairns and shrines all around

At Lobuche, the inn was full, and we ended up spending
the night in this (rented) tent, literally in the yak corral; a
cold and sleepless night, with the yak bells jingling all
night long

In the guest-house/restaurant at Lobuche we found a large
and friendly French party, enjoying pastis, cheese and
sausage--national honor to uphold--before ordering the
rather bland local fare

Speaking of which: click to enlarge and see a representative
guest-house menu (from a favorite, Mr. T's Yak Lodge in
Thukla)

Ditto; I ate a lot of dahl bhat during those 3 weeks, plus
eggs, toast and frites; Vicki would try the "pizza" and
"spaghetti" and such things, inevitably to be disappointed;
"pizza" =a round of flat bread, drizzled with catsup and
sprinkled with cheese flakes of uncertain origin, served
warm; lots and lots of tea, and no alcohol...but it works
and is do-able, especially after you learn the routine and
remember to use your Steri-Pen liberally

We did it! After Thukla and Lobuche comes
Gorak Shep, at 18,000 feet, and the trudge up
a ridge of Pumori to the place known as Kala
Pattar, the closest you can get to see Everest
without being on it; the mountain has been
hidden from view since Tengboche and can
not be seen from either Gorak Shep or the
base camp...

But then, as you trudge up Kala Pattar, it's
suddenly in your face, still 3 miles away and
two vertical miles up; you are just as close to
Lhotse and Nuptse and Pumori and other
giants, but this is the view you can't take
your eyes off

Closer up

Vicki plants a few prayer flags (and brought
a few back to adorn our RV and now our
cottage)

But then there's the way back down, first to Gorak Shep,
where it was 32 degrees inside the guest-house when we
left for Kala Pattar at 6 AM; and then more than a week
walking back to Lukla; by this time Vicki was sick, I had
already been sick but mostly recovered; at least on the
walk down you don't have to take acclimatization days, and
it's mostly down-hill

A few days later we were back in Tengboche, having dinner
with two American climbers headed up, when there was a
commotion in the dining room, everyone grabbing his or
her camera and rushing out the door; it had been a cloudy
day--our first on the trek--but then there was a hole in the
clouds and beautiful alpineglow on Everest, an unforgettable
sight

Everest Trek Out-Takes, 2

The trail above Namche, with Everest in view

Basic signage; our guide, Mingma Tshirng Sherpa, knew the
way, and much more; and had a cousin in every village

Entering legendary Tengboche

With more views of the mountain and

The famous monastery

Dazzling interior

On up the trail, House of Elrond

Water-driven prayer wheel; not sure of the theological
ramifications...

Ancient mani stones all along the way

For several days, Ama Dablam, regarded by some as the
most beautiful of mountains, dominates the view

Closer up 

Closer up still; 22,349 feet

Another guest-house room, in Pangboche 

Yak patties drying in the sun; major source of fuel at this
altitude, now getting over 14,000 feet

Not one of the more impressive bridges

The acclimatization program requires that you stop and, um,
acclimatize, every thousand feet or so, taking a day off;
here Vicki does the week's wash; we learned the next
morning the importance of taking the clothes off the line
and indoors before night-fall...

In the restaurant/communal room of yet another guest-
house, higher-up still, at Dingboche, as I recall

Everest Trek Out-Takes, 1

While not traveling, here in Menlo Park, I am going through the 87 gazillion pix I have taken these past three years (and also the 87 gazillon 35mm slides I took prior to about 2005; digitizing them, 4 at a time), and have resolved to post some of the pix that should have been blogged in earlier segments of our travels. When we did the Everest trek three years ago, I posted very few pictures on the blog. Connections were infrequent and of inconsistent quality, and I hadn't yet figured out whether the blog was going to be more words or more pictures. So here, and in the next few posts (it was a three week undertaking), are some pix and a little commentary on our 2008 Everest trek. You can find the original Everest trek posts using the keyword search feature on this site, or by clicking on Nepal in the tag cloud at the very, very bottom of the page, or simply by going to October, 2008.

In Thamel, the touristy section of Kathmandu, Nepal, where
one goes to do the Everest trek (from Nepal, anyway);
Thamel is a riot of everything...commerce, people, food and
drink, nationalities and ethnicities, travelers and trekkers,
touts and louts; and some wonderful Nepalese

Kathmandu airport, domestic terminal; another riot; we
would never have found our plane without the assistance
of Dawa Geljien Sherpa, our handler and savior

En route to Lukla from Kathmandu aboard Yeti Airlines and
a Twin Otter aircraft; click to enlarge and read the pilot's
take-off and landing check-lists; two days after we marched
off from Lukla, one of these craft crashed on landing, killing
all but the co-pilot

Aircraft carrier Lukla; 9100 feet altitude; 12 degree gradient;
they say it is 1500 feet long, but I wouldn't give it 1000 feet;
there are some great videos on YouTube and elsewhere of
landings and take-off's; it's at the head of a hanging box
canyon, so you only get one chance...

And we're on the trail from Lukla, two days to Namche
Bazaar, approaching the first of scores of Buddhist
billboards--centuries old, carved and then painted...

In a guest-house on the trail; spartan, and sometimes
dubious sanitation; but at $2-$4 a night, not over-priced;
they make their money mostly in the restaurant, more
about which later

Touching up a prayer wheel; prayer wheels and
associated religious paraphrenalia everywhere

Welcome to Mt. Everest National Park

More billboards

One awakes many mornings on the trail to the sound of
stone masons; there is not a lot of lumber up here, but a
lot of stone, and nearly everything is made of stone; beyond
Lukla, nearly everything is carried on the backs of porters or
zopkios and yaks to the several villages above

On one of many, many bridges over the Dudh Kosi, coming
down the Khumbu

Nearly all high suspension bridges like this, bedecked with
prayer flags

Entering Namche Bazaar, stupa and walls of prayer wheels;
Namche is the last "big" town on the trail, last chance for
equipment, provisions, meat....

Namche from above, as you head on up the trail

Thamserku from Namche

First sight of Everest, on the trail above Namche (it's the
distant peak between us)

Dear Missoula

I was up early, before the beginning of the Saturday book festival morning sessions, and walked a block to what I regard as Missoula's center, the Higgins Avenue Bridge over the Clark Fork of the Columbia River. It's a city of 60,000, a regional center and a university town, in a state with less than a million total population. I suppose there must be better instances of blend between the natural and the built. I haven't found any yet. Beautiful place, beautiful people.... We have to get back there...

Down-river from the bridge...Brennan's Wave, an artificial
wave built to honor a world-class Missoula kayaker who
died in Chile some years ago

The "historic" Wilma Theatre; where the book festival's
larger events are held; and, beyond, the art deco Florence
Hotel, where Rachel and Will had their wedding reception;
from the bridge

Also from the bridge, the Saturday morning farmers' market,
west annex (the larger and older market is by the Xs, three
blocks away) 

Other side of the bridge, Caras Park, one of several civic
centers

Other side still, old Milwaukee Station, now home of the
Boone and Crockett Club (yes, that Boone, that Crockett);
founded by Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, William
Tecumseh Sherman, and other conservation-minded pals

A block up-river, Mount Sentinel above the University of
Montana campus

Of all the places we have lived, it is the best; but there
is this one draw-back, starting always in October...up
high...

Taking off from Missoula Sunday afternoon; the Mission
Mountains, pretty much the view from our front porch for
ten years...