Getting high

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Pangboche, Nepal

Altitude at start of day: 5,200 meters / 17,056 feet

The day started early, as we were up at 4:45 so we could leave between 5:00 and 5:15 to go to Kalapattar in time for the sunrise. We were ready but couldn't find Ram or Hari. At 5:25 we witnessed something emerge from Ram's room. It looked like a much more horrible version of Ram. He obviously wasn't feeling well. Despite his state, a few minutes later, the four of us departed for Kalapattar.

This is the coldest weather we have experienced, aided by the wind in our faces the entire way up. Let me clarify this just a bit: the water in Dave's Nalgene bottle turned to ice within 45 minutes of departing the lodge.

This is also a very tough hike, even on the path. Early on we turned around and Ram looked like death so he turned back. Hari also went back after about 45 minutes. That's two experienced guides down. It was just me, Dave, numerous other trekkers and one hell of a climb ahead.

The trail took us around the mountain more than up but it still seemed tough. I realize that we're not properly acclimatized, it's early and we haven't slept well but it still seemed extremely difficult for what on paper is a 350 meter ascent. And it was not rolling at all, so every step should have got us closer to the top. As we reached the first plateau I noted to Dave that we'd have a spot to walk a bit more leisurely. Well, it was less difficult but far from leisurely. Even the flat spots seemed steep.

Of course, this began to try my patience. I had separated from Dave and muttered some choice phrases to myself. “For every GD 10 meters I climb it seems there's an extra 20 meters to go.” And “This damn trail winds around so much we'll never get there.” I took a shortcut off the trail which went straight up for a segment. This helped as at least it seemed like I went somewhere for all my effort.

And finally, “This sunrise better be worth it.” It was good from where I was - at least 30 minutes from the summit - but not the best I've seen. The clouds hindered it a bit. After the sunrise the climb became more of a mission to make it to the top than anything else.

I sat down several times along the way up. I kept looking back to see if Dave was okay below. Like me he drearily trudged along. This was going to be a long battle to the top.

The last section - maybe 100-200 meters long - was the steepest. The trail abrubtly ended and the remainder of the climb required us to ascend large boulders that I had to scramble on to get to the top. I had to stop every 20-30 meters to catch my breath. In the last couple minutes of the ascent, I knew what was missing. Hearts on Fire from Rocky IV popped into my head as I raced to the top (I didn't shout “Drago!”, though). I made it to the top at 6:58 am, in just under an hour and a half.

This hike is far more difficult than the last six miles of a marathon; it is mentally and physically exhausting. Throw in the cold and whipping wind and it makes for an unpleasant morning. But the good news rests with my parents - given the conditions we've faced over the last couple days and recognizing they would only get far worse on the mountain, I swore off making the big climb of Everest . That should make my parents very happy.

As I sat up top and looked around I thought about how difficult this was. It seemed too difficult for the low level that we ascended on paper. Granted there is an altitude effect and we were already a bit tired but I really doubted that this was only a 350 meter ascent from Gorak Shep. Either that elevation is wrong (as well as that of Everest Base Camp which appears far below,, even when understanding some of that may be due to some distance) or the Kalapattar elevation is off. Kalapattar felt closer to 6,000 meters though I'm sure it is short of that.

Dave made his summit at 7:06 am, a few minutes after me. He looked rough but was very happy he made it. We shared a guy hug and basked in the glory of our triumph, especially after his low point just a few days ago.

As we sat under the prayer flags, we soaked in the views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, base camp, Ama Dablam, some lakes far below and a steep cliff to one side. I do not have a fear of heights but that last view was a bit intimidating.

We discussed our thoughts on how difficult this was and the elevation. He agrees. We looked down at Everest Base Camp well below and over at Everest. While trying to judge an equal level from a distance is very tricky, it seemed we weren't too far below Everest Camp 1. About 200 meters below us towards Gorak Shep were two other shorter hills which we thought might have been where the 5,545 elevation is derived.

Could we be at the wrong spot? Is this not actually Kalapattar and maybe those shorter hills are the ones? Then why does everyone call this Kalapattar? Is everyone wrong? Could be, it's happened before.

After about 20 minutes up top, we descended much more rapidly than we came up. Our round trip was about three and a half hours.

Towards the bottom of our descent, we saw the rescue chopper land. We immediately became concerned about Ram and Hari, the former who looked awful this morning and the latter who had a bit of a headache last night.

At the bottom, Ram and Hari greeted us (so it obviously wasn't them). Ram hugged us both in a fatherly sort of way and apologized for not being able to climb with us. I told Ram where we were, showed him pictures and asked if we went to the right spot and was the elevation correct. He said we were at Kalapattar but he feels the posted elevation is much too low and that it is actually more like 5,800-5,900 meters (19,024-19,352 feet). This made us feel a lot better about the difficulty.

The rescue we saw was actually for a Singaporean. Apparently Singaporeans and Malaysians (the nationality of the rescued person we saw in Dingboche) have a lot of trouble with altitude. Some of it must be their being accustomed to low elevations but there also must be something genetic as many other parts of the world are near sea level.

We went inside and while we ate our breakfast a man was being helped out for another rescue. This was the father of a girl we saw at the fire last night. The girl and her presumed boyfriend had been joking last night about her father being ill in bed and there being no reason to check on him. Today he gets an expensive ride that he will most certainly not enjoy. Interestingly, we would see her later today at lunch. She hadn't heard from him at all and hadn't tried to find out his condition. We also learned that her father's was the third pickup, the first being the Singaporean and the second a scheduled ride for some folks who didn't care to walk back. So the sick father had to wait for the healthy people to go and the chopper to come back. Very strange.

My sinuses continue to be a mess. The cold and probably the thin air are wreaking havoc on them. For most of the morning I've emanated a Mello Yellow colored goo from within my chest. Before leaving for our descent, I popped some Mucinex to try and get rid of this. It could get ugly.

On our walk down to Pheriche, the first part to Thukla (The House of Pain) went quick. We stopped for tea quickly and moved on as soon as we could. Dave never wants to see that place again. I am convinced that Thukla is the devil's lair - it is always cold, cloudy and windy, the accommodations and food are abysmal and pure anguish emanates from the valley. And I wasn't even the one who got sick there.

The next stretch was much more difficult even though we had done it before. For one thing, I couldn't remember so many rocks in the area. It's like someone air dropped 100,000 tons of new rocks into this stretch since we were here a few days ago. My knees are also shot, my sinuses in an uproar, I am exhausted from lack of sleep, it's cloudy and snowing and there's a 15 mph headwind. As I mentioned these things, Dave referred to me as a “cranky little bitch”. He was right.

The worst part of all that is that I haven't slept much in a week. Actually, I've only gotten a few quality nights of sleep in the past three months. Dave said I must have insomnia. If so, I'll have to check and see if my insomnia has led to a split personality at night. Maybe I wake up as a different person and make soap and serve as a waiter to pee in people's soup.

After what seemed like an eternity, we made it to lunch in Pheriche. The dietary restrictions still partially intact, I had noodles but at least with egg and cheese. The reemergence of protein in my diet did wonders. I can't handle an all starch diet.

The snow flurries and wind continued after lunch, as well as my hacking cough but at least the disgusting color subsided.

As we continued to descend, the immediate scenery grew much more aesthetic. At one point I turned to Dave a excitedly proclaimed “Look!” “What?” “Trees!” After days of nothing but barren wasteland at our grasp, it was wonderful to see nature surviving again. What a huge difference a little bit of greenery makes.

Our knees and feet hurting, in the late afternoon we arrived in Pangboche where we would spend the night. We were both disappointed as we had thought we would be staying in Debuche - an hour farther - where we had stayed on our way up. The real letdown was the lack of what we knew to be a clean hot shower, even if the water stopped mid shower and yours truly was stuck in nothing but a towel while one of the workers heartily sucked the pipe to remove a possible clog.

The place isn't nearly as bad as Lobuche or Gorak Shep (and no place is as bad as Thukla) but the shower is still a bit nasty so we'll be waiting another day. I really need one, too. I am the stinky trailer park kid in grade school that everyone used to make fun of. Actually, I'm much more putrid than that.

One upside about this place was dinner. We had pizza. One for me, one for Dave and another which we split. I doubt pizza has ever tasted so good to anyone. That said, I believe it would be mediocre at best in a normal environment. Dave disagrees. What matters is its glory to us tonight.

After a bit of time by the fire, we headed off to bed at 8:00. I feel like and old person. In bed by 8:00 and taking all sorts of pills - Advil earlier for my sore knees, Tylenol for that post-skiing I spent too much time in the cold and am a bit off feeling, Diamox for prophylactically mitigating altitude sickness, Nyquil for my wretched sinuses and a Vitamin for general health.

Tomorrow we continue our descent to Namche where hopefully I can take a nice refreshing shower and feel somewhat like a human being again. Right now I am a cross between dog poop stuck on the bottom of your shoe and and an appendectomy.

Altitude at end of day: 3,985 meters / 13,071 feet

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Photos

Sunrise
The sun rises behind Everest.

Surrounding mountains
Some of the other mountains, including Ama Dablam.

Dave's summit
He's tired but he made it.

Long way down
Looking down from the top of Kalapattar. The bottom eighth is where I am and everything else is 100+ meters below.

Everest Base Camp
Looking at base camp far below.

Me and Dave
A photo at the top.

Kalapattar
Looking up at the top over the large boulders.

Ama Dablam
One of the prettiest peaks in the area.

Rescue chopper
Getting ready to pickup Gorak Shep victim one on the day.

Thukla
A very bad place.