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Published: October 16th 2014
Blog Entry 7.
So here's the deal. When we started talking about this trip, we selected the month of October for our journey because October is dry in the Himalaya ... that is ... of course ... unless there is a cyclone in the Indian Ocean (when is the last time YOU worried about the weather in the Indian Ocean?). Anyway, there is a cyclone and it is impacting the weather here in the Himalaya. On day two and day three of the trek we had rains and were all concerned because big chunks of our limited wardrobes were soaked.
Luckily, on day four we awoke to clear sunny skies and it has been nice ever since. Our gear has dried out and sunscreen is essential ... beautiful weather. But we are still dealing with the impact of the cyclone. At higher elevations, all that rain turned into .... wait for it ... SNOW. And now, with the beautiful weather, the snow is melting like the Wicked Witch of the West. Today, as we moved over 14,000 feet we had to slog through snow and mud, slowing us down and making our adventure all the more ... ADVENTUROUS!
Today we are at Machhermo (which sounds like a hill town in Tuscany, but is really a small village sitting at 14,600 feet in the Choy Oyu Region of the Himalaya). It is the highest any of us have ever been. We are doing fine and our guides seem confident that we will be able to ascend Gokyo Ri on Saturday.
Yesterday we got our first look at Everest. It was a long way away, but still impressive. The Everest Massif is an outcropping of three gigantic mountains separating Nepal from Tibet. The three include Mount Everest (of course), Lhotse and Nuptse.
The trek has been a challenge. The ascents keep getting steeper, while the air keeps getting thinner. "Slow and Steady" is the name of the game. We learned a new term ... "Nepali flat" ... meaning uphill, but not straight uphill. And there has been the occasional lament "We are really going up there??"
But we are having a good and rewarding time.
Adam and Susie ... We again want to thank Adam and Susie for joining our trek. Their positive attitudes and general good spirits have made a nice addition to the group. Everyone out there should know that Adam and Susie speak with great affection and appreciation for the friends and family who made their recent wedding special.
Our Guides ... We are being cared for by three very capable guides. Our head guide is Giri, who has been guiding the Himalaya for 26 years. Giri is a cross between a cruise director and an autocrat, but he is keeping us fed, housed and safe ... and near as we can tell we are not lost. The second guide is Chi-Tri and he sets the pace. It is tough to explain how important "pace" is. Chi-Tri has evaluated our group (apparently we are quite "average") and makes sure we don't go too fast. He is a Godsend and we love him. Our final guide is Prem. Prem is a 22 year old "trainee" and the ladies think he is adorable. As the youngest member of the team he gets to carry the first-aid kit and all the extra gear. Prem also has the good fortune of running sweep, which means he has to stay behind all of us ... he's thrilled.
Carbo Loading ... Our food on the trek has been plentiful but bland. Westerners have not had good luck with Nepali meat or uncooked fruits/vegetables so we are eating a lot of carbohydrates. Lots of pasta, rice, bread and ... well ... pasta, rice and bread (Gluten Intolerants need not apply).
Melissa Nikolai ... A big shout out to Melissa Nikolai. We love all of comments (keep them coming) so imagine our delight when we opened up the blog the other day and there were 24 new comments. The only problem was that 18 of them were the exact same comment from Melissa. Melissa Baby, you only need to press the "send" button once. When informed of his sister's "enthusiasm" Tim rolled his eyes and lamented "Yep! That's my sister."
Watches ... Its amazing how advanced watches have gotten. Scott for example has a watch that measures altitude, distance, changes in elevation, temperature, heart rate, body temp and barometric pressure. It can also change stone into gold, and on really clear days the watch allows Scott to move objects with his mind. Jeff's watch tells time.
Altitude Sickness ... we have noticed that the Altitude is starting to affect people ... slowing their senses ... clouding their minds. For example on our "rest" day we took an acclimatization hike around Namche Bazzar. When we arrived at a nearby village for lunch, John pulled out his room key ... not realizing that we were in a completely different village.
Altitude Sickness - Part Two ... For you euchre players, the other night Jim ordered a loner hands in clubs. The five cards in his hand were the Jack of Clubs, the Jack, King and Ten of Spades and the Ten of Diamonds. It was pointed out that maybe ... just maybe ... Jim might have wanted to play spades.
More tomorrow from Gokyo.
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Len Nikolai
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18 emails from who???
So, back here, when I hit the send button nothing happens. We don't know if it goes to cyberspace or Timbucktoo. (Is that a village somewhere over there?) So, if you would, on your next blog, let us know if you're getting some from Heidi & I. I'm still impressed with that airport, especially with that wall at the end of the 500 yd runway, that tends to "shorten" some planes. Wish I was there. How 'bout them KC Royals! Len