Trek! Days 1-14

Day One- Nose Dive Landing.
Wake up at 0430 after sleeping only 2 hours- we are too excited to sleep! Mr. Horka (our guide) and Kristi (from trek company) greet us and we all drive to the airport. Domestic side is different from international. There is a pile of dog poo on the floor! People are bringing supplies and goods to be flown to Lukla- we see bags of rice, doors, plywood, chicken soup, and a wood stove. We board an 18 passenger ‘twin otter’- it appears to have made many trips to Lukla. The stewardess points us to seats and hands out cotton balls to plug our ears and candy to suck on- the cabin is not pressurized- daylight comes through the door seams after its closed. I’m a little anxious. The combination of a small plane from a third world nation flying into the highest mountain range on earth scares me. We take off. Fly through clouds for a few minutes adn then emerge above them- but we are not alone- to the left is the Himalaya! The peaks sore above the clouds- the peaks are higher than the otter! The flight lasts 30 mins and by the time we approach Lukla we are surrounded by mountains- in fact, we are flying directly towards one...I feel the plane slow and we suddenly dip, I see the mountain side out the pilots window. We dip again and I have Steve’s arm in a death grip- I see the mountain base. We dip steeply and I see the ground but no runway. I’m freakin out and weird noises of fear escape me. I think we are nose diving to the ground but then I see runway! The pilot swoops the plane up at the last moment and we bounce along the pavement. The plane comes to a stop in less than thirty seconds! We exit and see that the runway is very short and goes uphill. At the far end is the mountain and the other end is a drop off. The airport is on the mountain ledge.
We have breakfast at a tea house- porridge for me and eggs for Steve. Horka arranges a porter to carry our pack. Our pack weighs 22kg and I feel guilty that someone else will be carrying it for 3 weeks. However, its not long before my guilt subsides. Not only is day one being done on little sleep, the terrain is constantly up and down. The trail is rocky and a little slick from the rain. We learn that porters carry up to 120kgs! An average load is 40-50kg. Our bag is a simple load. Our porter catches up to us as we break for lunch at a tea house a few hours in. He is maybe 4’5’’ and looks like a Himalayan hard man. He seems to be grateful to be hired in the off season because he thanks us heartily for the job. He jimmies up the pack to his forehead strap and burns up the trail- he is wearing flipflops. We pass through several villages. No roads, just paths, farm animals are roaming and locals are working. We both feel like trespassers in some far off land. I want to tip toe and apologize for being there...people just smile and go about their business. Children pause to give us a folded hand ‘namaste’ then run off.
Two hours later we arrive to Manjo at 2835m (9300ft) and stop for the night. Our feet are sore from the rental boots- happy to be resting.

Day 2- By Steve
Slept good but kept waking up, some sort of rodent running around our room
BJ said it was in the walls, but don’t believe her
Took 3 hours to get to Namche Bazar
Heart rates both at 72 resting
Saw REALLY small kids, maybe 3 years old but less than 2 feet tall, we call them buddah babies.
Sherpa granny passed us on trail- at least 70 years old/4 ft tall/ no teeth/ wearing flipflops
took showers but were too hot, no cold water, staying at “everest hotel”
New discovery: RaRa noodles = Ichiban noodles! This is good :)
Clear morning but rained a little at noon
Saw injured woman riding in a porter basket- on way to hospital in Lukla
Today is July 12th, 2009 AD. In Nepal it is July 12th, 2066 BS. I think BS stands for “Before Sherpa” but I don’t know for sure
No headaches, no AMS symptoms

Day 3: By Steve
Woke up to clear skies
Hiked to lookout ridge above Namche, 400m elevation gain for acclimatization, took 2.5 hours.
BJ has big blisters all over her feet. She is a trooper.
Saw part of Everest!
Today is the best day because BJ turns 84 in Nepali years! She is older than me and I feel young :)
Bad news: BJ has head cold. She shows no signs of AMS but has little energy. I will keep a close eye on her. I love her way more than any of these mountains.
Mailed post card to mom and dad. Little hope it will make it. Don’t have address book so couldn’t mail anymore.

Day 4: “Showers Ready!”
I feel better than yesterday. I can’t think of a worse place to have a head cold. Its hard to breathe when I lay down and my throat is swollen and sore. We loaded up on drugs in from the shops in Namche. You can buy all sorts of drugs here! We decided to push on and leave Namche Bazar. Clear skies and we see all of everest- so exciting!!!
Trek in view of Everest and Lhotse for an hour and then turn up a valley. Going up to 3979m today then back down to 3500m. Get to 3979 and stop for lunch. I have zero appetite and have to force myself to eat the RaRa. I feel like I’ve just had turkey dinner and have to eat another turkey dinner. Takes a long time to eat. Steve has no problem- he pounds back a mountain of dal baht. I just stare at him in disbelief. We see kids at the teahouse and they wrestle and fight, some things are universal! We see yaks on the trail. They look like small cows with big horns who are covered in wooly fur!
Sunburnt faces/necks/arms. Temperature in the mid 20’s. Despite duct taping my blisters most of them are worse. Its very painful. I will wear my own shoes tomorrow.
We arrive to Phortse Tanga. I’m not feeling well. My lunch time RaRa is sitting in my stomach like a rock and the blisters are really raw. Steve is playing cards with H & M and the tea shop worker. I stink and decide a shower will do me good. Steve runs to the room and says “shower is ready!” So I go. I get in and turn on the water. Its very cold. I wash my feet with the cold water. Its not getting warm. I decide to wash my hair while the water warms up...I get it shampooed and partially rinsed then suddenly there is no water at all. AH!!! I fiddle with the tap. Nothing. I have to dry my legs and feet and get redressed. I go to the sink and finish rinsing the shampoo out. I am freezing cold. I go back to the room and use baby wipes to finish my ‘shower’. I can hear Steve and the others laughing and having a good time, I am miserable. Steve comes bouncing into the room and asks “how was your shower?!” We find out later that they have add a bucket of hot water to the water supply on the roof when someone wants to shower. That didn’t happen for me. Everyone has a good laugh at my expense, I hold Steve fully responsible :) I feel like crap all evening. No appetite.

Day 5: Blisters
-I wake up feeling better and am even hungry!
I eat some Yak milk rice pudding with raisins for breaky- mom’s is WAY better
- I wear my own shoes.
-I make little padded band aides using tissue, antibacterial gel, and duct tape for the really open blisters
Hit the trail- clear skies with cloudy patches
Yak had diarrhea all over trail for at least a kilometer
Monsoon rain makes trail muddy but at least it only rains in evenings/night
Many waterfalls along trail today
Climb 500m over 2 hours. Both feeling well
Elevation at Dole 4084m
Hungry at elevation!
Wash stinky clothes in river.
Eat lunch of RaRa noodles and MoMo’s (no meat here)
Food sits in stomach like rock. Again.
Play cards/play chess/read.
Hope my feet heal

Day 6: By Steve
-Trek to Macherimo @ 4410m
-Both feel good with no AMS symptoms
Had great view of Cho Oyo!
Above tree line now. Sun is HOT, wind is COLD
This tea house is empty. It is very nice though.
Tried on Pack “sherpa style” today. It was ok but could not walk very long like that.
02 level at 57% (relative to sea level)
Played cards and taught H&M new gambling game. They love it. They teach us Nepali card games. Mohan’s english is fast and random. Its funny.
BJ’s feet are a little better, but blister splits open when in squatter shitter position.
Extra Large fly in BJ’s potatoes.

Day 7: Missing Home
-Slept off and on. Made 2am dash to squatter in my undies. I like being the only one here!
Been bona-fide vegetarians for several days now. No meat here in the low season. Even fruit (canned or fresh) seems to be non-existent.
Food mainly consists of starches- Potatoes, rice, pasta. Veggies include onion/garlic/ and something similar to bok choy but they call it cabbage and it tastes like sand.
Steve got a little bit of cauliflower in his dal baht today
We eat yak milk (technically nak milk b/c a yak is a boy!) and yak cheese.
Hike today was nice. Made it to Gokyo in 3 hours
Glacier lakes and frikkin awesome mountain views.
Wind is cold and the sun still burns.
Walked by a rustic yak farm
A horse walked up the trail to us today. I put out my hand and he came up to me for a scratch.
Blisters are on the mend but I may have to wear torture boots for climb tomorrow.
Missing luxuries of home and thinking of home alot
I miss my shower gel and puff ball. Miss running water and power.
Our tea house guy just loaded up the wood stove with dried yak shit.
Miss all things bad! Ice cream, pizza and TV.
Miss breathing normal. Any exertion here makes you short of breath and dizzy.

Day 8: Gokyo Ri
Go to bed early and sleep horribly. Constantly tossing and turning, hot and cold
Wake up at 0430 to climb Gokyo Ri
Eat chapati and tea before leaving at 0500
I can’t bear to put on those boots- I wear my own shoes.
Cold out! A few clouds in sky
Hard to breathe as we switchback up the mountain
Moment of weakness an hour in. “Thats it!!! Steve, we are going home and Making babies!!! No more of this Shit!!” Steve laughs and gives me water as we rest.
Keep climbing up up up!
See strange bird family. They fly like kamikaze style but soar like eagles.
Can’t breathe well as sinus cold has gone to the chest...coughing sputum
We summit in 2 hours and have wicked clear view of Everest/Lhotse/Makalu
Took many photos @ 17590ft!!!
No wind but clouds move quickly around other mountain peaks
Its Amazing and this is the highest we have ever been!
Its OUR top of the world!
Spend 45 mins at summit
Eat chocolate and nuts.
Takes 1 hour 20 mins to de-summit
We are proud of our climb. We eat RaRa and go back to bed
Both wake up with massive headaches
My head pulses with every heart beat. My eyeballs bulge out of the socket with each heartbeat. I pop Ibuprofen. Crawl back into bed.
Later I find Steve in the dining hall chatting with an Irish girl. Her name is Tracey. We play cards and chat.
Finally eat dinner and sleep.

Day 9: Down we go
-Coughing through night keeps me awake
Leave Gokyo and make way back to Phortse Tanga. It takes 7 hours.
Sadly lost 800m in elevation.
Should feel like super woman with all these extra red blood cells but I don’t- I’m dead tired and have chills.
Steve is having a problem with his right leg. He thinks its nerve related not muscular. We suspect it could be due to his ambitious attempt at wearing the pack ‘sherpa style’
I barely eat dinner, appetite is low and the chemical flavor of the packaged spaghetti sauce is highly unappealling.
Play cards and read, in bed at 2000hrs.

Day 10: A rough day
Steve’s Account:
Left Phortse Tanga for Pangboche. BJ has hit her lowest mental level yet. She got REALLY p.o’d at all the ups and downs on the trail today. She even threw her hiking stick on the trail (it almost went off the side of the mountain...) I didn’t say anything because I was afraid. I was praying that her ipod would not run out of juice, I’m sure that it would have been the cake topper. She got a hold of herself and we continued. Made it to Pangboche in about 3 hours. We washed some clothes and our hair in the river and tried to eat some lunch. BJ had potato salad and soup. I had “potato’s with on top two eggs”. We played cards and chilled until dinner. I had dal baht and she had some fried rice. We watched some of a Nepali movie then BJ felt like she was going to puke. In ten minutes she was behind the building blowing chunks by light of her headlamp. I stood by her and comforted her. After she was done I put her to bed. We think it was the rice. She had a very rough day. She slept like a log. In the morning we checked to see the puke, the stray dogs ate it.
BJ’s Account:
Another night of coughing. We ate RaRa for breaky and hit the trail. Climbed three of the four hundred meters in 30 mins! WOW! We must be uber loaded with red blood cells! We stop for tea at Phortse. We keep going- more elevation- then more, and more- WTF? Every time we cross a ridge on the mountain side we see more trail with more elevation to be gained. Knowing we only have a 400m gain for our next stop and we have already gained 300m means we were working really hard and will inevitably descend. ARGH. Thats It!!! We’ve been ascending and descending for ten days!! I have a death grip on my hiking pole and begin stabbing it into the trail. The anger is brewing- I think H&M sense it and are keeping some distance behind us. I’m so mad. I turn on my ipod and try to get in a groove- I try to find my happy place. So frustrated! I’m crying but no tears come. I throw my pole at the mountainside and it nearly goes off the edge of the cliff. I decide I’m just being ridiculous and try so hard to cheer up but not even the views can pacify me. Steve says “its a mountain in the himalaya- its going to be hilly.” I’m just tired of it all. We see some mountain goats which are much different than the ones at home. I am happy to see some wildlife. We make it to Pangboche. I have pen tip sized water blisters all over my right arm from the sun. It feels like reptile skin. Steve’s head is peeling from his sunburn and the new skin is burning- its very painful for him. We wash in the river. Tracey makes it to our hut. Nice company. There are the cutest stray dogs here- they look like little bears. The locals are mean and kick them, toss water at them, and fire rocks at them. There is a sherpa here who has summited Everest four times. We play cards. I attempt to eat dinner but am unable to finish my fried rice- something is wrong. I am barfing my face off behind the hut in no time. Can’t think of a worse place to be barfing. Steve preps my bed and gets me gravol- he’s been a good nurse for me. I sleep all night- only get up once to use squatter. Feel better in morning. I eat a pancake and Steve eats RaRa. Horka agrees we are ok to go on.

Day 11: We find Bread!
Leave Pangboche and walk 3 hours to Periche. The walk is gentler than yesterday and the little black bear dog has followed us. Steve lets me pretend the black dog is ours and refrains from kicking it :) We pass memorials to those lost on surrounding mountains. We see a yak farmer and no one else (except for Tracey and her guide). We stay at the nicest tea house yet- its very clean and warm. We even have our own flushable toilet! We wash clothes in the river- I am really tired of stinking. I think the diet makes us stink worse- all the onions and garlic added to everything. While at the river a massive brown yak creeps up to less than ten feet behind us. He is walking away by the time I get a photo. Horka has some exciting news for us- the tea house has bread!! Its the first place that has bread! They also have tuna! Steve orders a grilled tuna and I get a grilled veg sandwich! Its made of onion, garlic, cabbage, AND carrot! Its delicious! The bread is light and fluffy! Later this night we even eat a can of fruit salad! I am finally feeling better (other than the loose cough) and we celebrate with some chocolate.

Day 12: Up up and Away
I slept so well I could barely pull myself out of bed @ 0700. The usual routine- porridge for me and RaRa for Stevie. On the trail by 0830- followed for some time by three stray dogs. I feel good, can breathe clear and the cough is loosening up. We have to take the long path to Thukla d/t the bridge being washed out on the shorter route- it adds an hour and a half to the hike. An hour or so in we spot Tracy's guide but no Tracy. The guide talks to H&M in Nepali. Steve asks ‘where is Tracy?’ he replies with “she wants to go back down” and quickly walks away. Hmmm...we see no sign of Tracy and I’m worried. We ask Horka what was said. The guide told him that she is mad that they walked too far yesterday and she wants to go back. We keep walking and it is sometime before we finally see Tracy- I am relieved to see her. As we approach each other on the trail we see she is upset and crying. Turns out her guide was a total creeper and thought they should share a room together for each others safety. She refused and he became angry and called her a stupid woman and then refused to talk to her. Freaky!! She was heading back to Kathmandu and he was no longer her guide. I was pretty shocked though that he would not arrange for someone to walk with her! We suggested she head to the lodge we were just at b/c it was nice and comfortable. There was a woman there waiting for her family and Tracy had met her before...perhaps they could trek down together.
Later we saw a sick woman coming down the mountain on a horse. Then at Thukla we met another woman with a fairly bad case of AMS on her way to lower elevation. AMS is scary and serious! Go slow! Thats the rule! After a RaRa lunch and macoroni for Steve, we start climbing and gaining big elevation. We hike up a steep rocky valley. While Steve and I are breathing hard and breaking, H&M chat and sing! I love when they sing. The wind is howling and cold on our backs but then it will suddenly stop and the sun bakes us. We get to the valley top and are met with a sombre site. There is a memorial site for climbers and sherpas lost on Everest. There are prayer flags on the stoopa’s and the clouds are blowing between them. Spooky and sad.
We arrive at Labouche at 1400hrs. Its the most expensive place yet! A cup of tea is 55rps compared to 30 when we started out. RaRa us 260rps- we paid 120rps at lunch! No other trekkers are at the tea house- only locals. The clouds have blown in and obscured everything so we play cards/chat/read. We eat a traditional yak meat snack. They don’t have fridges or freezers here...so they dry the yak meat. Then they cook it with spices. We have not yet had yak meat because its not the on season. I find it much much too spicey- it burns. And its like chewing on leather. The locals wash it down with a homebrew called Chang. It looks like milkshake but it is made from fermenting rice. We try that. Its horrible shit. Tastes like rotten yeasty loaf of bread with more rotten flavor added and a hint of alcohol. Its getting dark, they start playing with the power to get some lights on. A tiny old man stands on the plastic lawnchairs and rubs the florescent light tubes...apparently massaging the lights makes them come on...
One week left! Tomorrow we hike to Gorak Shep and then to EBC after lunch!

Day 13: EBC
- I have a PB&J pancake for breakfast, the PB is so dry it crumbles out of the jar! Tasted ok though, Steve ate RaRa.
- Leave Labouche at 0830. I felt like I couldn’t get going today despite a good sleep. My legs were like jelly. Still, we made good time to Gorak Shep- just two hours and 15 mins!
Steve still has pain in his right leg.
Clear blue skies in the morning. Sun burns us and my water blisters reappear all over my arm
Passed more memorials today
Hiked along the Khumbu glacier and up steep moraine
considered hiking kala pathar today but the clouds came in
Went to base camp instead! YAY!
Was great to be “where it all begins” but there wasn’t anything there! No prayer flags, no stoopa’s, couldn’t see any litter. Just glacier rock.
We couldn’t walk to the Khumbu ice fall because the glacier we were on was melting and shifting, across from us was Nuptse- who is making noise! Rockslides and avalanches are constant!
Horka broke a peice of glacier off for us. Steve ate it and it was full of sand.
I like the glacier dust here, its sparkly and makes my pants sparkle
Very tired now and cold. We are huddled in the tea house wearing down jackets, wrapped in blankets, and playing cards.
Its raining out
Kala Patar in the am.

Day 14: Kala Patar
What a day! Long day! Woke up at 0430 to climb Kala Patar. My lips were sore when I woke- felt like there were 2 cracks down the sides of my bottom lip. It was painful to form some words. I tell Steve something is wrong with my mouth. I get my headlamp and find a mirror- my lips are swollen up like sausages! Your kidding! I turn on the light to show Steve- he learns in to get a closer look and starts laughing- “you look like buba!” The sun from yesterdays climb must have burnt my lips! I brush my teeth but can’t spit. I take ibuprofen. We go to eat at 0500 and I spill my hot chocolate and oatmeal. The swelling seems to be going down by the time we are on the trail- but I can’t smile because it feels like the lips will split. I know what I will look like with collagen implants.
Turns out the peak visible from Gorak Shep is not the true summit of Kala Patar. It takes an hour and 45 mins to summit. KP isn’t as steep as Gokyo Ri and I make it without any moments of weakness ;) We find tonnes of prayer flags on the summit and they are something of a hazard! They get tangled up in your shoes easy and with a shear drop to the left of the summit it makes us extra cautious. The views were absolutely incredible! Clear skies and we are directly across from Everest. We can see the south col, and hillary step. We are directly below Pumor Ri. We take photos for nearly an hour at 18210ft (5550m). The O2 level is below 50%. Takes an hour to descend and we decide to have some RaRa and then hike to lower elevation today. A man enters the tea house and following him is Tracy! Wow! I was surprised and super happy to see her. She took some time at Periche and decided to push on. I’m so happy she gets to finish her trek and she is heading up KP for the clear views of the morning.
We leave Gorak Shep and set our sites to Thukla. Its a long climb down but we keep a steady pace. We finally get to Thukla- a little tired and a lot hungry. Mohan has a headache so we agree we should have a rest and food at Thukla and then keep going lower. Steve and I both order macoroni with tomato sauce. The food comes and we dig in- the sauce is separate from the noodles and this is how we notice something weird. The noodles look like they been boiled in dirty water. Steve finds a small oval brown piece inside a noodle. Then I spot one in mine. Hmm...Steve says “it must be a spice” and I said “yeah right, its a mouse shit.” Steve disagrees but I know what a mouse shit looks like and we dig out 8 more mouse shit containing noodles. Appetite lost. Steve says to the tea house worker who has black toe nails “What the hell is this? Mouse shit??!” The guy stares at it, picks at it, and can’t answer. We all decide its mouse poo. Barf! There are no health inspectors out here...the worker didn’t even apologize. I am so happy we are continuing down...
We hike on. Steve and I chat about home and what we want to do when we have a home. I want to learn to can food- make some pickles and salsa. A few hours later and we get to the tea house we were aiming for. It was closed! We hike on. We get to the next village- all is closed! We hike on. In the end we hike all the way to Pangboche. We are so tired and stiff- overall we hiked over 12 km and lost over 1.2 km in elevation. A 12 hour day of exertion. My lips are still puffy, anything salty burns like acid on them, but they are getting better. We will sleep in.