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Day 9 begins as the rest. Early breakfast, on the trail as soon as the sun breaks into the valley.

Leaving Laboche at around 630am, we arrive in Gorak Shep(16,961ft) around 11am. Stopping for a quick tea and a light lunch, only 8 of us make the trek to basecamp.

Although there is only a 200meter elevation difference between the lodge and EBC(Everest Base Camp), the trek was by far the most difficult to date. Not only was it physically tiring, it was the most mentally crushing event of my entire life. I had to push myself to continue harder then I’ve ever had to push myself before. ‘why am I doing this’, ‘can I even make it back to camp’.

The air is so thin, the terrain so rocky and untravelled, even the smallest of rocks seem like an insurmountable hurdle. I stop to catch my breath. I’m trying to take the deepest ones I can but they are not helping, infact, they are working against me. As I inhale to 100%, my body gives me the feeling I’m suffocating. Short and choppy is the only way I can do it, but that uses more energy. It’s a catch22, it’s quicksand at 17,000ft above sea level.

Finally, there it is. 50-70 sprawlling yellow, orange, blue and red tents. We are here. One more hill to go. As we reach the crest of the last hill it’s amazing. There are about 60 of us at the lookout point which looks down on the tents located ontop of the ice field.

I’m exhausted beyond belief. If I could of stayed there, I would have. If I could have rented a horse, a yak, a Sherpa, anything or anyone to carry me home I would have. Dad is is no better shape then I. We are both struggling for every breath, our bodies ache, it’s freezing cold and we have a 2+ hour journey home. We muster enough courage for a few group pictures, and the ones him and I made the trek for. We pick ourselves up, and head back to the lodge.

By now you know the torment we went through to get there, imagine the hike back. Legs and backs burning, muscles fatigued with not enough oxygen to replenish them, survival mode to say the least. It was twice as difficult to get home as it was to get there, and that’s being generous. No phones, no cabs, no friends to call for a ride. Alone, on another planet. Mountains surround us on all sides, glaciers at the bottom, no vegitation what so ever. Rocks, rocks, more rocks. No path, no shelter, 3 sips of water left. WTF am I doing here. All this for 3 stupid pictures. I’m sure it will all be worth it some day, right now that’s hard to see.

We came home and went straight to bed. A 2 hour nap before being woken up for dinner. Downstairs for 20minutes to get some food in us, then right back to bed.

Tomorrow, Day 10, brings Kala Patthar. Coach White promises this is the view we’ve come all this way for. God I hope he’s right, I can’t take another day like today, ever!

Day 8 started at 530am with coffee. Breakfast at 6, leave at 7. Our coldest morning yet. We were on the shady side of a windy valley. The water pipes running to the lodge were frozen, toilets unflushable, frost on the ground.

We parted ways with Austin, aka Captain Canada. He is on his way to summit Island Peak. We all wish him the best.

It was a steady climb. No major hills, a few stream to skip over early in today’s journey.

We stopped in Dughla(15,090ft) for a quick tea and rest. We stayed no more than 30minutes.

As we were leaving we noticed a Yak who was tied up in a bag he was packing. The bags they usually pack are about the size of a hockey bag and are stacked 2 on each side, with 2 or 3 on the top row. This Yak had 2 on the sides, and 2 on the top. One of the top row bags had end handles on it, and the Yak had managed to get his left horn stuck inside of it. He seemed to be in distress, with his head being pulled in an awkward angle to the left.

Without a thought for his own safety, our very own Super Sherpa Extraordinaire, Kami, ran towards the Yak and attempted to save it from it’s current situation.

Approaching ‘slowly slowly’ (his words), and using a calm mellow tone in his voice, Kami was able to grab a hold of the Yaks right horn and try to get it’s left horn unhooked. The Yak shook him off like a flea.

Kami dropped his backpack and went right back at it. While wrangling this 1000lbs animal, Kami was able to hold on long enough this time to pull the handle off of the horn and free it once and for all. The crowed cheered with delight.

It wasn’t until I showed him the video I captured on my camera that he realized the true gravity of what he had accomplished.

If you have been reading my blog from the start you will have seen Kami in a orange foamy cowboy hat and I made a joke about him being a Sherpa Cowboy. Well ladies and gentlemen, he truly is a real life Sherpa Cowboy and I have the video to prove it!

We stopped by a hilltop memorial area for all the fallen mountaineers of years passed. With a great background we posed for group shots taken by a fellow Canadian trekker who was passing by.

We ended up in Lobouche(16,207ft) in a small lodge that drops to a freezing cold as soon as the sun hides behind the surrounding mountains.

We played a little Texas Hold’Em until 8pm-ish, then we all retired for bed.

Tomorrow, Day 9, we strike for basecamp. Our bags will be packed before we eat breakfast at 6am, and we will be out the door shortly after.

I am wearing my excitement on my sleeve. I’m hyper (what else is new), giddy, anxious, and nervous.

More to come…

We left Pangbouche(12,890ft) for a day of steady climbs. The groups morale was good, everyone is in good spirits and we’ve had no illnesses.

By the time we reached Shomare(13,350ft) we have been staring at Mt Everest(29,028ft), Lhotse(27,890ft), and Peak38 (24,900ft) for half an hour. It looks close enough I can almost touch it. The jet stream peels a cloud of moisture off of Everest like steam from a locomotive, we can see it in great detail. As we walk for the next 3 hours, the view barely changes. We are walking past Ama Dablam(22,401ft), now looking at a different side of it than we have seen before. Our group stops multiple times for pictures with some of the best backdrops the Himalayas have to offer. Snow topped peaks as high as, and higher then, the clouds themselves.

We arrive in Pheriche(14,070ft) on schedule, but out of breath. The air is thin here. The group is starting to fatigue from the smallest of chores. Walking upstairs feels like you’ve run a 100yard sprint, even walking down the hall is something will avoid if possible.

We are now above the tree line. There is very little vegitation, very few flowers, and besides birds there are no wild animals. There are no trees to cut down for fuel, no camp fires here.

Heat is provided by the burning of Yak dung. As unpleasent as that sounds, it smells even worse. The lack of electrical, construction, gas, and ventillation code is a constant conversation within our group. Our food is provided by kerosene burners, the kitchen is a small room in the back with no electrical fan and a window smaller then most of us have in our water closet. Slippers, sweatshirts, jackets, and tooques are the norm before, during, and after dinner.

As I watch the % of battery remaining on my iPhone dwindle I think of everything I take for granted at home. Leaving lights on when they are not needed, charging all of my electrical devices (there are plenty of them) any time I wish, cooking with a stove, oven, or microwave. Notice how everytime you turn the tap on the left clockwise it magically pumps out an endless supply of hot water? Not here. Fill the pot with water around 3degrees, if not colder. Fire up the kerosene burner (kerosene is a liquid fuel which has been carried up to this town by either by Yak, or porter and is not in constant supply) and bring the water to a boil. Keep it boiling for 2minutes to kill all the germs, as the water was essentially pulled from a creek or river. Poor the boiling water into a 8L thermos and keep it warm until you need to heat more. Repeat the process.

The upstairs of our lodge is filled with smoke when I retire to bed. Hmmm. Open a window and let the -0degree wind whistle through the lodge, or deal with it. We open the front door and a few windows to air it out. Feels like I’m outside, thank god for a -15 sleeping bag. Head lamp on I read a few chapter of ‘Into Thin Air’, how fitting to read a book of a disaster on Everest when I am on my way there, and passed the turning point at that.

I’m gasping for air. Feels like I’m drowning, yet there is no water in sight. I try calm myself, I take deep breathes, in through the mouth out through the nose. This is going to be a long night.

I look around the room, it’s 9×9, 2 windows and 2 beds. The walls are paper thin. I’m having a conversation with the trek leader in the next room, normal voices, right through the wall.

I finally get to sleep. The place is pitch black. No clock, no nightlight, no nothing. I wake up in a panic. Once again gasping for air. I’m sweating and freezing at the same time. ‘you’re not suffocating, you’re at altitude’ I try to tell myself in a calming internal voice. It’s a good 5 minutes before I get back to sleep, and only another hour or two before it happens again.

It will not get easier. For the next 3 days I will be at a higher elevation than this one. And just think, I’m paying for this!

Today is day 7 of our trek and as the category of these articles says, this is the trip of a life time. I will never forget the experiences I’ve already had, and coach tells me the best is yet to come.

Day 8, we leave for Gorak Shep(16,961ft) at 6am. We will pass through Dughla(15,090ft), and probably stop for tea at Lobouche(16,207ft). We will climb nearly 3000 verticle feet in a few hours. God I hope this Diamox works.

We should arrive in Gorak Shep around noon or shortly after. How the weather is behaving will dictate our plans for the afternoon. If it is clear, we will head up to Kala Patthar(18,192ft). The view of Everest in the afternoon is spectacular, another trekker has told us. If it’s not crystal clear, we will head to Everest Base Camp(17,400ft). If we are unable to get to Kala Patthar on the afternoon of Day 8, those of us with the strength to do so will attempt on the morning of Day 9 before heading back to lower elevations.

Well…. hard to believe, i know. But at 14,000ft and above there is very little internet. I won’t be able to upload the posts i’ve written from my phone. I will keep writting them, so when we get back to Namche in 6-8days I will upload them all. There is some seriously good ones. We’re currently in Pherache, 14,035ft above sea level. Solar/Wind powered, at nighttime everything operates on batteries, no hot water unless you pay for it. yay!!!

Today is a rest day, thank god. Tomorrow we begin our attack on basecamp. We will spend a day moving up the valley and into a better position. the day following (i have no sense of what day it is) we will move up the mountain. in the evening we will make a attempt to basecamp if the weather is clear. if that is successful we will do Kala Pattar (1,200ft higher then basecamp) the following morning. Kala Pattar is my main goal at this point. It has a better view of Mt Everest, and I will be able to take a picture from above of basecamp.

I will write the good, indepth blogs from my phone and update them when we get back to wifi.

Everyone is well. Stay tunes…

We began our day in Kyangjuma(11,320ft) with our longest day if trekking ahead of us. We would gain 2000 more verticle feet and walk more kilometers then in our previous days, it would take us all day to do it as well. We left shortly after 8am and arrived at our destination around 2pm.

We walked up hill for a short distance, then would head almost straight down hill all the way to the river bed. We reach Phunki Tenga(10,660ft) and cross the Dudh Kosi River for the last time.

The down hill walk was nice, except for the fact we would have to walk directly up hill for what seemed like eternity. We ended up in Tengboche(12,660ft), sore, tired, and ready for a nap.

We grabbed a quick bite and drink, attempted to use some painfully slow Internet with no success, and carried on with the days hike.

With a little more down, followed by some up, we found ourselves in Pangboche(12,890) shortly after 2pm. Thank god.

I was in dire need of a nap. After a little debreifing from everyone (I am happy to report that besides the fatigue suffered by myself and a few others, along with a few spurts of the Khumbu rumble [upset bellies], everyone in the group is in great shape and is doing fine) I took a quick nap.

Sitting upstairs in the coffee house with a wonderful view of Mount Ama Dablam(22,401ft) peeking through the clouds, with the sun shinning directly on it’s summit, we decided what to have for dinner.

I asked Coach White if it’s acceptable to eat the meat here, he replied with a big grin and 2 thumbs up. Yak steak it is. Ever had Yak? Neither had I, until today. All meat in the Khumbu is cooked to a welldone, I’m guessing to ensure no one gets sick. Although it was a little tough, it was delicious and is by far the best Yak I have ever had.

It’s 745pm and I’m laying in bed, writting this blog before I close my eyes. I feel like an old man (I know I’ll get some harrassment when all the guys on the trek finally ready this) going to bed this early. The oxygen in the atmosphere is about 56% of what it is at sea level. I live at sea level. My body is still adjusting, as is everyone else. The higher we get over the next few days the further the oxygen molecules will get from each other, making each breathe less efficient, making it harder on our bodies to get what it so desperately needs… Oxygen.

Up early, coffee by coach, a great breakfast was cooked by our hosts and we were off on our first real day of trekking.

Leaving Ghat(8,500ft), we passed through Phatding(8,560ft) stopping for tea. We hiked into the town of Bengkar(8,890ft) for lunch at the Waterfall Restaurant.

After a much needed hour break, we proceeded to Monjo(9,320ft) to get our park passes for the Sagarmatha Park (the name Everest means ‘mother if the earth’ in the Sherpa). The road to our guest house is downhill, the groups mood picks up and everyone gets a little pep in their step.

We arrive in Jorsale(9,220ft) a little after 4. We are staying at the Nirvana Lodge. It’s a nice cabin with a view of the river down below and our group fills the entire place. There are 2 patios out front seperated by the path to the front door. On the left we have the book club, everyone there is seeking some quite downtime. On the right, no quiet there. Personal horror stories, tales of work disasters, tragedy and triumph and pure comedy. We chat until Kami (our Sherpa leader) calls ‘soups on’.

Shortly after dinner, almost the entire group heads for bed. We’ve had a long day behind us, and an even longer day ahead.

Up at 5:30am for 6am breakfast, we hit the trail at 6:54am, as our trek leader announced while walking through the gates of Nirvana. We had finished 8L of coffee, and thank god for that.

‘hey Kami, is it a big climb today?’ I say to our Sherpa leader. ‘well, a little up down, jig jag, Sherpa flat’ he replies. ‘what’s Sherpa flat?’ I ask. ‘you will find out soon’ he says followed by his giddy little laugh.

We begin our days hike up a big hill and across the Dudh Koshi River (pronounced doodi koshi, and meaning milk river) and stopped at a small bend in the train for our first glimps of Everest. Wow. It may have been 40miles away, but it was spectacular. The jet stream was pulling a cloud of condensation off of the back side of it from our viewing angle, making it look as though it were on fire. The mountain wasn’t on fire, but our group was.

We climbed 2000 verticle feet in a little over 4 hours, reaching Namche(11,290ft) a little after 11:30am. Some of the group began to feel the first effects of altitude sickness. A little fatigued, a headache or two, but nothing to worry about. Coach, our trek leader Eoin White, said we may have gone a little too fast. The group has made a decision to stay behind him for the rest of the trip. a
Afterall, his is the only one of us who has made a successful trek to basecamp.

The place we were staying in makes the rest if our guest houses look like garden shacks. Big rooms, hot showers, cold drinks. I now understand why they are 10-20 times more than other places. It’s called the Namche Hotel, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

During our downtime in the afternoon, a group of us visited a museum on top of a hill. The climb was grueling after such a long day of hiking, but well worth it. I learned about the heritage and the culture of the Sherpa people. How and why they came to the khumbu, and their way of life. After the visit I realized it was more then worth me lugging myself to the top of the hill.

Leaving Namche with the same morning routine as the previous days, we headed out a little later then normal, 830am. We walked a few hundred yards along a flat, then proceeded to walk directly up hill. Over the day, we would gain an additional 1200 feet of elevation.

We crossed an abandoned air field, and up past another look out with a spectacular of the Mother of the Earth (Everest).

By 11am we were sitting on the patio of the Everest View Hotel. Holy shit. Sorry to swear, but words can not actually express what I saw today. The biggest mountain in the world, in all of it’s glory. I know I used the word epic in a previous article, but this was the most epic thing I have ever seen in my life. It’s massive. Although Mount Lhoste directly beside it looks taller, that is only because it is closer to our viewing location. Mount Everest is a 3 sided mountain which borders 2 countries, Nepal and Tibet. If you have never seen it, imagine then biggest mountain you have, double it, and you’re about half way there, maybe. It’s not just the height, it’s everything. The pictures I bring home and the stories I will tell are only a fraction of the feeling you will get from seeing it for yourself.

We leave the hotel, reluctantly, and head towards Khumjung(12,400ft).

We visited an elementary school named after the great Edmund Hilliary (I suggest you wikipedia him if you don’t know who he is), then proceed to our lodge.

We are staying staying at the Ama-Dablam Lodge in Khumjung. Tashi, our hostess, treats us all as if we were her own. Tea was ready when we arrived, bottles of water were available at the slightest of mention. She runs an amazing teahouse/lodge on the main route to, and from, Everest.

That is all for now, it’s 8pm and it’s time for me to hit the sack. Tomorrow we walk down 1000ft to the river, then proceed to walk up 2000ft to our next place of rest.

Stay tuned… The adventure continues.

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28minutes into the flight the engines slow down and our bellys are in our chest. We have begun our decent to the Lukla airport.

I’m in the front passenger seat, camera at the ready. We can see the run way, or what they use as a run way. It’s 500 yards, max. With my video camera rolling, the plane dips and heads directly towards the side of a mountain. The engines roar and the flaps are set to full, we are now in the approach phase.

The twin otter, with a full load, is ready for landing. I can’t speak for everyone on the plane, but I am nervous. The camera keeps rolling. 10 yards before we touch down and it gets louder then ever. The pilot begins to flare, the screech of the wheels on touchdown is louder then the screaming engine and we are safe on the ground, for now.

Hard break, engines cut, we approach a stone rockface no more than 200 yards away at this point. If it wasn’t for gravity, we might not have made it.

We leave the plane and head to an outside area to wait for our bags. It looks like a refugee camp, with about 200 locals pressed up against the fence. They come every morning, from the entire valley, looking for work. Men, and women, from ages 17-30, ready to carry upwards of 170lbs on their back for hours at a time.

We have our arrangements taken care of, we pickup our day packs and head to a local tea house 300 feet from the airport for breakfast.

We check the Canucks game on the Internet while having breakfast. The blowing of a 2 goal lead in typical fashion by the end of the second period did not sit well with the group from Vancouver (8 of us). I have scrambled eggs and toast with a coffee. A good way to start the day.

As we walk down the stone walk way, I stumble upon a starbucks. God, these guys are everywhere. No city left untouched by the starbucks empire. I’m not going to lie, they made a mean vanilla latte.

We have a 2 hour walk ahead of us with the most epic of backdrops you can find on earth. Skyscrapers of mountains with caps of snow and a halo of clouds cover each one. Air so crisp you wish it could be bottled and savoured for ever.

Up and down a rocky terrain and we find ourselves in the village Ghat at the International Khumbu Cafe and Guest House. Our groups Sherpa leader Kami and his family own the lodge we use tonight for our stay. With a great lunch of soup and pasta, we took a small hike down to the river running through the valley then back to the tea house for a cribbage tournament while we wait for dinner.

The group is bonding very well. Jokes, banter, stories… We may have been strangers 4 days ago, but the friendship grows with each passing day.

I will leave you with 2 pictures of today. As we arrived at the tea house our host Kami was running ensuring we had all of our creature comforts, he tossed on a hat previously given to him by a fellow trekker.

Ever seen a Sherpa Cowboy?

The next is very touching. Pasang Yuengji (pronounced angie), Kamis wife, gave birth to a baby girl 2 months ago. They carry her around in a wooden box with a strap that is wrapped around there forehead. The entire Sherpa culture uses very few backpacks, everything they carry is done by a strap around their forehead. 5minutes after he put down the cowboy hat, he came back with his baby daughter in his back.

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Up at 4, packed the bags, loaded the van and headed to the airport. This is the cleanest and showered we’ll be for the next 14 days as there are no showers in the Kumbu. As I write this, we are in the air in a twin otter 20 passenger plane much like the ones at harbour air.

Attached is a picture of us.

Check in soon.

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We started off our day early. Bus was leaving a little before 8 so we could beat the heaviest part of rush hour.

Today we were heading to Bhaktapur, the home city of our tour guides AK and B. Interesting ride. 13km took us a little over half an hour in a bus that spewed black smoke like it was a big rig, but atleast we had air conditioning. As we waited for the bus a government water truck pulled up in the middle of the busiest corner in Kathmandu and started pooring out water. Men, women, and children all fighting to get their bucket, their jug, their mouths under the pooring water which looked clear, but you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to drink it. The few pictures I took could not begin to describe the gravity of the situation.

The bumpy ride on a semi paved road was a sign of things to come…

The small district of Bhaktapur was one of Nepals 4 (or 5) main kingdoms from the 17th century, it is a world heritage site. While touring the city, we saw many ancient temples and palaces. We saw statues created for the king, and an area where there are 108 animals sacraficed per year for religious purposes (I really should take notes, but there is sooo much news stuff in my brain it hard to catalogue it all properly).

We ate an authentic Nepalese meal at a very nice hotel/restaurant near Durbar Square, which is the city centre. As we were heading to the restaurant I asked Captain Canada (his name comes from the fact he loves Captain Morgans, and he’s from Canada), if he had ever had this meal before. He said ‘no I haven’t, but when in Bhaktapur’. I figured that was a good title for today’s blog entry.

Our tour guides set us up with a seminar on Nepalese artwork known as Thanka. The one I was most interested in was called Sand Madala. I don’t have time to write it all out, but I would google or wikipedia it as it us extremely facinating. I purchaced a piece of extremely high quality Sand Madala Thanka art. It took a monk, who is a master at Thanka (there are 4 grades if Thanka artists, student, teacher, expert, and master), 6 weeks to complete. It is painted on cotton canvas and contain 24carrot gold. I am getting excited just thinking about putting it up.

It was getting late and we had a long drive ahead of us, so we headed for the bus.

As we passed these huge statues of dogs which both stood 15-18 feet tall, our guide AK informed us that these were one of a kind pieces of art, and there was nothing else created even similar by the same artist. He knows this because the king who had these statues created, cut off the hands of the artist so he could never duplicate his work. (below you will find a picture of one of the statues)

There are a lot of things I will forget from this trip over time, but here are a few I will not;

The cow I saw today was the most malnourished create I had ever seen. Tied to a pole with little to drink, if any, a small amount of hay, barely enough for the bed of a goat, ribs I could count, and who’s hips I could see like it was a moving skeleton. The children playing in a river so dirty I would have a hard time pissing in it. The mother with 5 children, picking rice up off a dirt road that had spilled from a broken bag on the back of a truck.

On a bus with 14 other trekkers, in essentially the middle of no where, my eyes started to tear and the only thing I could do was close them and think ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no places like home’. I wanted to leave, right then and there. I’ve seen a lot of things in the past week, but this was a low.

We leave on our trek tomorrow at 5am. Today we were at the bottom, and we only have up to go! (stupid joke/pun, but still kind of amusing)

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It is over cast today, the start of it atleast. Awake early for a 9am meeting about our trek, afterwards we met with ‘Akay’ and ‘B’, our Nepali tour guides, to discuss our day trip. We were going to Durbar Square, an ancient kingdom and city centre of Kathmandu then to a Money Temple.

As we set out on our trip at 10am, rush hour was in full swing. Until you’ve seen rush hour in Kathmandu, you haven’t seen rush hour. There are no lanes and no curbs. No lights, no stop signs, no nothing except the honking of horns. As our driver approaches another van directly infront of us at a full stop, for no reason, he darts out into the opposite lane and proceeds to start honking. The honking is neither for the displeasure towards the others drives selfish driving style or to warn warrn the pedestrians of his change in lanes. What he is honking for is to say ‘i’m coming, so get out of my way’. As our tour guide Akay, sitting in the front left seat, turns towards the back and starts to let us know about the upcoming kingdom, another van starts heading directly for us.

As all 10 of the passengers in the back hold our breath, hoping this game of chicken plays out in our favour, one of my fellow trekkers says ‘watch out’ as though he needed to tell the driver of our vehicle to pay attention to the road. ‘oh my god, im such an idiot’ he said immediately following his first comment. Our tour guide, sitting in the front left seat, is not the driver. All vehicles in Nepal are right hand drive. The van broke out in hysterical laughter.

The Durbar Square is nothing special. Great cultural experience, but nothing blog worthy.

When finished at the square, we head back out into the chaos of the traffic. Thankfully, today we have A/C. 40 minutes later we arrive at the Monkey Temple.

This temple is crawling with monkeys. From the driveway up the hill, to the ticket booth itself. Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys. The view from the top would have been incredible, except we can not see much farther than about 3km. The myst, the fog, the smog, I don’t know exactly what it is and I don’t think I want to find out.

As I sit in the outside patio of the restaurant of our guest house, sipping on what I thought was a redbull, I realize now it is a knock off known as Wild Buffalo. Same logo, same blue and read writting. I am not surprised one bit, afterall, it is Nepal.

I will leave you with a picture I took on my phone at the monkey temple. I need not explain it, as a picture is worth (more than) a thousand words.

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