Arriving at Everest Base Camp

We've arrived at Gorak Shep in fine fettle. There's a lot of people on the trail and it suddenly feels quite busy (and impersonal).

The fact that we are all well, acclimatised and having a super great time completely justifies the leisurely 3 week trekking schedule.

The past few days have seen us sleeping higher than Everest Base Camp, we made a mass ascent of Pokalde (5,800m), crossed the Kongma La and descended to Lobuche.

We awoke to a snowy trail and cloudy skies but the trek here was super easy - especially compared to the hoards of trekkers who are having difficulty along the trail. They all seem to be having a great time, and I hope that they're enjoying the highlight of their trip, but I am sooo glad that my group are in much better shape both physically and mentally.

We're just having some lunch at Gorak Shep, the last 'village' on the trail, and then we'll be mooching the last hour and a half to EBC where we'll be settling in to 'home' for the next 3 to 5 weeks.

We're destined for a complete rest day tomorrow where we'll be unpacking all the freight and baggage that we've been separated from since departing KTM. I imagine the shower tent will receive some use as well as bowls of hot water for doing some laundry. On the 22nd we'll go and have a look see in the lower stretches of The Khumbu Icefall where I'll acquaint the group with how to negotiate the ropes and ladders. After that we are having a Base Camp puja (blessing) on the 23rd and then we're aiming to be sleeping at Camp 1 (and Camp 2) on the 24th onwards for 3 or 4 nights.

So this is the end of the (easy) fun trekking phase and the start of the transition to the more serious (but fun) expedition phase.

I'll keep you posted. Cheers - Tim & Co

Resting

Just a quick update … we arrived Dingboche (4,400m) yesterday and are now having a nice day resting, washing, showering and generally chilling. Watched Monty Python & The Holy Grail last night which is being requoted and re enacted today with much hilarity.

Tomorrow we're off to a beautiful camp site above Bibre and after that we'll be gaining height up to the Kongma La (around 5,300m) - the campsite with the best views in The Khumbu. We'll be there for two nights before dropping down and making our way to arrive EBC on the 20th.

Comms may be limited until EBC bit if I get a chance I'll fire another update across.

Out for now - Tim & Co

Down and round

Today we dropped down from Gokyo to Phortse - a rarely visited village on the 'other' side of the Gokyo valley. It's reasonably inaccessible unless you make the effort - and we made the effort and have been dutifully rewarded. We saw only 4 other trekkers all day and this is the start of the high season!

The route drops down towards Machermo passing the 2nd and the 1st lakes which are in a stupendously brilliant setting. Just before the hike up towards the village of Machermo we hung a left and crossed a make shift bridge to be on the eastern side of the valley.

I haven't been along this trail for about 14 or 15 years and I had forgotten what a brilliant trail it is. It is much narrower than the more oft trodden trails in The Khumbu and Gokyo valleys and has precipitous drop offs for a lot of the way. It is quite an undulating path and follows around ridges and in to valleys quite a bit, so is generally furhter than you think, but generally the vistas that you are rewarded with are spectacular.

So we have dropped around 900m and are spending the night here before following the trail around to Pangboche - again a rarely trodden path by the multitude of trekkers (and thankfully so).

It's only a couple of hours to Pangboche so we'll be having a chance to catch up on some washing and laundry before mooching up to Dingboche.

 

A porter sparking up on the top of the Renjo La (around 5,350m)

 

Mani stones and the view across the 3rd lake to the Renjo La from Gokyo

 

Looking back towards Cho Oyu (8,201m) the 6th highest mountain in the world

 

Our team of porters on the trail.

 

The magnificent path to Phortse

 

Great trekking

 

A random Yak

 

Drying yak pattes on the walls in Thare

Up the Thame valley and over the Renjo La

Sorry to have been off line for as few days but we have been up a fairly remote valley and over the first of our high passes. There’s been zilch in the way of signal which, in many ways, has been quite refreshing. We’ve been able to enjoy the trekking and the sense of isolation as well as having little in the way of distractions. And to that end we have started to enjoy each other’s company and the team are getting along really well.

We’ve had the first couple of our chats where we’ll be covering poignant issues before we get to Base Camp or on the hill. Subjects have included Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), HACE and HAPE as well as frostbite prevention, how to avoid getting cold hands and feet and the importance of concurrent activity. We’ve also been chatting through various permutations that we may encounter during our acclimatisation rotations on the hill and the group feel that they are actually a part of the expedition rather than just being treated as a commodity. I’d like to think that they are starting to have a sense of ownership of the expedition – after all it is the trip of a lifetime and it’s nice to know what is potentially going to be happening through the next few weeks. I also hope that they will all be taking away some top tips, handy hints and a sense of awareness of how to organise and run an expedition so that they can build on the skills and knowledge they have already.

 

The last few days, since departing Thame, have seen us trekking in almost complete solitude. We saw a couple of other trekkers on our way to Marylung where we stayed for a couple of nights and hiked up above the settlement to around 4,800m. Then we continued past the turn off for the Renjo La to go to Ayre (around 4,450m) where we had the place to ourselves. After a night here we trekked up the hillside to join the main trail over the Renjo La and are now camping in idyllic surroundings at 4,950m. So we are out of teahouses for the next week or so and under canvas and being tended to by Bhim, one of the best cooks I have come across. We have worked together a few times and he is exceptional and the great news is we have him with us for the next two weeks as well as for the duration of our stay at EBC.

 

This is the first of our high camps and we’ll be gaining height and trekking over the Renjo La tomorrow before dropping down to Gokyo. There seems to be a keen contingent to go up Gokyo Ri for sunset so we may be in for a long day tomorrow but this is then followed by a relatively easy day down to Tagnag the day after.

So apart from the odd tummy rumble (which have been successfully been blasted with a ‘Cipro Bomb’) everyone is in fine fettle, we’re all sleeping well and just enjoying the fantastic environment.

A selection of random photos and out for now.

 

Sorry to have been off line for as few days but we have been up a fairly remote valley and over the first of our high passes. There’s been zilch in the way of signal which, in many ways, has been quite refreshing. We’ve been able to enjoy the trekking and the sense of isolation as well as having little in the way of distractions. And to that end we have started to enjoy each other’s company and the team are getting along really well.

We’ve had the first couple of our chats where we’ll be covering poignant issues before we get to Base Camp or on the hill. Subjects have included Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), HACE and HAPE as well as frostbite prevention, how to avoid getting cold hands and feet and the importance of concurrent activity. We’ve also been chatting through various permutations that we may encounter during our acclimatisation rotations on the hill and the group feel that they are actually a part of the expedition rather than just being treated as a commodity. I’d like to think that they are starting to have a sense of ownership of the expedition – after all it is the trip of a lifetime and it’s nice to know what is potentially going to be happening through the next few weeks. I also hope that they will all be taking away some top tips, handy hints and a sense of awareness of how to organise and run an expedition so that they can build on the skills and knowledge they have already.

 

The last few days, since departing Thame, have seen us trekking in almost complete solitude. We saw a couple of other trekkers on our way to Marylung where we stayed for a couple of nights and hiked up above the settlement to around 4,800m. Then we continued past the turn off for the Renjo La to go to Ayre (around 4,450m) where we had the place to ourselves. After a night here we trekked up the hillside to join the main trail over the Renjo La and are now camping in idyllic surroundings at 4,950m. So we are out of teahouses for the next week or so and under canvas and being tended to by Bhim, one of the best cooks I have come across. We have worked together a few times and he is exceptional and the great news is we have him with us for the next two weeks as well as for the duration of our stay at EBC.

 

This is the first of our high camps and we’ll be gaining height and trekking over the Renjo La tomorrow before dropping down to Gokyo. There seems to be a keen contingent to go up Gokyo Ri for sunset so we may be in for a long day tomorrow but this is then followed by a relatively easy day down to Tagnag the day after.

So apart from the odd tummy rumble (which have been successfully been blasted with a ‘Cipro Bomb’) everyone is in fine fettle, we’re all sleeping well and just enjoying the fantastic environment.

A selection of random photos and out for now.

 

Yesterday was a great trekking day. We departed Kyanjuma bidding farewell to Tashi and Lakpa and trekked up to Khumjung where there are the most amazing mani walls.

The trail steadily gains height to a small col where we then dropped down to the tiny airstrip at Syangboche, above Namche.

After a well earned tea break we carried on down and picked up the trail through the woods to Thamo. This valley has a completely different feel to the Gokyo and Khumbu valleys and the trail is gently undulating in the most amazing forested area.

We stopped in Thamo for lunch before continuing to Thame which is at around 3,800m where we are now spending 2 nights. It was also the day that we met up with our final team member, Ilina from Macedonia, who trekked in a day behind us. It's great that we are now a full complement.

That was yesterday - today has been a most auspicious day. Unbeknownst to us there was going to be a very special puja taking place at the monastery above Thame. It's a fantastic monastery in the most amazing setting sitting high on the hill side and almost built in to the hillside.

We mooched up to the monastery, which is situated at around 4,000m, and were able to attend the most amazing spectacle of horn and trumpet blowing, bell clanging, drum beating and chanting.

Usually a spontaneous puja when you arrive at a monastery will be conducted by one monk who happens to be around at the time. It is always a great intimate affair and generally lasts around 30 to 45 minutes.

This one was being conducted by 35 monks and lasted for around 3 hours! Although it was a general puja we were accepted in to the monastery as well and blessed individually by the head monk.

I've only happened upon one of these big pujas before - which happened to be at The Rongbuk Monastery on our 20005 Everest Expedition on the North side. To witness one again, especially bearing in mind what we are here for, was a fantastic event.

This afternoon we have had a chat about altitude and acclimatisation, AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Oedema), HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema) and the importance of hydration. The team are starting to refresh their knowledge about how to avoid problems associated with ultra high altitude mountaineering and how to deal with any problems that may occur. They are really starting to look out for each other already. This is definitely a positive aspect of trekking together as a team, away from the hustle and bustle, where folk start to morph together in to a team. Having a disparate group of competitive individuals accomplishes very little and indeed can undermine the safety of the expedition as people become competitive with each other as well as with the mountain. Having a group who help each other along the way, however, is mutually beneficial to the expedition and makes for a far safer experience all round.

From here we will be heading up the Thame valley for the next few days before heading on up and over the Renjo La. We'll be having our first night under canvas below the pass as part of our acclimatisation before going up and over to Gokyo. I guess that reception will be very limited so this may well be our last proper update for a while.

Remember to check our progress on Twitter (timmosedale) and FaceBook (tim.mosedale) as I'll be able to text updates when we get sporadic signal.

That's all for now but just a final word to say many thanks for all the well wishes and texts that have been coming in - it's nice to know that you guys and gals are following our progress and rooting for us.

It's started ...

Well it's very nice to be in The Khumbu after the hectic arrival and transition through Kathmandu. Despite the fact that the baggage allowance for the Lukla flight is only 10kg Iswari managed to do a fantastic job and we arrived in Lukla with all our bags and barrels for the next 3 weeks. The main Everest gear will be shipped directly to EBC at a later date and will be there for our arrival.

We trekked to Monjo and stayed with my friend Pasang Dawa. The beauty of being based on the 1st night at Monjo (instead of Phak Ding) is that it makes the next day to Namche so much shorter and indeed we were there for 11a.m. Coffee and doughnuts were gratefully received and after lunch we grabbed another coffee before heading to Kyanjuma to stay with Tashi and Lakpa.

Today we trekked up to The Mong La (just short of 4,000m) via the hidden staircase and had a leisurely lunch before heading back down to Tashi's again.

Tomorrow we're off to Thame and the day after that we are going to be meeting up with Ilina, our final  teammember for the expedition.

So far so good and everyone is enjoying the trekking and each others company. There's been a bit of snow around so we'll have to see if the high passes are open but we'll just take it a day at a time.