Altitude: 3780m to 3780m
Atmospheric Pressure: 675mbar to 670mbar
Trek: 3Hrs
I slept almost straight through again, thanks to Monica,
and I even try some breakfast, although I’m still not quite ready for porridge
yet!!
It looks cooler outside today, with the ground slightly
white. As we set off after 8am, it
feels cold to start with as the sun is hiding and the breeze goes straight
through you. I’m even considering gloves!
It’s down hill for the first bit and I feel good, heart
rate is low and I’m enjoying the ability to increase the pace a little. Sleep
and food is a magic combination, I should try to stick to it!! We have full
view of Ama Dablam with it’s steep flanks covered in snow, looks technical.
We drop to 3700m then start the climb back up. As the path
twist and follows the contours of the hill side, we can spot our destination,
Phortse. It’s at the same height as Khumjung, but right across the valley, and
in fact I can’t even spot any path leading to it.
The walk is very nice, especially as we turn around the
valley and get shelter from the freezing wind, it gets quite toasty then.
After 1 hour walk, we stop for a quick drink and snack,
then carry on going down to the bottom of the valley. We walk through pine
trees, spreading their scent under the warming sun and finally reach the bottom
of the valley. Across the steel bridge, then straight up all the way to the
lodge for tonight.
I feel so, so, so much better, and I even overtake people
struggling up the hill, that’s more like it! We get to the lodge under a bright
sunshine and are received with the usual selection of hot drinks, lemon tea,
milky sugary tea, black tea, hot water and coffee, our evening bags won’t get
here till well after lunch so we have a couple of hours to chill and chat.
The group is gelling a little bit more together now, as
people have been on different tables over the last few days and also sharing
different rooms.
The group of trekkers seem very strong, apart from a
family from the States who manage to make a 3 hour walk into a 5 hours labor.
The wife and son are here to support the husband who is climbing Everest with
us. He looks very strong, but the rest of the family is obviously struggling a
little, although they’re not giving up.
There’s also a “herd” of ladies (6) going to base camp,
they keep to themselves and giggle the day away in good spirit, fair play to
them for being here, sound like they’re having plenty of fun.
Then there’s the group from Walking With The Wounded from
Manaslu. There’s 6 of them plus 2 cameramen for the documentary covering their
ascent, and 2 photographers from the Press Agency going to base camp.
The soldiers are feeling it pretty easy and, having learnt
from Manaslu, they buy their time, enjoying the easy days, knowing that in a
few weeks, it will get much tougher as we get higher.
If there is anything that has shocked me so far, it’s that
the other “normal” guys like me all seem to be very well of, with big jobs, companies
or investisments. Age range is 40 to 50 years old.
I must admit, it seems that all the Everest clients have
prepared seriously, and nobody stands out as having “booked the wrong trip” so
far.
Another very short day then, with all afternoon to settle
in the new lodge, and recover from the morning’s activity.
The guides have told us that as we get closer to base camp
(and further into the valley), the standard of the lodges drops, until we get
to the luxury that base camp is rumored to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment