Thursday, July 31, 2008
Cove House
Our house remodel project is coming along!! I can't wait to debut our new exterior look! Images coming soon. Paint, windows, walls knocked down.. these are just a few things that have been happening in the cove.
Monday, July 28, 2008
24
We had so much fun on day 24 this month! I spaced taking the camera to document it, but fun was had by all!! Yummy food, the Cottonwood parade, candy and fireworks! What a great day! Thanks mom and dad for hosting the event! We had so much fun!
I found this picture online of us at the parade taken by the local journalistic paparazzi! Damn paparazzi!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Chitwan
After exploring Kathmandu a couple of days our city contact Geljen decided to take us on a 4 hour drive through Nepal to the very south of the country in order to visit another national park, Chitwan! It was so different than where we were for the rest of our trip! Chitwan, with its elephants and tropical terrain felt like another country. We stayed at this safari lodge that led us on a two day excursion that included elephant rides through the jungle, wild rhinos, bathing with elephants in the river, canoeing in crocodile filled rivers, bird watching and giant spiders (see the images below)! We had an incredible time!
The spider in one of the pictures below was found in our bathroom about 5 minutes after arriving in Chitwan. John and I were scared to do anything with it for fear that it was poisonous! We told one of the men who worked there about it and he went into our room and attempted to grab it with his bare hands but it jumped so then he hit it with a broom to shock it, then preceeded to grab it with his hand and threw it outside!! I was glad that he didn't kill it, but amazed at his attitude, no big deal it is just a GIANT SPIDER after all!!
I also should add that John and I remained stomach healthy throughout our whole trip! The pepto saved us! However, in Chitwan when we had the elephant bath, I inhaled and swallowed a lot of water from the river (which I later found out was a tributary of the Ganges River!) and within an hour was incredibly sick! OOPPPS! I did so well up until the last days of our trip! It wasn't too bad although it did cause a lot of stomach pain that lasted over a month even after our return home! I must say that it was worth it! Bathing with elephants in the river was one of the neatest things I have ever done! Knowing the result, I would have still done it - maybe just tried to not laugh and smile so much and keep my mouth shut!!
What a once in a lifetime experience we had in Nepal! From 18,500 feet to below sea level. From rocks to rhinos! The diversity in Nepal is incredible! I hope you enjoyed following us on our adventure! I loved reliving it all over again through these posts! Until the next great adventure, Bon Voyage!
The spider in one of the pictures below was found in our bathroom about 5 minutes after arriving in Chitwan. John and I were scared to do anything with it for fear that it was poisonous! We told one of the men who worked there about it and he went into our room and attempted to grab it with his bare hands but it jumped so then he hit it with a broom to shock it, then preceeded to grab it with his hand and threw it outside!! I was glad that he didn't kill it, but amazed at his attitude, no big deal it is just a GIANT SPIDER after all!!
I also should add that John and I remained stomach healthy throughout our whole trip! The pepto saved us! However, in Chitwan when we had the elephant bath, I inhaled and swallowed a lot of water from the river (which I later found out was a tributary of the Ganges River!) and within an hour was incredibly sick! OOPPPS! I did so well up until the last days of our trip! It wasn't too bad although it did cause a lot of stomach pain that lasted over a month even after our return home! I must say that it was worth it! Bathing with elephants in the river was one of the neatest things I have ever done! Knowing the result, I would have still done it - maybe just tried to not laugh and smile so much and keep my mouth shut!!
What a once in a lifetime experience we had in Nepal! From 18,500 feet to below sea level. From rocks to rhinos! The diversity in Nepal is incredible! I hope you enjoyed following us on our adventure! I loved reliving it all over again through these posts! Until the next great adventure, Bon Voyage!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Kathmandu
I did not do any journaling the rest of our trip after we left the mountains! I am really upset about that now but have scribbled a few memories and thoughts of our experiences once we got back to SLC.
Kathmandu was a crazy chaotic city! It is hard to put into words! Traffic and people were everywhere! Cow stood in the middle of huge roads while cars and motor bikes flew by! Horns are the symphony of the city. Beautiful monuments rise out of crumbling buildings! I'll let the pictures do the talking!
Our hotel!! We lived in luxury!
Kathmandu was a crazy chaotic city! It is hard to put into words! Traffic and people were everywhere! Cow stood in the middle of huge roads while cars and motor bikes flew by! Horns are the symphony of the city. Beautiful monuments rise out of crumbling buildings! I'll let the pictures do the talking!
Our hotel!! We lived in luxury!
Nepal Part 7: This is the end of the journaling
May 20, 2008
Namche Bazaar
9pm
We determined that John's illness was nothing less than exhaustion. After about 2 liters of water, 2 liters of tea, some juice and a very short rest, he began feeling much better.
We left Gorak Shep on May 18th and literally walked for two days straight. We walked and walked! We walked through extreme wind, rain and cold to Pangbuche. After a night in Pangbuche the next day we walked all of the way back down to 10,000 feet and are now here in Namche. Two days down.. it took us over a week to walk up. Do I even need to say that we are so tired! My poor muscles are extremely stretched and worn out! I can barely walk. My knees are so stiff that I can hardly get up and down the stairs. Just thinking about walking up the steep streets of Namche makes my whole body ache! I also picked up a small cold somewhere in the wind tunnel valley that we walked through for four hours on our way to Pangbuche from Gorak Shep. A sore throat, cough and congestion have plagued me since. With the two days of solid walking I have had to just suck it up and keep on going!
In Pangbuche, we woke up to a room full of feathers! I looked over at John and he looked like he had been tar and feathered! He had feathers in his hair, beard, mustache, eyebrows, up his nose, in his ears and stuck all over his body! "John, what did you do kill a chicken?" Aparently poor John got a hole in his down sleeping bag! Oh my God! Talk about a feather man! Feather mania all over! It was hilarious! I wish I took a picture, but I must admit, the picture in my head is so good!
Today John and I rested here in Namche. We bought some gifts, ate and slept. I decided to be very brave and have my ears threaded with traditional Tibetan beaded earrings! A needle, thread, matches and beads were the man's tools who sat me down in the middle of a small alleyway and proceeded to run the needle through my ear and weave a bead and thread in and out to secure it. I absolutely love love love them and I absolutely hope that they don't get infected. John and I also stumbled upon a small store full of regional antiques! John purchased an old wooden ice axe that is so amazing! Unfortunately I fell head over heels in love with a antique tea set that I could not live without! Now I have to find a way to lug it down the mountain somehow keeping it in one piece to Lukla! It is so beautiful!
We got to call home today and took body showers! Our spirits our good and I think both of us are excited for the journey down to Lukla out of the mountains and to Kathmandu! We are living quite well here in Namche. For the first time we have a fairly big room (not just big enough to hold two small beds) with our own toilet!! Not only is it our own toilet in our own room, but it is also a flush toilet! Yes People - we are back to sit down toilets! No more holes! YES! YES! YES! I never thought I would be so happy to see a toilet in my whole life! I even got a little teared up! If that wasn't enough, we also have a shower head with hot hot hot water in our toilet / wet room! What a treat! Power, lights, running water, toilet and shower heads! We are living in style in what John and I have named the "Presidential Suite!"
In 14 days I have not washed my hair (only three more days to go!) or shaved my legs ( the water up here is solar and is so hot that I can not let it directly touch my body or literally I will be scalded! So I have to wet a wash cloth, and then wash the bod!). I have only taken two "body" showers with a wet wash cloth and soap. I have worn the same pair of pants for five days before I changed in to a new pair. I have only changed my underwear a few times and washed clothes out of doors out of a large bowl! I have gotten used to squatting when I pee and had my lips bleed from being sun burned. I have been at the foot of one of the worlds greatest mountains, summited my own goals, been very close to the top of the world and smiled down at the clouds from 18,500 feet. I also drank over 200 cups of tea! What an amazing experience! I will never forget this! All in all it has been an incredible, hardly words to describe trip so far! I can not wait for our next great adventure! Who knew how much fun adventure travel could be! From the "presidential suite" in Namche - good night!
Images from our hike out of the mountains:
Namche Bazaar
9pm
We determined that John's illness was nothing less than exhaustion. After about 2 liters of water, 2 liters of tea, some juice and a very short rest, he began feeling much better.
We left Gorak Shep on May 18th and literally walked for two days straight. We walked and walked! We walked through extreme wind, rain and cold to Pangbuche. After a night in Pangbuche the next day we walked all of the way back down to 10,000 feet and are now here in Namche. Two days down.. it took us over a week to walk up. Do I even need to say that we are so tired! My poor muscles are extremely stretched and worn out! I can barely walk. My knees are so stiff that I can hardly get up and down the stairs. Just thinking about walking up the steep streets of Namche makes my whole body ache! I also picked up a small cold somewhere in the wind tunnel valley that we walked through for four hours on our way to Pangbuche from Gorak Shep. A sore throat, cough and congestion have plagued me since. With the two days of solid walking I have had to just suck it up and keep on going!
In Pangbuche, we woke up to a room full of feathers! I looked over at John and he looked like he had been tar and feathered! He had feathers in his hair, beard, mustache, eyebrows, up his nose, in his ears and stuck all over his body! "John, what did you do kill a chicken?" Aparently poor John got a hole in his down sleeping bag! Oh my God! Talk about a feather man! Feather mania all over! It was hilarious! I wish I took a picture, but I must admit, the picture in my head is so good!
Today John and I rested here in Namche. We bought some gifts, ate and slept. I decided to be very brave and have my ears threaded with traditional Tibetan beaded earrings! A needle, thread, matches and beads were the man's tools who sat me down in the middle of a small alleyway and proceeded to run the needle through my ear and weave a bead and thread in and out to secure it. I absolutely love love love them and I absolutely hope that they don't get infected. John and I also stumbled upon a small store full of regional antiques! John purchased an old wooden ice axe that is so amazing! Unfortunately I fell head over heels in love with a antique tea set that I could not live without! Now I have to find a way to lug it down the mountain somehow keeping it in one piece to Lukla! It is so beautiful!
We got to call home today and took body showers! Our spirits our good and I think both of us are excited for the journey down to Lukla out of the mountains and to Kathmandu! We are living quite well here in Namche. For the first time we have a fairly big room (not just big enough to hold two small beds) with our own toilet!! Not only is it our own toilet in our own room, but it is also a flush toilet! Yes People - we are back to sit down toilets! No more holes! YES! YES! YES! I never thought I would be so happy to see a toilet in my whole life! I even got a little teared up! If that wasn't enough, we also have a shower head with hot hot hot water in our toilet / wet room! What a treat! Power, lights, running water, toilet and shower heads! We are living in style in what John and I have named the "Presidential Suite!"
In 14 days I have not washed my hair (only three more days to go!) or shaved my legs ( the water up here is solar and is so hot that I can not let it directly touch my body or literally I will be scalded! So I have to wet a wash cloth, and then wash the bod!). I have only taken two "body" showers with a wet wash cloth and soap. I have worn the same pair of pants for five days before I changed in to a new pair. I have only changed my underwear a few times and washed clothes out of doors out of a large bowl! I have gotten used to squatting when I pee and had my lips bleed from being sun burned. I have been at the foot of one of the worlds greatest mountains, summited my own goals, been very close to the top of the world and smiled down at the clouds from 18,500 feet. I also drank over 200 cups of tea! What an amazing experience! I will never forget this! All in all it has been an incredible, hardly words to describe trip so far! I can not wait for our next great adventure! Who knew how much fun adventure travel could be! From the "presidential suite" in Namche - good night!
Images from our hike out of the mountains:
Friday, July 18, 2008
Nepal Part 6
May 17, 2008
Gorak Shep, Nepal
9pm
I can not write for long tonight only to scribble out a few lines.
We left Lobuche early yesterday morning and climbed and scrambled over thousands of boulders to our highest village Gorek (meaning raven in Sherpa) Shep. After we arrived in the late morning the skies were nice and blue and clear so we threw everything out of our day packs except for a wind jacket and water and began our two and a half hour straight up (50 degree angle) to the summit of Kalapathar. I'll have to go into more detail later but all I can say is I was literally on clouds up at 18,500 feet! We made the summit! I am so so happy! I must admit that it was one of the hardest physical things I have ever done to make it to that summit! When I reached the top it was like "I'm here! I can't believe I made it! I summited!" It was my equivalent of a Everest Summit! I honestly did not think that I would be able to make it to the top of Kalapathar when we left SLC (I wasn't sure if I would make Base Camp), but with every step closer to that spot, I felt myself growing more and more confident that I could really do this!
When my days get tough, I tell myself in my head "you can do this. You can do this!" Over and over I would repeat my mantra. Yesterday it got me to this amazing goal! I feel so much more confidence in myself that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything! The past couple of days have been wonderful! In so many ways this trip has already changed my life so much.
This is possibly the highest spot on earth that my feet will ever sit on (except now that I have done this... I am thinking maybe we should attempt Kilimanjaro in Africa! It is only 1000 feet higher!)! The skies were clear and gave us beautiful views of Everest! The summit was so windy! You could see Everest to the left and look all the way down where we had just come all the way to the end of the gigantic Khumbu Glacier to the right. Lhaptka brought a nalgene full of hot water that we sipped on at the summit to keep out core temperature warm! It was delicious up there overlooking the Himalayas the wind speeding by us!
Yesterday I stood at 18,400 feet, today I stood at 17,500 feet at the end of our ascent up to Everest Base Camp! I am very proud today that I made both of my goals! This is amazing! The altitude has proved a great challenge but not a challenge that I could not overcome with the full assistance of the my high altitude medication! I am sure that I would not have made it here without it! So I got a rash and had a nasty allergic reaction! who cares!? I made it! It was more that worth it! Today we walked on a glacier, ate lunch and hung out with climbers getting ready to climb to the highest point in the world; some were scientists, others were adventurers ready to test their luck and skills on an unforgiving mountain. While others were simply trying to break their own world record. All here driven by some unknown desire to be one with the mountain! What an incredible day! Base camp is a tent city that is bathed in blue light reflecting off of all the ice from the glacier and the ice fall. It was surreal! I tried to remain calm on the outside, but on the inside I had a huge smile. It may be no Everest summit, but I made it!! I am at Everest Base Camp! I was so thrilled! After staying at Base Camp for three hours, frozen to the bones (I forgot to bring my puffy North Face coat! How stupid was that!), we began to make the long three hour walk back to Gorak Shep. Then it started to snow! yeah
John became sick on the way back from Base Camp. His lips and face turned a deep color of purple. It became really scary! He could hardly walk, he stumbled over every step; he seemed really out of it and kept telling me he had a headache! As you can imagine I got really concerned. Remember what I wrote about AMS! I began to get nervous! We finally made it back to Gorak Shep and John practically fell into bed. After much discussion with Lhaptka, we are thinking it is probably exhaustion and not AMS. If it were AMS he would haven had a problem yesterday when we hit our highest altitude not today. Even still, we are on watch in case he gets dramatically worse and we have to pick up and head down to a lower altitude tonight. So I am trying to play nurse maid at 17,000 feet. We begin our descent first thing tomorrow. We hope that this helps!
good night
Images from Kalapathar
Gorak Shep, Nepal
9pm
I can not write for long tonight only to scribble out a few lines.
We left Lobuche early yesterday morning and climbed and scrambled over thousands of boulders to our highest village Gorek (meaning raven in Sherpa) Shep. After we arrived in the late morning the skies were nice and blue and clear so we threw everything out of our day packs except for a wind jacket and water and began our two and a half hour straight up (50 degree angle) to the summit of Kalapathar. I'll have to go into more detail later but all I can say is I was literally on clouds up at 18,500 feet! We made the summit! I am so so happy! I must admit that it was one of the hardest physical things I have ever done to make it to that summit! When I reached the top it was like "I'm here! I can't believe I made it! I summited!" It was my equivalent of a Everest Summit! I honestly did not think that I would be able to make it to the top of Kalapathar when we left SLC (I wasn't sure if I would make Base Camp), but with every step closer to that spot, I felt myself growing more and more confident that I could really do this!
When my days get tough, I tell myself in my head "you can do this. You can do this!" Over and over I would repeat my mantra. Yesterday it got me to this amazing goal! I feel so much more confidence in myself that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything! The past couple of days have been wonderful! In so many ways this trip has already changed my life so much.
This is possibly the highest spot on earth that my feet will ever sit on (except now that I have done this... I am thinking maybe we should attempt Kilimanjaro in Africa! It is only 1000 feet higher!)! The skies were clear and gave us beautiful views of Everest! The summit was so windy! You could see Everest to the left and look all the way down where we had just come all the way to the end of the gigantic Khumbu Glacier to the right. Lhaptka brought a nalgene full of hot water that we sipped on at the summit to keep out core temperature warm! It was delicious up there overlooking the Himalayas the wind speeding by us!
Yesterday I stood at 18,400 feet, today I stood at 17,500 feet at the end of our ascent up to Everest Base Camp! I am very proud today that I made both of my goals! This is amazing! The altitude has proved a great challenge but not a challenge that I could not overcome with the full assistance of the my high altitude medication! I am sure that I would not have made it here without it! So I got a rash and had a nasty allergic reaction! who cares!? I made it! It was more that worth it! Today we walked on a glacier, ate lunch and hung out with climbers getting ready to climb to the highest point in the world; some were scientists, others were adventurers ready to test their luck and skills on an unforgiving mountain. While others were simply trying to break their own world record. All here driven by some unknown desire to be one with the mountain! What an incredible day! Base camp is a tent city that is bathed in blue light reflecting off of all the ice from the glacier and the ice fall. It was surreal! I tried to remain calm on the outside, but on the inside I had a huge smile. It may be no Everest summit, but I made it!! I am at Everest Base Camp! I was so thrilled! After staying at Base Camp for three hours, frozen to the bones (I forgot to bring my puffy North Face coat! How stupid was that!), we began to make the long three hour walk back to Gorak Shep. Then it started to snow! yeah
John became sick on the way back from Base Camp. His lips and face turned a deep color of purple. It became really scary! He could hardly walk, he stumbled over every step; he seemed really out of it and kept telling me he had a headache! As you can imagine I got really concerned. Remember what I wrote about AMS! I began to get nervous! We finally made it back to Gorak Shep and John practically fell into bed. After much discussion with Lhaptka, we are thinking it is probably exhaustion and not AMS. If it were AMS he would haven had a problem yesterday when we hit our highest altitude not today. Even still, we are on watch in case he gets dramatically worse and we have to pick up and head down to a lower altitude tonight. So I am trying to play nurse maid at 17,000 feet. We begin our descent first thing tomorrow. We hope that this helps!
good night
Images from Kalapathar
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Nepal Part 5
May 15, 2008
Lobuche, Nepal
9 pm
I write tonight under the glow of my headlamp. I am buried deep within my sleeping bag. It is oh so cold tonight, John's fancy watch reads that the temperature is a brisk 40 degrees in our room.
This morning we left our rest stop, Dingbuche to began our day with a steep climb. We made our way across more cold wind blown tundra and after a couple of hours found ourselves sitting at the base of the largest and most dynamic glacier in Nepal, the Khumbu Glacier. Large white bolders tumble chaotically down a large valley that has been pushed down from the Himalayas and its mountain giants by the glacier. We crossed over the boulder slide, crossed a roaring river and began a 2000 foot ascent straight up through the giant rocks. At such a high altitude our hikes are getting increasingly harder and harder. Today was tough. My lungs consistenly burned all day, my chest was tight, my legs burned and my heart pounded.
After our one hour 2000 foot ascent to the top of the glacier (it is hard to imagine that I climbed up a glacier!), we ended up on the side of the glacier in a giant valley / canyon. For the rest of our journey to Everest, we will hike up the canyon with the giant glacier next to us at all times until the last day when we actually spend the day hiking on it to get to base camp!
We then walked through a mile or so of memorials dedicated to many of the people who have been lost on Everest and the other mountains looming above us. Hundreds of stacked stone monuments, mani stones and prayer flags cover the landscape. People from all over the world are remembered here. It was eerily quite, even the wind blew silently. All the people who walked through this area whispered as not to disturb the ghosts. I found it hard to talk at all. So many memorials, so many people lost. It is haunting to think that many of these people are still close by, their bodies frozen in the snow. Bodies are seldom taken off the mountains after people die up here. It is simply too dangerous for those still living. So many lost. I can't help but think about their last moments and wonder what they were thinking about. A man we met from California told me a few days back when talking about this ultimate sacrifice to the mountain that "if you are a mountaineer, eventually you won't make it off the mountain, Most die doing what they love." This sentence has stayed with me like a bad dream the past few days. This will be Apa's 18th climb, will he to loose to the mountain eventually? I don't even want to think about it. Think good thoughts.. think good thoughts.
After walking through memorial park, we began walking up the glacial carved canyon / valley to Lobuche. During my hike today I kept smelling the most delicious smell of cooking cinammon and honey. At first I thought it was an offering burning for those lost around the memorials.. but miles went by and I kept smelling cinamon and honey.. it smelled as if it were being cooking in a pot on the stove. The smell deliciously followed me all the rest of the day. Finally, beginning to worry that the smell was only in the MY head and a rare sign of Acute Mountain Sickness, or a tumor, I decided to ask Lhaptka if he could smell what I smelled. Lhaptka went over to a small succulant looking plant and pulled off a couple of leaves and held them up to me to smell. "Incense Plant," he said. "That's it" I exclaimed happily! As I looked around I realized that the hills were covered with this beautiful little plant and this is what I had been smelling all day! What a surprising treat! This has to be one of my favorite things about this place, hills that smell of warm goodness. Pure heaven! I already know this moment as a favorite memory.
The journey through the incense plants brings me to now, in Lobuche, in the lodge, in the bottom of my sleeping bag at 16,211 feet. My spirits are better today in that I got a hot, literally boiling hot half shower today! I never have been so happy to see a shower in my whole life, it has been over 10 days since I have! Despite not being able to wash my hair or shave my legs, I was able to get the dirt and griminess off my bod! With a clean self and shaved pits I feel 70% restored!
Tomorrow we leave bright and early and head to Gorak Shep. If the weather is good and the skies are clear we will attempt to summit Kalapathar (18,500 feet). This will be our highest altitude goal point that is known to have some of the best views of Everest on a clear day.
I miss my dear little Ebi. How she would love to bark at all of the yaks!
more later,
A
note to self: tell Matt about the Israeli climbing team
Lobuche, Nepal
9 pm
I write tonight under the glow of my headlamp. I am buried deep within my sleeping bag. It is oh so cold tonight, John's fancy watch reads that the temperature is a brisk 40 degrees in our room.
This morning we left our rest stop, Dingbuche to began our day with a steep climb. We made our way across more cold wind blown tundra and after a couple of hours found ourselves sitting at the base of the largest and most dynamic glacier in Nepal, the Khumbu Glacier. Large white bolders tumble chaotically down a large valley that has been pushed down from the Himalayas and its mountain giants by the glacier. We crossed over the boulder slide, crossed a roaring river and began a 2000 foot ascent straight up through the giant rocks. At such a high altitude our hikes are getting increasingly harder and harder. Today was tough. My lungs consistenly burned all day, my chest was tight, my legs burned and my heart pounded.
After our one hour 2000 foot ascent to the top of the glacier (it is hard to imagine that I climbed up a glacier!), we ended up on the side of the glacier in a giant valley / canyon. For the rest of our journey to Everest, we will hike up the canyon with the giant glacier next to us at all times until the last day when we actually spend the day hiking on it to get to base camp!
We then walked through a mile or so of memorials dedicated to many of the people who have been lost on Everest and the other mountains looming above us. Hundreds of stacked stone monuments, mani stones and prayer flags cover the landscape. People from all over the world are remembered here. It was eerily quite, even the wind blew silently. All the people who walked through this area whispered as not to disturb the ghosts. I found it hard to talk at all. So many memorials, so many people lost. It is haunting to think that many of these people are still close by, their bodies frozen in the snow. Bodies are seldom taken off the mountains after people die up here. It is simply too dangerous for those still living. So many lost. I can't help but think about their last moments and wonder what they were thinking about. A man we met from California told me a few days back when talking about this ultimate sacrifice to the mountain that "if you are a mountaineer, eventually you won't make it off the mountain, Most die doing what they love." This sentence has stayed with me like a bad dream the past few days. This will be Apa's 18th climb, will he to loose to the mountain eventually? I don't even want to think about it. Think good thoughts.. think good thoughts.
After walking through memorial park, we began walking up the glacial carved canyon / valley to Lobuche. During my hike today I kept smelling the most delicious smell of cooking cinammon and honey. At first I thought it was an offering burning for those lost around the memorials.. but miles went by and I kept smelling cinamon and honey.. it smelled as if it were being cooking in a pot on the stove. The smell deliciously followed me all the rest of the day. Finally, beginning to worry that the smell was only in the MY head and a rare sign of Acute Mountain Sickness, or a tumor, I decided to ask Lhaptka if he could smell what I smelled. Lhaptka went over to a small succulant looking plant and pulled off a couple of leaves and held them up to me to smell. "Incense Plant," he said. "That's it" I exclaimed happily! As I looked around I realized that the hills were covered with this beautiful little plant and this is what I had been smelling all day! What a surprising treat! This has to be one of my favorite things about this place, hills that smell of warm goodness. Pure heaven! I already know this moment as a favorite memory.
The journey through the incense plants brings me to now, in Lobuche, in the lodge, in the bottom of my sleeping bag at 16,211 feet. My spirits are better today in that I got a hot, literally boiling hot half shower today! I never have been so happy to see a shower in my whole life, it has been over 10 days since I have! Despite not being able to wash my hair or shave my legs, I was able to get the dirt and griminess off my bod! With a clean self and shaved pits I feel 70% restored!
Tomorrow we leave bright and early and head to Gorak Shep. If the weather is good and the skies are clear we will attempt to summit Kalapathar (18,500 feet). This will be our highest altitude goal point that is known to have some of the best views of Everest on a clear day.
I miss my dear little Ebi. How she would love to bark at all of the yaks!
more later,
A
note to self: tell Matt about the Israeli climbing team
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