What a wild storm....... a month ago. I have counted about thirty downed trees near the trail since Namche. Big trees ! Word on the trail was about a three day rain event then a big wind storm and there you have it, lots of lumber on the ground. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it did it make a sound? How about if somebody writes a fantastic blog dispatch but it never gets posted, is it still a blog? Kim is so nice, at least she is not making me feel too bad for deleting (on accident) her amazing dispatch of yesterday. I thought I was in the dog house, but she seems OK. It could be different after we get the summit of Island Peak and my value goes way down, maybe I will hear about it then. Regardless, she has decided to give it another shot just for you all. Enjoy, RMI Guide Mark Tucker After arm wrestling the two guys yesterday, I finally won a chance to write the blog. I thought it was wonderfully written, but the men seemed unimpressed. The next thing I was told is that it was "lost" in cyberspace somewhere. Hmm. I seem to be outnumbered here. In any case, I'll try a new one today and see if it gets posted this time. . . What a wonderful day we had! We awoke to bluebird skies and a gorgeous view of Namche Bazaar and the surrounding peaks. We departed just after breakfast and hiked up, up, and more up to Khumjung at 12,475 ft where we visited the Hillary School. We have with us a couple of special "flat" children inspired by the "Flat Stanley" book. One flat child took a peek at the school with us. After a short stop at the bakery in Khumjung, we descended through an enchanting rhododendron forest down, down, and more down to our lunch stop in Phunkgi Thanga (nicknamed Funky Town by Mr.Tuck) at 10,800ft. With full bellies, we climbed up, up, and more up. During our climb, the clouds rolled in and a blanket of fog made our enchanting hike even more mystical. As we hiked, we could hear the gentle clanging of a yak bell calling out from the fog. An occasional person or yak would emerge from the fog, pass us, and then disappear again. Finally, we began seeing the occasional monk emerge from the fog and disappear, indicating to us that we had reached the Tengboche monastery (12,800ft). We will visit again tomorrow, hopefully when the skies are clear. Finally, we descended down, down, (well, just a little down) to Deboche at 12,325 ft. We are spending the evening warming in the teahouse while the fog begins to lift outside to reveal the surrounding hillsides. --Kim

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