Entries from Expedition Dispatches
We left the hotel well before sunrise this morning, driving through the nearly deserted streets of Kathmandu to the domestic airport. We hauled all of our gear through the narrow entryway and into the terminal, found our flight to Lukla, and as the sun rose just before 7am we were already taking our seats in the plane. Yesterday afternoon's clouds and light rain dissipated overnight and the morning sun shone through clear skies - perfect flying weather. We buckled our seat belts tight, took the cotton balls offered by the flight attendant and crammed them into our ears, and then took off from Kathmandu. True to their name, the STOL (Short Take Off Landing) airplanes we fly in get airborne in a matter of a few hundred meters and we were soon flying above the outskirts of Kathmandu and over the hills of the Terai - the middle section of Nepal and the foothills of the Himalaya. Flying east we had incredible views of the Himalayas out of the side of the plane and we spent the entire flight staring through the windows at the countryside below and the mountains hanging in the distance.
The flight was amazingly smooth, hardly a spot of turbulence - uncommon for flights around mountains of this size, and we soon banked a hard turn to the north and descended into the Khumbu Valley. The airport at Lukla is a short strip of tarmac noticeably slanted and the landings there are always...exciting. The approach takes the flight directly at the hillside until the entire mountain fills the view through the cockpit window and then in the span of several football fields the planes go from airborne to stopped. The pilots pulled off the smoothest landing I have ever had in Lukla and within minutes we were stepping off of the plane and onto the footpaths of Lukla.
Needing a little bit of time to get all of our gear from the flights we sat down in a tea-house near the airport and had breakfast, tea and coffee before hitting the trail.
Lukla sits several days walk from the nearest road head and only footpaths connect all of the villages up here - there isn't an automobile for dozens of miles in any direction. All transportation takes place on the stone lined trails, carried by animals or on your back. It is a far cry from the chaotic traffic jams of Kathmandu and a welcome relief to hear no horns or engines. Leaving Lukla, which sits about 1500' above the valley floor, we made a long, gradual traverse down to the Dudh Kosi river. The trail passes through fields of recently planted crops of cabbage, carrots, potatoes, wheat, and other vegetables and between the stone walls of small villages dotted along the way. Every so often the trail splits around giant boulders carved with Buddhist prayers or wraps around the stupas and prayer wheels.
For fear of falling into romanticism too easily, I'll simply say that it is a beautiful walk with sights and sounds to be seen in every direction. Hanging above it all are the giant snow covered peaks of the Himalaya. At 15,000 - 20,000' they are minor mountains compared to their neighbors to the north, but seen from the valley floor far below they are impressive. We walked for several hours through the fields and villages, crossing occasional suspension bridges across side rivers.
By mid-afternoon we reached the village of Phakding and settled into our tea-house. Sitting right along the edge of the Dudh Kosi River - which means Milk River due to its milky blue color from the glacial sediment it carries - our tea-house is tucked away in a quiet spot with views up and down the valley. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the sun in the grassy terraces in front of our rooms before the mountain's shadows brought the evening chill. We sat down in the dining room around the wood burning stove and had an excellent first meal in the Khumbu, enjoying some delicious momos - the local dumplings.
Tomorrow we head further up the valley to Namche Bazaar, the cultural and economic center of the region. The team is in great spirits.
Everyone is feeling healthy and well and we are all very excited to at last be on the trail.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
We had a busy day here in Kathmandu preparing for Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak adventures. We spent the better part of the morning discussing the plan, logistics, and gear needed for the trip, making the final preparations and sort of our gear before loading it all into our duffel bags in anticipation of tomorrow morning's departure. After weeks spent collecting all of the gear we need and thousands of miles of travel to get it here, it is exciting to have everything packed and ready to go.
After lunch we plunged into Kathmandu to visit several of the city's renowned UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Stopping first at the Pashputinath Temple, we walked between the small shrines and many temples dotting the banks of the Baghmati River observing the activities of Nepal's most holy Hindu cremation site. Deep in the heart of this city of 4 million, the temple grounds were bustling with families and ceremonies.
Moving across town a little ways, we then spent some time exploring the Boudhanath Stupa, the largest Buddhist Stupa (temple) in Nepal and the starting point for any pilgrimage the Nepalese Buddhist undertake.
Spanning an area the size of a football field, the sprawling stupa's white washed walls are constantly circled by streams of visitors and worshipers.
We then climbed the long set of stairways to Sawayambunath Stupa.
Nicknamed the Monkey Temple by Kathmandu's hippie visitors in the '60s, the temple grounds sit atop a hill overlooking the city and true to its name, is home to a large number of monkeys that swing from the strings of prayer flags and scramble across the golden roofs of the shrines, all the while waiting patiently for the misattention of a visitor to grab their snacks or drinks.
After the tour we headed into Thamel, the throbbing center of Kathmandu to get dinner. Navigating the narrow streets packed full of shops selling knock-off outdoor gear, taxis, visitors, and street vendors hawking local jewelry, we ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Kathmandu before turning in for the evening. We have an early ride to the airport tomorrow morning for our flight into the mountains to the village of Lukla.
We will check in tomorrow from the Khumbu!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
The team convened in Kathmandu today to kick off our Everest Base Camp Trek and climb of Island Peak. A heavy rain blew through Kathmandu last night, clearing the skies this morning for gorgeous views of the surrounding hills and the peaks of the Himalaya looming in the distance. Everyone arrived as scheduled today, easily retrieving bags and passing through customs. We loaded all of the gear into the back of the van and plunged into the busy streets of Kathmandu, navigating between the taxis, buses, rickshaws, street vendors, and pedestrians on our way to the hotel. Life in Kathmandu happens on the streets, from buying daily groceries to sipping tea and we slowly made our way through it all, taking in everything as we navigated the streets.
We will do the final round of packing our gear for the mountains tomorrow before heading out to visit the streets and landmarks of Kathmandu. After months of preparation and days of travel we are excited to be here with the trip finally underway.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
Posted by: Jake Beren
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
After an excellent climb with perfect conditions our team descended to Tlachichuca. It was hard to believe that all in the same day we could have climbed again by moonlight, this time looking at Popo and Ixta hit by the morning sun. It was a warm day and our team did a fantastic job handling the high altitude and moving securely in the rarified air. Again, our timing was ideal, just as we pulled into the hut to pack, the clouds rolled in and obscured the mountain. These were some of the best climbing conditions I have seen down here and the entire team appreciated the chance to stand on top in warm, windless weather.
Now we bid our farewells and look forward to the next time we all get to try our hand at climbing these sleeping giants. Though this trip will be tough to top, til then!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Greetings from the top of Orizaba!
We had a beautiful day climbing up today. A beautiful moon to climb with, amazing shadows from Popo and Ixta and the team did super well.
So, we are psyched. We are happy we are up here. Pretty soon we'll start walking down. We will give a shout from Tlachichuca when we get down this afternoon.
It has been a great climb and we are going to keep it rolling.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls from the summit of Pico de Orizaba.
On The Map
Hello this is Jake checking in from Mexico.
We are at Piedra Grande, the hut on Pico de Orizaba. After a day of rest in Puebla, we took off for Tlachichuca early this morning. After meeting with Dr. Reyes at his family's climber hostile we took four wheel drive vehicles up to the hut. We are turning in early to prepare for our climb tonight. It is a little cloudy right now but other than that conditions are pretty good. The peak comes out now and again and we are hoping things clear out for our climb tomorrow.
Wish us luck! We will call in tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from the climber's hut on Pico de Orizaba.
On The Map
Posted by: Jake Beren
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Well it's been quite a day. This morning (technically speaking) we arose to a pretty full moon and gave climbing Ixta a shot. The past few mornings have had Popo's (Ixta's neighboring volcano and protector) smoky plume ascending straight into the sky. These "no wind" mornings are a treat to climb in and this morning was certainly a treat. Our team cruised the perfect conditions left by last month's storms and stood on top early this morning. We were able to see Orizaba in first light looming over Puebla where we now rest. Popo's aforementioned plume actually glowed red with the magma exposed in it's crater! I've never seen it do that before. On our descent Ixta's shadow stretched for miles and we pulled into camp seemingly just as a cold front made it's way to the mountain. Quite a day.
Now for a little R&R here in Puebla before heading to Orizaba.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
I am jealous, as the weather on our trip was not so cooperative. Congrats to the team!
Posted by: Peter Rogers on 3/9/2012 at 11:33 am
Red hot Magma?
Posted by: Hannah on 3/8/2012 at 9:26 am
Good morning from the top of Ixtaccihuatl!
We are standing on the summit with the RMI Mexico’s Volcanoes team. We had a fantastic climb this morning, a huge moon and unbelievable cramponing conditions. The climb was smooth and we are up in great time. So we are just checking out the views of Puebla, Amecameca and Mexico City with the lights down below. Everyone did great.
We want to wish Fernando a very Happy Birthday and thank him for spending his birthday with us on the summit.
We’ll be checking in when we get down low.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls in from the summit of Ixtaccihuatl.
On The Map
holloway you need to hurry up and get back. i haven’t been to the gym since you left. i need you here to carry my sorry butt. speaking of workouts, chase’s sister is really missing you. she has been so upset she hasn’t ate since you left. she is down to 468lb.
p.s. chase says to tell you you look like a baby back b**ch in that picture.
hope all is well, daniel
Posted by: Daniel on 3/7/2012 at 3:23 pm
WAY TO GO AUNT KIM!! ALL THOSE HOURS OF LOOKING LIKE A NERD ON THE STAIRMILL (WITH A BACKPACK) REALLY PAID OFF…
tell all your new friends they did a great job too :)
ps- I LOST ANOTHER TOOTH!!
XOXOXO SOPHIA
Posted by: sophia rose on 3/7/2012 at 12:52 pm
Hello, this is Jake with the RMI Mexico team. Everybody made up to high camp today doing well and climbing in good style. We have now set up camp, hung out, relaxed for a little bit and we're doing a little snow school review with Dan and Fernando before dinner. So all is well up here and we will be checking in tomorrow. Wish us luck. If this weather holds, then we're gonna go for the top tonight so we'll be checking in hopefully from up there. Alright. Bye.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Jake Beren checks in from Ixta High Camp
On The Map
Greetings everybody!
We are at the Altzimoni Hut at the base of Ixtaccihuatl, where we will be heading out to climb tomorrow. All is well here. We've had clearing afternoon a little bit of cloud cover over Ixta right now but looks to be breaking up somewhat. So, with fingers crossed we'll go to bed (hoping for clear skies in the morning) and head up to our high camp tomorrow. The team is doing great. We had a nice stop in Amecameca to pick up some last minute items, cruise around town and sort of check out what was going on and see some sites we may not otherwise have visited in Central Mexico. We will call in from our high camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
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RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from 12000 ft on Ixtaccihuatl.
Hey Jane—love the top by the way!! I bet this is alot more fun than Avon!!??
Posted by: Bonnie Pringle on 3/18/2012 at 1:40 pm
Way to go Bowman!!!! I am so proud of you—still cannot believe you are doing this!!!!!
Posted by: Bonnie Pringle on 3/18/2012 at 1:33 pm
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