We moved up-valley to Deboche today. Morning in Namche was pleasant but we had places to go and things to see. We hit the trail by 8:30 and walked easily along the traverse trail leaving town. At first we were mixed in with a few trekking groups and strings of pack animals, but after a little while we had the trail to ourselves. We'd have loved to have been able to hang on to our hard-won altitude, but it was necessary to give plenty of it back as we needed to drop all the way down to the river to get across and take on the Thyangboche Hill. We worked slow-and-steady up the hillside trail, gaining about fifteen hundred vertical feet in an hour and a half. Along the way, we got great views of Kangtega with its giant walls of rock topped by hanging glaciers, but these views were surpassed when we reached the hilltop and saw Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam spread out before us and doing battle with the wind and clouds. Thyangboche Monastery sat like a palace at the ridge crest behind elaborate and ornate gates. We took our packs off for a few minutes and tried to take it all in, but we were only twenty minutes walk from Deboche at this point and lunch had taken on great importance to the team, so we shouldered packs once more and set off down through the rhododendron forests to our lodge at 12,200 ft above sea level.
The afternoon passed with food and naps and a break from the distractions of the internet, since WiFi was not readily available. We are not quite in the wilderness yet, but we can see it from here.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Mark Tucker checking in today from Gorak Shep, at about 17,000’ feet. We had a nice hike today with the wonderful weather holding on for us - feeling lucky! We pushed on after we had lunch and got the summit of Kala Patar just over 18,000’ feet, right around sunset. The big “E” popped it’s top out a couple of times, beautiful colors with an alpine glow, windy, and cold. I am standing outside right now and it is chilly up here! I am looking at about 500 million stars, just a beautiful night aside from cold.
Everybody is tucked in and we are going to get up and rock-n-roll for Base Camp tomorrow. That’s the plan, hope it all holds true.
All the best to everybody and we will be keeping you posted!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
Wonderful progress you’ve made. I hope you are treasuring every moment and can’t wait to hear all about it first hand from Nancy Harris. Have safe travels and thank you for sharing your experience with us through your posts.
Posted by: Maria Eichelberger on 3/31/2014 at 5:53 am
Hello Elizabeth Harris, Hope you are having an amazing time!
We are thinking of you!
stay warm & happy journey.
The Tamboli Family, Tampa
Hello Everybody,
This is Casey Grom checking in from Everest Base Camp. Our team actually arrived yesterday after making the summit of Kala Patar. Unfortunately we were not able to get a satellite call to let everyone know that we had safely arrived here. Everyone here is doing fantastic!
We woke up this morning to pretty blustery weather, but our wonderful cook Kumar actually got our hot shower up and running here. So it is nice for everyone to get a nice hot shower and just relax. This afternoon we went for a short walk from out camp down the start of the glacier where the route through the Kumbu Ice Fall starts. That was a nice treat for everybody to get to walk down there and try and get an idea of where the route will go in.
Everyone is doing great; we are currently sitting down for dinner. Our game plan is to head back down to Pheriche and we should have cell service Wi-Fi once we get back down there. We are looking forward to getting back down there and will hopefully send pictures then.
Good Night Everybody!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
This was our easy day in Namche. No big hikes, no packing, no training... this one was for resting, for catching up on personal business and for exploring the Sherpa capital at one's leisure. Above this point in the trek/climb, we won't have such ease of communication and certainly not the opportunity to shop for good climbing gear. There was some important business to attend to though as Chhering Dorje, Lam Babu and I went to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee office to review procedures and policies for getting garbage down the mountain. We signed our sincere intention to play by the rules.
Some of the team traveled several hundred feet up in altitude to the Namche suburbs in order to visit the fine Sherpa Culture Museum with its fascinating Everest history exhibit. Some went for massages and cheeseburgers downtown.
As the gang assembled for dinner in the early evening, we were pleased to find that Apa Sherpa was sharing our Tea House for the night. Apa, the all-time leader in Everest summits -with 21- is bringing a trek in to explore the Khumbu.
All of the RMI climbers and guides are healthy and well-rested. Tomorrow we'll hit the trail and go higher once again.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Nicole, greetings from beautiful NJ.(Im lying weather sucks) I am very proud of what you have done so far and you are about to do. we all miss you and love you. be careful and safe. Take pictures when you can
See you soon
Elpidio
Posted by: Elpidio Cruz on 3/31/2014 at 6:07 am
Faitma, I know you’re enjoying all that hiking and beautiful scenery. Looks spectacular. You and the team are so lucky! Wish I was there with you all.
Peter
Posted by: Peter Williamson on 3/31/2014 at 3:42 am
Oh my goodness! We must be so far out there. No cell service, no internet, no wifi. How are we gonna get by? Just fine. That's what I can tell you. The team's doing well. We are up here at Lobuche. Had a nice walk up. Fine weather, a little overcast now. Chilly, chilly up here at 16,000'. We are happy to be here in good shape. We are checking in by satellite phone, so we can still be connected. We appreciate everyone following along. Hopefully tomorrow we will move up to Gorak Shep where I think we may have some connectivity, and I may be able to send some fabulous pictures from the jaunt up the hill today. We will check in again.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hello everyone.
We're still here. Just went through Loboche which is a little short on cell service, wifi and I even had trouble getting my sat phone to work.
The last couple of days have been really nice and strangely it seems to be getting warmer as we get higher. We hiked to Gorak Shep today and wanted to climb up Kala Patar but the evening swirling clouds have us waiting till tomorrow.
We are literarily a stones through from the Khumbu glacier and only about two hours from Mt. Everest Base Camp. Everyone seems to be doing well and we are so excite for Base camp!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We had a nice dinner, cool temps in the rooms for sleeping, a pleasant night for all. A leisurely breakfast led into a nice hike with grand views as you can imagine. The team pushed up well over 14,000 feet to get the heart and lungs moving. We then returned to our tea house for lunch, and then off to the altitude lecture at the near by clinic. Great insight from doctors offering good info. The team pooled a nice donation for the cause and even came away with a few more souvenirs. It all ended with a little down time relaxing. As they say a pictures says a thousand words!
We are all doing well and plan to move up to Loboche tomorrow, if all seems right.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker & Team
As planned, today was our hiking and acclimatizing day at Namche. Since we are now well and truly "at altitude" it pays to go slowly. We'll actually spend three nights here at 11,200 feet before ratcheting up the sleeping altitude again. Light exercise on such days can enhance acclimatization, and so we went for a fine hike. First, we climbed straight up and out of Namche to reach Syangboche, at close to 12,000 ft, then we moved East to gain ridiculously good views of Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Everest. Combined with the already insane vistas to our South and West of Thamserku and Quangde, respectively, it was nearly overwhelming... too much to fully take in. So we walked to the Everest View Hotel, sat on an open terrace and sipped hot lemon juice while pondering the view. It looked quite windy and nasty up high on Lhotse and Everest (Nobody tries to summit in March for good reason) but where we sat it was sunny and calm. We then walked over for lunch in the village of Khumjung and finally up to Khunde before crossing the forested ridge line once again for Namche.
It was a great stretch of the legs and lungs on uncrowded and garden-like trails. The afternoon back down in Namche then seemed just perfectly made for napping.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Nicole and Team,“The Lord is your shepherd” and He will lead you on your journey. We will follow you each day with our joy, energy, excitement and love. Mimi
Posted by: marianne rhodes on 3/30/2014 at 5:09 pm
Nicole, I am glad your team is rested and ready to go forward together. From now on is the exciting experience that we have spoken about so many times. You are an inspiration to your friends and family. I know you will accomplish with the entire team with you. You know your mom is proudly supporting you as well and with you in spirit. Love you much A.Ginny
Namaste!
The 2014 Dhaulagiri team has reunited in Kathmandu after the three waves in which all of us arrived. With the last minute of extra food shopping done, we had the mandatory briefing at the ministry of tourism this morning and paid a special visit to Ms. Hawley, the "bookkeeper" of Himalayan climbing. She helped us understand this endeavor even better with some statistics pertinent to our team: among our nationalities, only 14 Americans (2 women) and 28 Spaniards have summited on this mountain with just 300 total ascents. Really exciting!
Tomorrow we fly early morning to Pokhara, and then a six-hour drive will take us to Darbang. This is the trailhead to our week-long approach to base camp. We'll check in next from the trails!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Yesterday's clouds drifted away in the night. We woke to crystal clear skies over Phakding and unimpeded views of giant snow-covered mountains. After a fine breakfast, the gang was on the trail just after 8:30 AM. Although I'd warned over and over that the trail would be busy with trekkers, porters and pack animals, we had it pretty much to ourselves. The trail wound up and down along the constant whitewater of the Dudh Khosi. We strolled through pine forests and picturesque farmland at the bottom of a deep gorge. We entered Sagarmatha National Park and stopped for lunch in the small village of Jorsalle, sitting outside in the sunshine. Then it was all business, up through the big trees and the big hills leading to Namche Bazaar. A new suspension bridge had been built at the foot of the big hill, taking us hundreds of feet in the air across the gorge. The team went at the final hill with gusto, taking a break partway up to enjoy the first distant glimpses of Mount Everest.
We rolled into Namche and our home for the next three nights at about 2:30 PM, leaving plenty of time for naps, shopping and internet.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team
Lee, Travis, and Norm . . . we are fascinated by the posts, information, and photos. Enjoy the experience!
Posted by: Kevin on 3/28/2014 at 10:58 am
Nicole, This looks to be an amazing journey so far, and it is only the beginning. I am so happy for you that you are fulfilling your dream. Be safe every day and enjoy every minute. I miss you very much.
Love your #1 fan, forever. Mike.
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Wonderful progress you’ve made. I hope you are treasuring every moment and can’t wait to hear all about it first hand from Nancy Harris. Have safe travels and thank you for sharing your experience with us through your posts.
Posted by: Maria Eichelberger on 3/31/2014 at 5:53 am
Hello Elizabeth Harris, Hope you are having an amazing time!
We are thinking of you!
stay warm & happy journey.
The Tamboli Family, Tampa
Posted by: Anahita on 3/31/2014 at 4:06 am
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