Entries By calvin jiricko

Today was cloudy, even drizzly and raining at times, but not altogether unpleasant.  We came down the big hill out of Namche and crossed the ultra high swinging bridge.  Back down to the crazy Dhud Khosi frothing and splashing and turning 90 degrees every fifty feet.  Before too long we exited the National Park and had some tea in Monjo.  A few more hours of walking, a half dozen more swinging bridges and dodging about a hundred load-bearing mule teams and we were back in Phakding.  We’re enjoying the low life down here at 8600 ft. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The “low” altitude in Khumjung meant a good night’s sleep for our team.  Marissa and Harrison had a quick breakfast before beginning their big commute back to work in Pennsylvania. A helicopter plopped down in a neighboring potato field to whisk them away -just as had been planned weeks beforehand.  This was despite an extra helping of cloud and fog working into the valley. 
For the remainder of the team, it was an easy day of walking up through quiet Khunde and then over the pass toward Namche.  The clouds and trees combined to make it feel like a stroll in a garden.  We came down then into the bustling Sherpa capital and made our way to Camp de Base, our Namche headquarters.  The team took it easy for the afternoon, sampling cafe faire, getting hair done, shopping and hanging in an Irish bar.  Some read and rested and played bananagrams. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

It was our third night up high in Lungdhen -the team was thriving.  Even so, it was time to get lower again.  We left in clean, clear, cool air this morning. The walking was pretty easy and we seemed to be making good time.  We were back to Thame by midday but we’d set our sights on Thamo -across the river- for our lunch stop.  We were again impressed by the crazy turbulence of the river squeezed between rock walls under our big swinging cable bridge. By the time we sat for lunch, the clouds and mist were taking over but we still sat comfortably outside.  After lunch we took a left turn for Khumjung, climbing a big hill full of rock stairs in the mist.  At about the top of the hill, 30 min from our intended tea house, we had to put on the rain gear for the first time of the trip.  We rolled in around 5 PM to comfort, a yak dung fire, and dry clean rooms.  We’d put in nearly nine hours on the trail and ended up at 12,600 ft when it was all said and done.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

It was an alpine start for our team today.  We set out walking by headlight in the cool 5AM mountain air.  The goal was to reach the 16,000 ft lakes below the Renjo La.  Short of being able to go through the pass, we wanted to at least see the high ground.  And we did.  Some steady climbing brought us up into the snow just as sunrise came on.  We found a set of mysterious tracks in the snow.  Possibly leopard, possibly dog.  Ultimately we sat in the sun at 16k, eating snacks, drinking water and mugging for pictures.  We put on our yak track boot chains and descended carefully down the slippery path back toward our adopted home in Lungdhen, reaching it around 11:30 in a still sunny morning. 
We had a great lunch and dried our boots outside until the clouds came over.  Some went for an afternoon snooze, some were treated to an impromptu concert in the dining room as Harrison sang and played guitar.  The afternoon card games got going at about the same time that the yak dung fire got lit in the iron stove in the center of the room. 
This will be our last night up high, we’ll start our gradual descent tomorrow. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

This was to be a rest day at Lungdhen.  And mostly it was.  Most of the team walked a few miles north toward the Nangpa La  -the pass into Tibet.  They reported no people but a number of good yaks.  A couple of us went up to scout out the Renjo La -the 17,600 ft pass separating us from Gokyo -our intended next village.  We found too much snow left over from the recent cyclone.  We were able to get to the pass on our reconnaissance but it just wouldn’t be suitable for a bigger group with porters carrying loads.  We’ll come up with an alternate itinerary on this side of the pass.  Plenty still to see.  The day turned cloudy fairly early on today, we hope that is just a blip and not another system moving in.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

All agreed that it was a beautiful day to be walking in the Himalaya.  As expected, it was a little cooler waking up in Thame but the sun came around and made everything cheerful and warm.  We walked north toward Tibet for about six hours along a charging, churning, frothing glacial river.  We finally got high enough to see real live yaks and marveled at the labor that had gone into their stone corals and pens.  It was a day spent above tree line and the morning sun was intense.  That gave way to dramatic clouds by afternoon.  They only seemed to exaggerate the height and steepness of the peaks towering on all sides.  Our own path today was just a steady and gradual gain to 14,300 ft.  Relatively easy walking compared to yesterday’s ups and downs.  The snowline from the recent cyclone that hit Nepal is just a few hundred feet above us now. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Another day, another high, beautiful valley.  We came up from Namche to Thame, passing about 500 waterfalls and getting first views of another dozen 22,000 foot mountains. 
It was a pleasure to walk out of Namche in the opposite direction of most tourists and trekkers. We’ve been alongside wonderful people, but today it was just great to be by ourselves on the path less traveled.  We got our last chance (for a while at least) to walk in the shade of trees as we passed through lush pine forests.  We crossed another high cable bridge over the angriest of rivers just before reaching Thame.  It took about five hours, with a nice stop for tea, but then we rolled in to Paradise -our tea house at 12,600 ft.  The walls of this valley are the kind that hurt your neck to look at… but they are pretty good for the soul. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We called it a rest day, but there wasn’t much rest. It was the perfect morning for acclimatizing though, and so we hiked to the top of town for a grand view of Mt Everest and Lhotse and Ama Dablam, to say nothing of Tawoche and Thamserku and Kwangde.  We went a bit higher to around 12,600 ft for tea in a relaxing yard in the strong sunshine.  Then it was down to Namche to rest.  But still nobody actually rested.  It was too much fun strolling the “streets” of Namche and shopping. 

Tomorrow it is back to work, we’ll be moving on.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Seven and a half hours of good walking got us all the way up to Namche Bazaar.  Phakding was a wonderful place to spend the night.   The roar of the river made for perfect “white noise” and team members reported progress in dealing with jet lag. Despite the great night and a fine breakfast we were excited to get walking along the Dhudh Kosi and toward the high country.  The steep steep sides to the valley we were hiking in allowed tantalizing views of 20,000 ft snow covered summits to motivate us.  We crossed into the Sagarmatha National Park and made our way to the fabled Namche Hill.  We’d already done a fair bit of climbing when we crossed a high swinging bridge to set foot on the actual hill.  Then it was a pretty steady gain of 2000 vertical feet to get us into Namche.  We were able to sneak a brief view of the very top of Mt Everest off in the distance at one turn of the trail. 
The entire team did an excellent job on what turned out to be a hot day for climbing.  The comfort we found waiting at Camp de Base -our Namche home for the next two nights- seemed like the perfect reward.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Now we’re talking!  We made it into the mountains.  It wasn’t easy, the helicopter pilots in Nepal are working overtime these days and so it took longer than anticipated for our three loads of people and gear to get in.  But the weather was nice and the team was patient.  By 1 PM we were all in Lukla at 9300 ft.  After a little lunch we hit the trail.  A benefit of coming in “late” was that we virtually had the trail to ourselves.  We strolled along the ridiculously turbulent rapids of the Dhudh Kosi and ultimately crossed the river on a swinging cable bridge.  The team pulled into the Sunrise Garden Lodge in uptown Phakding just as the sun set.  Day one is in the books. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn