Entries By jess wedel

Hello to everyone at home!

Today we had a rest day in Pheriche.

A few of us went on a lovely walk through the village (making sure to stop at the bakery, of course!), some hiked a little ways up the hill behind the village and the Lobuche climbers went to the top of Nangkartshang Peak reaching over 16,600 feet.

Whatever we chose to do, we all got better acclimatized to the altitude before we head higher tomorrow. This team made smart decisions about what their body needed to keep our goals of Everest Base Camp and Lobuche Peak in mind and that’s what any guide likes to see.

We all made it back in time for lunch together at the teahouse enjoying warm rara soup and heaping plates of french fries!

We spent the afternoon having coffee in the warm sunroom, working on puzzles, and even doing a little harness and ascender demonstration for the Lobuche climbing team.

We had a lively dinner followed by some cribbage and Uno. We’re all tucked into our warm sleeping bags with hot water bottles keeping our toes warm and looking forward to our hike to Lobuche tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jess, Sam and team

Namaste Everyone,

We woke up this morning to sunshine and beautifully clear skies. From our dining room window, we had views of Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up, packing our duffel bags and heading to breakfast where we have all found an affinity for Tibetan bread with honey - it’s delicious warm fried bread (think funnel cake) and we have made it our mission to review every Tibetan bread in the valley. We’ll let you know which one we think is best!

After breakfast, we head outside, determine which layers to wear for the day, put on sunscreen and our buffs over our mouth and nose to protect us from that cold, dry air. Once on the trail, we do our best to maintain a nice, steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the insane views. There haven’t been too many other hikers on the trail but we are constantly navigating yak trains moving up and down.

Our mantra of today as we moved to nearly 14,000 feet was “I’m strong like a yak”.  We hiked for a little over five hours to get to our tea house in Pheriche and everyone did great. We’re looking forward to spending two nights here as we let our bodies acclimate before moving higher.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the base camp crew

After dinner, a few of us sat around the dining table and I asked, “what was the highlight of your day?” And the answer was “walking through the pine trees in a cloud.” Someone else chimed in that they agreed because “everything seemed very peaceful.”

We had another big day - leaving Namche and heading toward Tengboche. Climbing up to the top of Namche and turning the corner on the trail to views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam was remarkable. We had intermittent clouds this morning but the mountains continued to peek through as we moved along the trail. This is one of my favorite trekking days because the views are endless. We stopped for as many photos as possible because we knew the clouds would settle in by the afternoon.

Just before lunch, we headed back down a big hill toward the river and lo and behold we saw a large group of Himalayan tahr - a type of mountain goat. They were so curious looking at us looking at them with tilted heads and calm eyes. After lunch, we had two more hours of uphill. Everyone did excellent even as the clouds socked in and it began to snow. Before we knew it we were in Tengboche, dawning all the layers we brought to try to stay warm and dry.

We were able to have a very special blessing by the llama at the monastery and spend some time listening to their afternoon meditations and prayers.

Now, we are all tucked into our sleeping bags with hot water bottles right next to us. We are staying at a beautiful teahouse called Rivendell and being taken such good care of. It was a special day today and we are so thankful for the people of the Khumbu valley opening their hearts and homes.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam, and team

Hello again!

It was an incredible day here in the Khumbu Valley. We woke up to blue skies and sunshine beaming in our windows. It was such a welcome surprise after a few days of rain.  We quickly ate breakfast so we could get outside for some views of the great ones. We had a “choose your own adventure” day — some of the team climbed to Everest View Hotel while some of us walked to the Sherpa Culture Museum. No matter how we spent our active rest day - we all got to see MOUNT EVEREST!  And boy, was she showing off. It was more beautiful than could ever be captured in pictures and a moment none of us will soon forget. Being surrounded at every turn with towering mountains makes you feel small in the very best way.

We all met back up for lunch just as the clouds rolled in. We spent the afternoon wandering the endless shops of Namche, picking up little treasures and learning more about the Sherpa culture.  It’s been a bit colder than normal so we opted to get down puffy pants. We are happy to have these as we go higher and an added benefit is the highlighter yellow, blue and red makes it nearly impossible to lose each other.  Another day comes to an end here in Nepal and we are all refreshed and ready to keep climbing towards our goal.

Sending lots of love and hugs to our family and friends back home. 

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

PC: Jess Wedel

“We look like a bag of skittles,” Jenell said as we started our morning leaving Phakding.

It had rained all night and the colors surrounding the Dudh Khosi River were saturated. Amongst them our bright rain shell jackets and pants seemed especially loud.

Did we stop at the bakery just a few minutes outside our teahouse? Yes. Yes, of course we did! Pockets filled with pastries we made our way to the base of the Namche hill. It stayed cloudy and  drizzled on us as we officially entered Sagarmatha National Park and soon took a quick break for lunch. The drizzle turned to a full-on rain as we stood at the base of the hill looking up at the Hillary Bridge. We got in formation, one step, and then another right behind the person in front of us. Taking deep breaths and climbing steadily. The rain didn’t let up and the mud was epic but this team stayed positive and many laughs were had along the way.  We stood to the side of the trail as the train of mules slipped and slid their way past us. We listened for their bells to know when they were coming.  The rain turned to a quiet snow as we hummed along those final few hundred vertical feet to Namche.

Namche Bazaar, the city on a hill. Somehow made even more magical covered in a dusting of fresh snow. What a place! We climbed a little higher through town to our teahouse, Camp de Base, and were greeted with big pots of hot chocolate and popcorn. What a day!

One of our Sherpa guides, Dawa, said to me this evening, “this is a strong team” and I couldn’t agree more. Conditions were tough on an already hard day and everybody absolutely crushed it. We are one step closer to our goal but very much looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

P.S. Diane, we miss you!

Hello from our teahouse in Phakding!

At 3:45am, our alarms went off and we woke up - ready with our duffel bags and all the excitement (and maybe some nerves) for our flight to Lukla.  Everything went smoothly and we were first in line at the airport. After security checkpoints and the duffle shuffle, we were called to board our plane. It was a little cloudy out so we crossed our fingers it was clear in Lukla! And boy, was it our lucky day.  We made it in and we were one of the only flights that did.

We were so excited to finally be hiking, the trails were quiet and the clouds hung around to keep the temperature perfectly cool. We meandered down the path, passing ancient mani stones and crossing our first suspension bridges. After three hours, we made it to Phakding! Our home for the night. Warm RaRa soup (the Nepal version of a hearty ramen) filled our bellies and we spent the afternoon resting to the sounds of the Dudh Khosi river out our windows.

All is well and everyone is doing great!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

Namaste!

Hello from Kathmandu – where the whole team (and all of our bags!) have arrived.

We spent yesterday recuperating from the long flights and trying to make sense of that 12-hour time difference. Everyone stayed awake long enough for our first of many team dinners on the rooftop of Mezze. 

We had a full day today preparing for our trip – going over the schedule, checking all of our gear and picking up any last-minute items we needed from Thamel.

This afternoon, we hopped on the bus and explored Kathmandu. We started at one of the largest spherical stupas in the world – the sacred Boudhanath. We learned about the ancient art of Thangka and received blessings from the llama. Then we headed to other side of town where we held our water bottles close as we walked the steps to the top of Swayambhunath temple – also affectionately known as the Monkey Temple. I’m happy to report no monkey was able to snatch anything from this team.

We ended our day with a meal at OR2K in Thamel where we enjoyed huge platters of delicious hummus, falafel, and buttery naan. Trust me when I tell you, we will all sleep well tonight with full bellies and so much anticipation for what’s to come. 

It’s always lovely to spend a couple days in the vibrant, sound-filled city of Kathmandu but we are all looking forward to the peace of the Khumbu valley.

Tomorrow we’re off!

RMI Guides Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison and team

Hello everyone,

Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many we saw, but it was quite a few, and we got pretty close to boot.  There were lots of giraffes, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many, many birds. We did manage to see a leopard, unfortunately it wasn’t that close and seemed to just be napping in the afternoon heat.

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Nykani Tented Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African bush in. Everyone is doing great and hoping to see a few more big cats on our way out of the park tomorrow morning. Then it will be back to our main lodge near Arusha for a brief stop before catching our flights home.

Thanks for following,

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and crew!

Day 2 on Safari had us visiting the world famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is what remains of a once massive volcano that erupted. In the two million years since then, hundreds of animals have taken up residence and have created one of the best safari options in Africa.

We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few more animals before the heat sent them in search for shade. Not long after descending down into the crater we came upon several lions with three cute cubs. We continued driving around trying not to stop at all the zebra, wildebeest, and Cape buffalo that were nearly in the way.

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. One of the highlights was seeing seven Black Rhino which have become very rare.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and are looking forward to what tomorrow may bring as we head to Tarangire National Park.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Our first day on safari brought us to Lake Manyara. A small national park that boarders Lake Manyara known for its tree climbing lions. The team spent about four hours driving around the park and saw a fair amount of wildlife. Zebra, Cape buffalo, hundreds of baboons, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys and lots of exotic birds. Everyone had a great day and enjoyed just relaxing while taking in the views. 
We then headed to our home for the next two days at an amazing lodge called The Plantation Lodge.

The team just finished a wonderful meal and are off to bed as we are headed out early hoping to see some big cats!

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jess Wedel and the Safari crew