John probably has a few uneventful days ahead of him and poor WiFi, so I figured I’d give my own trip report and update since yesterday was not only eventful but marked the end of my adventure with John. Until next time.

For those of you asking about John’s health, he’s been able to avoid his typical altitude related stomach issues so far, but he has developed a runny nose. I honestly think we’d be more surprised if he didn’t develop some sort of sinus issue.

(Me trying to eat rice porridge and ginger tea after a night of upchucking. Probably my favourite picture of the entire trip.) As for for me, I was flown out of EBC to the Kathmandu airport and transported by ambulance to a local hospital that specialises in altitude related illness. By the time I reached the hospital my altitude sickness was replaced by motion sickness from the bumpy helicopter ride and Kathmandu traffic. The doctor cleared me after a brief examination akin to a roadside DUI assessment and also assured me that my days at altitude are NOT over but that I need to take things more slowly in the future. So all is well with us both and John has now transitioned from trekking to Everest to starting to climb in the coming days.

I did want to add a few pictures of the trek since John typically doesn’t have pictures of himself (other than selfies) and because I got a few he missed.

Plane landing at Lukla airport. My flight had clear weather (unlike John’s), but there was an audible gasp when everyone on board got a glimpse of the runway before landing. The single runway is carved into the mountain at a 12° angle with a solid concrete wall at the end. If you miss the runway…well, they only use senior pilots for good reason.

Everyone’s favourite (well, mine at least) mountaineer after a long day of trekking to Namche Bazaar…and John taking in Namche Bazaar from our tea house well above town.

One of the many cable bridges we crossed over several gorges. I thought these swaying bridges would be scary, but after seeing several yak teams crossing them without issue I figured my 120 lbs would probably not be sufficient to bring any of the bridges down.

Some mountains. I think I was getting sick at this point, so just enjoy this picture and accept that I can provide no more detail.

John following the yaks (or gzos, a yak/cow hybrid) that hauled our bags out of Lobuche village on our last day of hiking.

Abandoned hut near Dingboche with Ama Dablam in the background.

And finally, to prove that it is in fact Laurel and not some other imposter on John’s page, an obligatory puppy dog picture from the monkey temple in Kathmandu.

We have appreciated everyone’s support and words of encouragement throughout our trip. Now the real work begins for John, and I couldn’t be more proud of or excited for him. If he is unable to keep everyone updated here (WiFi at Everest BC is super expensive and very unreliable), I’ll do my best to fill in the gaps. Thanks everyone!

Laurel

We arrived in Basecamp for Mt. Everest yesterday afternoon. Laurel was struggling from Gorak Shep and her apetite was fading. By the time we ascended 1700 feet and 5 plus miles she was knackered, as my British climbing mates say. We nursed her through the afternoon but during the night she developed undeniable symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness. It was as bad a case as I have seen. When her vomit developed traces of blood, the decision was clear. Evacuate

I spent the morning, along with our team leader,Dani organizing a helicopter rescue and by lunchtime Dan Mazur, Dani and I had her en route to Kathmandu. She is currently at the hospital there thanks to the global rescue policy Laurel purchased in advance. I expect an immediate and full recovery. The antidote to altitude is lack thereof. Laurel is strong and imI proud of her for getting to fulfill her objective.

Otherwise, I am okay. The mountain is beautiful and the sights and sounds are meeting expectations.  I’m having difficulty posting photos here, we have limited bandwidth internet at Basecamp. But check twitter as well.

Its snowing here at 16 k and the Himalayan grandfather’s of Lobuche Continued

Last night we were sitting around a yak dung fire in a teahouse in Dingboche. The afternoon saw snow spitting in a pure cloud bank. After a restless night for me (I don’t use diamox) we arose, devoured breakfast and headed 783 feet uphill for an acclimatization hike. So much for a rest day.

At 14290 feet, rest is critical. But so is acclimatization. I didn’t feel like making the walk but knew it was essential. We are inching closer to Everest and the climate and atmosphere is changing accordingly. Soon the trekking group will leave us, along with Laurel and the real work of climbing begins. Internet here is spotty and expensive but I’m hearing much better in EBC.

Thanks for following and posting comments, I read each one.

It was a good pull up from Phakding in the rain as we covered 4000 plus feet of elevation into this celebrated Bazaar. We hiked up for four hours and arrived at the Hilltop lodge, a teahouse in time for a refreshing cup and zero power. Our haggard team huddled around a wood stove and watched the clouds roll by.

We are presently in Pangboche. It was a big day that took us by beautiful Ama Dablam and other Himalayan Giants.  Our present elevation is 13k and we are feeling it. I found this day more interesting than the others and somewhat grueling, if you check my Strava feed.

The usual stomach issues are plaguing our team which includes a trekking contingent. But morale is high and Nepali hospitality overcomes all issues.

Having some fun with Tensing.

Check my Twitter feed for photos because there is little use uploading them here. But maybe tomorrow weather in Lukla will be better and I can go into greater detail. We are safe, reunited after separate flights due to weather and healthy. We walk towards Namche in the morning. Check my Twitter feed if you can and thank everyone for your well wishes. I read each one.

John and Laurel.

It has been a flurry of activity for the past several months in preparation for my attempt of Everest. These past two weeks in particular have seen more work and preparation than you can imagine. At this point my training is dialed in and my mental preparation is where it needs to be.

I was feted with a couple of going away parties by very good friends and coworkers. In addition to spending quality time with my family over Easter. Laurel and I are packed and tomorrow morning will be off to Kathmandu via Qatar.

My students at Maryville Academy and staff organized a truly heart-felt send off. The most common sentiment being “don’t die”. Similarly, Laurel and I dined with my friend Wendi and Mike and Eric and Skidmore and my brother who christened our venture over sushi. Wendi reminded me that we did the same thing prior to her AT through hike in the 90s.

I even had a drive down visit with a representative from the Muir faction and sincerely enjoyed an evening with the legendary Bunyan. To think that he would travel almost four hours to wish me well is truly appreciated.

Stay tuned here for dispatches from Katmandu & beyond as Laurel and I initiate our trek into the Everest region. I’ll also be posting regular updates on Twitter and Strava as available. (Strava is a GPS app. I’m going to see if we can track or progress through the trek to include elevation and mileage between villages and camps)

Namaste

John

Valdez Harbor.

My Everest training kicked into high gear this week with a “pre expedition” expedition to Alaska. Our experience was most excellent and we climbed for almost a week.  Lee and Neil and Angela did their usual over-the-top taking care of us. We began the first day climbing the beer can routes outside of Anchorage. 

Then we moved on to bigger things. Soon we’re at Caribou Creek a couple of hours outside of Anchorage on the way to Valdez. While climbing here, one of our members took a lead whipping fall and injured his rib. His name is Martin. Martin is a Polish climber now living in Anchorage and friends with Neil and Lee.

Just driving through the starkness of Alaska in winter is breathtaking.

I realize this image is sideways but I’m editing it from my phone in the Anchorage Airport and can’t seem to find a way to rotate it. As a matter of fact about to give up on this whole post because my phone doesn’t have the editing tools are required for the blog but suffice it to say we found an outstanding trip with tons of ice climbing in great camaraderie.

There’s an interesting story about this picture of our second day climbing ar caribou Creek.

We started off in single-digit temperatures and snowmobiled across a frozen creek to this area 5 miles back in the middle of nowhere Alaska. It was brutally cold.  In the picture above this one with the snowmobiles Lee is finishing off a lead with our new-found friend Martin. Martin takes a lead whipping fall and nearly cracks his ribs. We were climbing across from him on another route on the same piece of ice hanging off the side of the mountain. We heard a thunderous crash which was apparently Martin falling and landing on his rib cage. Bang a tough climber he stayed the rest of the day and we all proceeded to head out on the snowmobiles whereupon Neil insisted that I drive his snow machine.   There was a caravan of three of us going out Caribou Creek. I was following closely in Martin’s tracks on the machine that carried me, Neil and most all of our gear on a sled. Before I knew what happened the front part of my snow machine was pretty much down into a hole and ejected me off across the frozen creek bed. I launched a good 10 feet. Meanwhile, Neil is struggling to keep the machine from totally flipping over.  John Davis and Lee came to the rescue and we were able to reverse the machine and put enough weight on the right side to keep it from flipping.  I had to eat ibuprofen for dinner and learned that I could put my legs in delivery stirrups if necessary.  Neil learned never to hand me the wheel. It turns out Martin did not crack his ribs, just severely bruised them. It’s good to have a doctor with you in the backcountry.

Thank you Neil and Lee for a perfect outing. You may notice that Denali Dan was not present this year.  He is getting ready and fit for the next trip. Everest is 2 plus weeks away so stay tuned to this space for more pics and information.

John

It was a perfect bluebird day so a training run to the lodge was in order. Sunday marked one month to the day that we depart for Everest so these high volume cardio activities are imperative.

Beautiful though it were, that’s ice on them thar trails and I saw a woman truly bust her tail coming down it. I was surprised at the amount of frozen stuff to negotiate past Alum Bluff.

I reached the lodge in record time, just under two hours.  The view did not disappoint.

But I chose not to tarry long. Overall I made the ascent and descent in record time, about three and a half hours round trip.  And that is the kind of shape I need to be in for the Himalaya.

Blessed to have been given such a perfect day for this ascent.

I leave for Alaska on Thursday, we will climb the ice of Anchorage and do some training up there with my Denali buds.

John

It was a workout day where I went for some quick elevation gain. Having not been to the Chimneys since the fire, it was a good excuse to warm my legs before Everest in 5 weeks.

My new Motorola phone takes crisp photographs.  Makes me realize that I may need to retire my old Panasonic prior to heading into Nepal. Saturday was spectacular and uncharacteristically warm, in the 60s.  I crossed the lower creeks and headed up.

This is the new Chimneys view. You are no longer allowed anywhere near the actual pinnacles.  I was surprised how far back the NPS has stopped visitation. They apparently cut some trees here to create this overlook.  I stayed for a few minutes and dropped back down to Road Prong.

I’ve always found it one of the park’s hidden gems. I soon lost all dayhikers and was absorbed in a springlike walk up what used to be the main thoroughfare between North Carolina and Tennessee. Climbing this slender trail which hugs the creek, it was difficult to imagine a wagon ever negotiating this wilderness.

Little pieces of Heaven are found up Road Prong. My piece was solitude and great weather, a blessing from above. The weeks are falling quickly for me as I prepare and begin to travel the road to Sagarmatha. It is a period of finalizing the arrangements to shutter my multiple business interests for two months, organize gear and complete preliminary paperwork. In March I will fly to Alaska for some final prep on the ice with Neil, Lee and John Davis. Soon afterword, we will depart Knoxville for Doha, Qatar, then on to Kathmandu.  After some days in Nepal’s capital, we will embark for our flight to Lukla, the world’s most dangerous airport. From that point our trek into Everest Basecamp begins.

I am excited, frantic and mildly nervous, not about the ascent but the details here at home.  But it is all coming together by the grace of God.

Stay tuned, be well and get out on the trails.

John