Today’s hike was pretty good, and took waaaay longer than I would have liked as it was quite hot today. I was walking into Namche-almost 20 mintues ahead of the group and 45 minutes faster than the Sherpas thought that we would –and I only left them for about that same time but it is a long sustained uphill to Namche and many people stop to see the first view of Everest-but today it was obscured by clouds so I saw part of Lhotse and Nuptse-the neighboring peaks. Walking solo is definitely the way I like to move and although I do enjoy the conversation thus far with the various people we are trekking with I tend to do much better when I can kind of get in my head and just go, the way that I like to hike.
Much of the hiking is stop and go with breaking for tea, moving through wide open trail and then narrow sections where Sherpa labor under large loads. I had to wait for 10 minutes today for a Yak train to come down the trail and strangely enough I waited behind a Sherpa carrying 4 sheets of plywood. I joked to Arjun that all of the Sherpa people would be a foot or more taller if they did not use the straps over the front of their heads to secure the weight. It is impressive though.
I had wondered to some degree if my barrels might be a little much in the weight category, but passed them today on the way to basecamp and one of my barrels was on top of a wicker basket that probably had probably another 65 lbs in it. Sure enough I passed them and was glad to see they were not only not too heavy but instead they were accompanying as much as another 50Kg with my barrels for one Sherpa. I am told that the strongest of porters can/will carry 100Kg-(that’s 220lbs). True enough today as we approached the bridge that Edmund Hillary had donated to build we met up with a bit of congestion due to the fact that a Sherpa was carrying a person about my size across the bridge while he sat in a chair strapped to the Sherpa’s back. Could I do that, maybe. Could I do that all day and not break an ankle-probably not!
There are quite a few trekkers and between them, Yaks, horses, Sherpa and guides of the trekkers the trail can get somewhat congested. Still it is MUCH better and easier trail than anything that I have experienced in Pakistan on prior expeditions for sure! Fabrizio joked that it was likely that I would punch him when I saw him for having not exposed me to this first, but then again I might likely never have gone back to Pakistan having seen the dichotomy between the two.
It is funny when people ask about what I’m doing and even those that have climbed Everest are VERY surprised when I tell them I am not taking a Sherpa on the mountain and not taking Oxygen-but then again many of the people, including Arjun the Indian young rockstar that is the youngest Indian to climb Everest last year at the age of 16-have not climbed many other things outside of this area or style-which is totally fine but interesting to see the mentality that I am so unaccustomed to. The thought of carrying your own stuff and making your own camp seem “foreign” to them. I guess that is not the Everest way, and likely why I have shied away from it for so long.
I’m feeling really good though and “scared” some trekkers when I jogged past them up the hill in sandals in Namche to a hotel to meet Fabrizio for some Tandoori Chicken that he had recommended.
We are off to Pangboche in the morning after a hot shower-I know SPOILED!!
Much of the hiking is stop and go with breaking for tea, moving through wide open trail and then narrow sections where Sherpa labor under large loads. I had to wait for 10 minutes today for a Yak train to come down the trail and strangely enough I waited behind a Sherpa carrying 4 sheets of plywood. I joked to Arjun that all of the Sherpa people would be a foot or more taller if they did not use the straps over the front of their heads to secure the weight. It is impressive though.
I had wondered to some degree if my barrels might be a little much in the weight category, but passed them today on the way to basecamp and one of my barrels was on top of a wicker basket that probably had probably another 65 lbs in it. Sure enough I passed them and was glad to see they were not only not too heavy but instead they were accompanying as much as another 50Kg with my barrels for one Sherpa. I am told that the strongest of porters can/will carry 100Kg-(that’s 220lbs). True enough today as we approached the bridge that Edmund Hillary had donated to build we met up with a bit of congestion due to the fact that a Sherpa was carrying a person about my size across the bridge while he sat in a chair strapped to the Sherpa’s back. Could I do that, maybe. Could I do that all day and not break an ankle-probably not!
There are quite a few trekkers and between them, Yaks, horses, Sherpa and guides of the trekkers the trail can get somewhat congested. Still it is MUCH better and easier trail than anything that I have experienced in Pakistan on prior expeditions for sure! Fabrizio joked that it was likely that I would punch him when I saw him for having not exposed me to this first, but then again I might likely never have gone back to Pakistan having seen the dichotomy between the two.
It is funny when people ask about what I’m doing and even those that have climbed Everest are VERY surprised when I tell them I am not taking a Sherpa on the mountain and not taking Oxygen-but then again many of the people, including Arjun the Indian young rockstar that is the youngest Indian to climb Everest last year at the age of 16-have not climbed many other things outside of this area or style-which is totally fine but interesting to see the mentality that I am so unaccustomed to. The thought of carrying your own stuff and making your own camp seem “foreign” to them. I guess that is not the Everest way, and likely why I have shied away from it for so long.
I’m feeling really good though and “scared” some trekkers when I jogged past them up the hill in sandals in Namche to a hotel to meet Fabrizio for some Tandoori Chicken that he had recommended.
We are off to Pangboche in the morning after a hot shower-I know SPOILED!!
