Nepal 1998

Journal Entry - October 26, 1998 - Lukla to First Camp

We got sort of a late start today but finally made our start towards Mera Peak. The trail was very steep, muddy, rocky, and foggy. Is that enough adjectives! We hiked for about 3 hours when we came to a small meadow where the porters stopped and started setting up the kitchen. I originally counted 4 porters and the guide for a total of 5 Nepalis supporting us. Later Karma caught up with us. I was not sure he was coming. Gary just informed me that we will be having three more people joining us for a total of 10 people supporting just the 2 of us. Pretty amazing. We will have a long day tomorrow because we stopped quite early today. We were going to go about 40 minuets further today but another group has the place we were going to camp.

It feels good getting started on this part of the trip. I had started to feel really homesick. I miss Anne so much. Tomorrow will be the important day. We have a tremendous climb tomorrow that will be the big indicator to see if we continue. It is foggy right now but it cleared up enough a few minutes ago to see that we are in a wonderful spot. I hope the weather improves.

The starts started coming out soon after dark. I was pleased with service at tea and cookies after we had gotten settled. It was a good thing too because we had no lunch. After tea, we rested a while and read until dinner. There was so much food for dinner. We had tomatoe garlic soup, del chet, veggies, curried potstos, maccoroni and cheese, and fried bananas. Truly a good surprise. We hit the sack around 8:00pm. We were awakened about 10:45 with rain.

Journal Entry - October 27, 1998 - First Camp to Second Camp

I slept quite well. We woke to fairly clear skies. They had coffee for us in our tent but I wake up too early. We had rice pudding, corn flakes, a fried egg and toast. We climbed approximately 5000 feet today and headed over an almost 17,000 foot pass. Argh, this is the kind of pass that kills. I am not sure if our guide understands how dangerous this pass is for people who flew into Lukla. We had no altitude problems because we spent days as high as Lobuche. We reached camp about 2:00pm when we made camp and right now we are sitting in pea-soup fog. The guide says we are at Chatra Bos but Gary thinks we are in the middle of nowhere.

Journal Entry - October 28, 1998 - Camp 2 to Camp 3

We got sort of a late start this morning. The tent was completely encased in frost when we woke up. Operating the tent zipper causes a tiny ice storm in the tent. We had porridge and pancakes for breakfast and finally got out of camp around 8:30. As we were leaving a helicopter came flying up the canyon. It made several passes and finally landed where our tent had been less than 30 minutes before. A group that had been camped above us came down to the helicopter carrying somebody. We have no idea what the problem was. Our entourage got ahead of us and had lunch waiting for us at about 11:30. After that we continued down, down, down towards the river at the bottom of the Hirukm Valley. We had been warned that earlier this year a lake had broken loose and wiped out the valley. As we approached the river, I was at the devastation. A 30 meter high river had torn its way down the valley wiping out the trail. We ended up on a muddy, slippery, steep, bamboo lined trail. It was very tough going. Next we had to scramble over rocks in the river bottom. It was very tiring. Gary was bummed. He finally gave his pack over to Ang to take for the rest of the day.

The other thing that seemed depressing about the washout is that it wiped out our return trek. We now have to go back almost all the way to Lukla before heading to Jiri.

We met 3 zuper-women tonight. They had come in from another air strip and hiked for 9 days to get to here. They were carrying most of their own gear. They came to talk to us for a while. The German women seem so nice compared to many of the guys.

Tomorrow's hike is supposed to be about 4 hours. I will believe it when I see it.

Journal Entry - October 29, 1998 - Camp 3 to "Takna" Camp 4

Well, our hike began today by walking along the river on the river rocks for almost 3 hours. Finally, we got to the old trail again. We stopped for lunch on the way. As we approached Takna we could see the remains of the moraine that had let go to cause the big flood at the beginning of August. Our guide told us that the flash flood occurred at 7:00am and that people could hear it coming and were able to run up the hills and escape the torrent.

We are sitting in camp at Takna and it is quite cold. I am sure we will retire to the tent soon after dinner. With it this cold at 4200 meters I wonder what it will feel like up at high camp at 5300 meters.

Journal Entry - October 30, 1998 - Tagnag to Base Camp "Kare"

We only had about a 4 hour hike today so we stayed in bed a little late and were fed a very late breakfast. We were hoping to get an early sun but we were in the shadow of a near-un-named peak. We got sun about 9:30 as we were pulling out of camp.

The hike was fairly easy with a decent trail but I am sick again. My energy level was very low and my cough came back with a vengeance. I think my lung infection has been there the whole time but only resurfaces when get above 15,000 to 16,000 feet.

Tomorrow is a rest day/acclimation day at base camp. I hope my energy level goes up and the cough stays manageable. It would be foolish to go up higher feeling this weak. I again question my motives. This is not fun. I miss Anne. I am tired of being sick.

Another thing to note is the litter. The guides/porters do not know the word litter. If they don't want something anymore, they just toss it against a rock, throw it down the hill or make a half-assed attempt to bury it. The thought of carrying it out or burning it is foreign. For the fees they charge for the peaks, they should begin programs educating the Nepali people. As trekkers we are almost helpless. My directions to properly handle the trash are not understood or ignored.