Category: Updates

Posted on

Day 7 – Extra

Well as I walked down the small dirt path that passes for mainstreet in town on my way, fairly excitedly I may add, to have a hot shower 100 rupees (1.50$) I passed the porters skinning a goat. On the way back from the shower I saw the goat eviscerated, drawn and quartered and every piece, and I mean every single piece (2 porters stretching the entrails from end to end – 4 hands deep in the beast), and I mean every piece being hacked, chopped and taken to the cook.

2 hours later fresh goat soup; goat stew and a whole chunk of goat (looked like the head at first – but it was both hips – hard to believe I got an A in anatomy [no comments Cindy]) arrived at the table with much celebration. It was eaten with gusto from the team – a true Nepalese experience!

H


Team photo from left to right (members and Sherpa): Pasang Ongchhu (Sherpa), Charles, Helene, Dave, Michel W, Yanick, Michel V, Dale, Heather, Julie, Raphael, Jani, Mingmar Dorji (porter), Gnawang (porter)
front row: Nima Sarki (Sherpa), Takta (Sherpa), Manu, Pasang Kazi (Sherpa)
Missing are: Phu Dorji Sherpa, Sarki (Sirdar)

Dale at monastery overlooking Kharikola

Posted on

Day 7


view from the throne


Altitude: we left the Shangri-La and went down 800m to the gorge. Then up 600m to Kharikola town to camp.


Weather: Oh Boy – 35-38 degrees with the sun beating down for the ascent. The clouds chased us but never caught up today.

We had a slightly slower start to the day today. Normally wake-up is around 5 but today we woke up at 530. Got packed and left the lodge at 730. We descended to just below 1500m altitude (800m down) and it was like dropping into the tropics. There were leeches on many branches and Yanick had one attach. One of the porters had a leaf with a leech on it – about 0.75 cm long and 0.25 in circumference. But boy do they grow. You can get them to do a dance by holding your skin above them – they will stretch and stretch to try to get to your skin.

The gorge was quite beautiful. The waters are fed by Everest – green and cold. We then climbed up the other side for lunch (potatoes, our soon to be available at a Dale and Heather’s Tibetan Bread Store bread, veggies). Then the slog up hill under the heat of the sun. The team started to stretch out over the climb. Dale and I reached the top where there is a spectacular monastery with many kids running around. Traditionally the 2nd son and the 2nd daughter must become monks/nuns respectively. Although this is slowly changing this has always been the way. The monastery was so colorful– perched on top of a hill overlooking 3 separate valleys that converge.

We arrived in Kharikola were our camp is sitting overlooking a deep three pronged canyon. They have set the tents out in two slightly distinct groups – those of us who brought tents on one side and the Trekking company tents on the other – we prefer to think of our side as Park Place – certainly location location location holds!

On a serious note Charles has significant sleep apnea. As part of the research that is being done on acclimatization we all wore oxygen saturation monitors for our first night over 3000m. Almost everyone had levels in the 88% or > range. Charles’ oxygen levels dipped quite low, in a rhythmic way, during the night. Last night (he roomed with Dave) he had apneic episodes (stopped breathing for a period of time). The decision has been made, for his safety, for him to proceed to Lukla and on to home. That means tonight is the last night with the team together. Tomorrow Charles will go in one direction, accompanied by a Sherpa, and the rest of the team will move on towards Mera. It has been quite an emotional time this afternoon, and I personally can relate having to come off mountains now on 2 separate occasions. The disappointment is immense. However, the single most important thing is that everyone comes home safe. He did an amazing job, and is absolutely fine, dejected but fine, this is completely out of his control.

H

Posted on

Day 6 of climb

Weather: no change – overcast this am; downpours this afternoon. Dale and I picked up on the locals method for dealing with it, Dale should really get the credit, We bought a novel invention, they may have them in Canada – I think they are called the umbrella. We attached it to our packs and the two of us were dry as a bone when we arrived at our location.
Altitude – 400m down into Ringmu then 400m up to Taksindu pass then descended 750m to Nunthala.

I woke up this am to watch the sunrise on Everest. I was totally excited so I actually woke up at 3 but the sky was full of clouds. By 430am the sky had mostly cleared and I woke up Helene (an Everest enthusiast), Dale, and Michel who filmed the sunrise. We had Sherpa tea and spent 45 minutes. Amazing – the really terrifying part is that due to the deception of distance, Mera looks bigger!

Today is the Birth Day of Buddha. There was a huge celebration/prayer at the Monastery about 200m below Taksindu pass. We went in and watched the ceremony. It reminded me of church growing up with the kids creating havoc in the first few pews of the church, while the service was going on. In the temple the ceremony went on at the front and in the centre. The kids, 50 or so of them, created chaos in the back. Tibetan tea (nak [female yak – no joke] butter and tea) was served to us as we sat along the sides on mats on the floor. There was a Lama at the front overseeing the service. The Temple is extremely colorful. On the front wall there were slots 20 x 20 on the second story filled with Buddhist prayers. One of our Sherpa said prayers for 4 hours on trail ‘om mani padme om’ which means ‘God make the human life better and peaceful’ in his words.

kids at the monastery

When we landed in Nunthala I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to find we were staying at the Shangri-La hotel………..and they have a shower……cold water but still clean.

There are still major concerns that we are dealing with the leading edge of the Monsoon. When we arrive in Kharikhola tomorrow we need to make a decision – do we go on or do we go to Lukla because of the monsoon.

H

artsy photo to drive Dale crazy

Posted on

Day 5 – Late Entry

I SAW IT, I SAW IT! Everest came out to play just at sunset, with a full moon rising – epic, fierce, beautiful, magnetic……I can sleep now.

Posted on

Rhododendron Day

Day 5 – what I am calling the Rhododendron day. We started today at camp and climbed 400m up to the pass. It was misty, Ireland/Scotland/Wales misty. Full of Rhododendrons all in full bloom. The path was wide intermittently paved with stone and hard packed earth. There were blooms all over with the air rich with their scent. They kept talking about all the hills – pointing to 5000m MOUNTAINS, wow what can we say now about Mont Royal or Hoggs Hollow – I mean really – who are we kidding?

We crossed the pass, 3500m, and as we started the 900m descent on the other side the skies opened yet again. This time the hail actually hurt. I can’t tell you how dispiriting this was. All of our previous days the mornings had been beautiful and the evenings rainy – we were all panicked that this meant a full day in the rain. But just after lunch (potatoes, flatbread, spinach ( Peg – Dale ate his , I didn’t [sorry Mom]), yak cheese) we started out and the sun came out. We crossed into Junbensi, delightful town tucked into the folds of 4 separate ranges with a large river and it turned into a magical day.

We then climbed back up the other side 400m to camp at Phurtyang Beni. We had a brief glimpse of Everest too short for me to get a photo but I may stay up all night and just stare into the horizon to see the mountain of my dreams.

H

Junbesi town with directions!

misty road
the beer team
Posted on

Day 4 – A big climb

Sorry about the delayed posting of photos yesterday, the dread bug felled me and I went to bed before dinner. I just didn’t have it in me to stand in the cold. Today dawned sunny and beautiful, I was so happy I celebrated by changing my underwear. We climbed 1400m steady up. Now at 3178m. The day started hot, sunny with risks of dehydration and sunstroke. We stopped at a wonderful Buddhist prayer centre for lunch. The Buddhist prayer centre was in the midst of prayers when we arrived. They allowed me to watch; very peaceful chanting with drums crescendo-ing (Mom is that a real word?) into a cacophony of discordant sounds, horns and drums. Lunch included Tibetan flat bread, Dale and I have decided to open a chain in Canada – way better than Krispy Kreme.

Then it all changed. And the clouds came, and the wind came, and the heavens opened up on us. We spent the last 700m clmibing in pouring rain, hail, clouds, mist. The thunder boomed and I realized it was because we were in the eye of the storm. Rivers of mud flowed down the path, small rocks and twigs made their way down the hill; even the goats had enough sense to get out of the rain (photo). As we came close to cresting the pass the sky opened, leaving us with only a light haze, the sun came out and we could see the first of the snow covered peaks (not Everest though). The view was worth the price of admission. Even better the camp ground was washed out!!!!!!, wait for it, ………….so we were told we were staying in the LODGE!!!!!!!! dry, clean, warm, friendly, fanta, coca-cola. Amazing!! The morale of the team was so uplifted at the thought of a dry night and the opportunity for clothes to dry, to say nothing of yesterday’s laundry.

the goats know better


Everyone in the group has now been sick except of course DALE, cause he is only immunosuppressed! Once again irony reigns. The team has bought stock in ciprofloxacin. God help us if we go through it again as I am not sure there is enough cipro left amongst us.
Highlights of the day include a donkey parade carrying rice into Lukla. There are only a few modes of transfer of food across this path. Porter – a great one can carry 150kg > twice their body weight; average 100-120kg. We saw our first female porter. She was wearing a skirt and still carrying her 100kg up a totally stupid hill. About 5% of porters are female. Basically they function the same, same strength, same heights as the men. Donkey as well. Otherwise things are flown into Lukla and brought back this way. This trek we are taking is the only way to get from Jiri to Lukla, there is no road, no train.
Takta – one of our Sherpa has been up a bunch of the biggest peaks here – Cho Oyu 8200m; Manaslu 8115m; Dhauligiri 8120m – Can you believe it – to say nothing of all the 5000-8000 m peaks that are too numerous to name here.

Tomorrow we hope to see Everest if it is a clear day – we will also have the first viewing of our goal Mera.

H

the river runs through the path
Raphael walking in mist and rain

Posted on

Day 3 of Climb

sunrise over camp

We woke up to a brilliant morning, sunrise at 4:45 am. The sky was clear then progressively developed that hazy look that when you are away from Toronto you know is natural and not smog.

We did a fair bit of up and down but overall lost 1000m elevation today. Camp is in a local schoolyard. The kids were playing volleyball around the tents and watching all the commotion and chaos. Dale gave his pencils, erasers and his spare books to the school. There are 79 students who attend the school, they attend till they are 16 then it is a two hour walk to continue their education. As a result the majority don’t.

Gastro has hit the team with Helene, Juri, Dave, Michel, Yanick all succumbing. The day progressed quite slowly.
At one of the small villages we came through, two young men were playing a Nepalese guitar and drum. We started dancing. It reminded me a bit of the dancing I did at Suneet’s wedding. The next town along had a holy shrine. It is nestled at the top of a hill leading into a deep valley carved and terraced, stone retaining walls, the whole way down 1000m. All of the work is done by hand. Dale and I visited a local woodsmith who takes whole logs, hand cuts, planes and then creates furniture.

dancing Nepali style

Further along a Nepalese woman was sitting on the retaining wall holding her hand out. At first I thought she was begging, but that is very rare in Nepal. It turned out she had a very nasty cut to her thumb. Manu and I stopped to try to help. One of the Sherpas translated while another tried to clean her wound with a stick! She sat there, patiently, while I took tweezers and pulled all the dirt out, poured peroxide over (not a peep) and then sponged with more peroxide to clean it. The stoicism was incredible. We got her all bandaged up with the usual instructions and headed further along, only to find a young boy, maybe 3 or 4 years old if he’s a day, also with a cut. When I cleaned his wound he just looked at me with huge brown eyes full of innocence and trust.

The path wound down inexorably to the valley (damn we lost a lot of altitude we had fought hard for the day before). It is well maintained, rock steps, alternating granite, mostly with retaining walls that look incredibly old. The whole day was dotted with encounters with the locals as most of their homes open onto the path. You could hear Nameste (hello) echo all through the canyon.
This path, the Jiri to Lukla path, is the path that Mallory took on one of his three epic expeditions to Everest.

Tomorrow we start up and up and up and up…..
H

path to the valley

Posted on

The Team

Charles – preivously was the anchor for the National (in French) Telejournal – prior to coming to Decouverte where he has been the host 15 years!! Major influences – Carl Sagan, Michaelangelo. Favorite song – Hotel California, Ne me quitte pas

Helene – Exec Producer i.e. Charles’ boss. 16 years at Decouverte. Favourite song – Les copains d’abord, Satisfaction

Both Helene and Charles are baby boomers who started training 3 months ago with the goal to climb Mera.

Manu – our guide – outdoor instructor, teacher, guide, filed tester for major gear, specializing in European Gear e.g. LOWA, Vaude. Favourite song – Back in Black

Michel – the MD – a laughing machine; Head of Heart Failure at the Montreal Heart Institute. Major interest in this trip is the impact of various growth factors and endothelial function on acclimitization. The project is being conducted from Institut de Cardiologie de Montreal, Universite de Montreal, CHUM – Hotel Dieu, UHN. Favorite song: Beautiful Day

Jani – just graduated from McGill, major interest in public health and humanitarian aid. Crazy for skiing; musician – piano/cello. Favorite song: quand on a que l’amour, Billy Jean

Raph – UBS man, from Switzerland but now heart and soul in Canada……Favorite song: la-haut sur la montagne

Michel – camera man, retired since 28 and works for pleasure – enjoys sailing; Yanick’s slave. Favorite song: One

Dale – 9 year heart recipient, hero, firefighter, Peg’s husband. Favorite song: anything covered by Marginal Donors

Julie – completing Masters in Kinesiology, trainer for Helene, Charles, Michel, Raphael, Yanick! Favorite song: Stairway to Heaven

Yanick – mountain goat, director of the film HDTV on Mera, indefatigable. Favorite Song: Thunder AC/DC

Dave – 11 years courtesy of his brother (apparently he thinks you have another one) living kidney transplant recipient. President of Canadian Transplant Association. General fixer upper, mechanic, bus repair, generator repair, locator of beer (anywhere). Favorite Song: crashing cars, walk this way

Heather – the other MD, blog writer and photographer, send all complaints to Dale. Favorite Song: Rock n Roll (Led Zeppelin)

We had an interesting day – we lost 600m of altitude and gained 900m. Path was populated by many locals, goats cows. We passed one large village and many small ones. As you pass by the locals say hello, invite you in, tea, sit in front of the fire, rest. They are so friendly. The kids follow us around especially Yanick, fascinated by the camera. Helene has given out a few dozen pencils as rewards. The rain came in after lunch in a big way, a real down pour. we were completely drenched but dried out in a teahouse. Am in another teahouse now the team is sitting around drinking tea and relaxing the rain is pouring.

The major concern for all of us is whether or not this is the start of the Monsoon. If it is it will have a major impact on our plans. Don’t know yet but will update as we go.

H

Michel the morning man
Posted on

Finally on trail!

Altitude: 2282m, Temp: 17 degrees give or take, Humidity: high

The bus ride from hell is finally over – 9 hours to do 100km as the crow flies – up/down/up/down/around/around/around…….sheer drops 1000m; no guardrails, single lane but two lanes of traffic (truck/bus/donkey). Honking is the predominant mode of communciation, not lights or blinkers. The buses were packed with them standing 30 deep on the top. At one stop the door opened and so many people came out we thought it was a portal to a different place.

We had lunch at a local drive by – one item on the menu – dal bhat (see photo) – there is a lot of trust involved – but it was delicious.

the chef

We had rain on the way but the light stuff that actually cools you down so it really wasn’t a big problem. We did just shy of 3 hours to camp, arrived in the dark but camp was already set and the tea was hot. The children came out from the homes to meet us and talk. The path is packed dark earth with rocky bits here and there, up and down like the dreaded mountain goat.

The moon is out 3/4 full.

We met our Sirdar today – Sarki – he is the big boss in charge of all the Sherpa and porters. To become a Sirdar you need years and years of experience, as a Sherpa with lots of hiking and climbing. Sarki is 48.. We also met our lead Sherpa today. The term means from Khumbu region. A Sherpa has technical and climbing experience, we have 6 Sherpa. We also have one cook, 6 kitchen boys, 35 porters. All total approximately 1000 kg to go camp to camp.

The population of Nepal is approximately 28,000,000. The average life expectancy is 47 years, with leading causes of death being related to infectious diseases. As you pass by villages and see poverty mixed with such peace and serenity it is clear this is a special people.

H

Dale with his game face on

Charles at our lunch

Posted on

Kathmandu

Typical crowded street in Kathmandu
An absolutely beautiful day dawned in Kathmandu – was up at 5:30 to wander the streets. Picked up a couple of cappuccinos from a hole-in-the-wall place – better than Sta___k’s. Perhaps that was just the environs!

We wandered from top to bottom of the district known as Thamel. Largely full of locals with their wares, selling for tourists, hikers and each other. Then made our way down to Basantapur a bit more central and home to the previous royals – who moved to the new Royal Palace prior to the 2001 massacre. We saw the temple for Kama Sutra (I studied that quite carefully, looking for tips), then went on to see the Virgin’s palace (no sex for life). The buildings throughout had Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu features all amongst each other. We had an excellent guide, a social worker in a previous life, who taught us much.

Nepal itself, wedged between India and China, is largely Hindu but with a significant population of Buddhists (used to be in the majority). The name itself is thought to derive from Sanskrit – meaning ‘ at the foot of the mountains’.

There is a significant election due to happen here on May 28th to determine the fate of the monarchy. I am glad we will be out in the mountains when it happens.

Dave is a magnet – there is no doubt about it – absolutely magnetic. He would walk ahead and all the local peddlers would follow in his wake……for as long as it took for him to buy whatever they were selling. We would follow about 10 paces behind, unhindered.

Charles and Yanick arrived today so now the team is complete! We leave town tomorrow early am for Jiri – 70 km away and an 8 hour bus ride. Dale is taking gravol. Dave is taking beer. I am taking my camera.

H

Dale at a healing post

For sale

man’s best friend


Many faces

pondering life at the temple


tough day on the rickshaw