October | 2009 | Robert Francisco

Archive for October, 2009

I Quit

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 31, 2009| 8 Comments »

October 12 – 27, 2009

Gokyo Valley, Chola Pass, Everest Base camp

rf mt everest Atop Kalipatar: Mt. Everest Sunrise

The question had been plaguing me for weeks – since first asked. The more I focused, the more I tried to force fit into something I thought I new, the more it evaded capture, evaded dominance. Recognizing that life’s important explorations rarely present forthcoming clarity, I simply let go; like the “Purpose of life” inquiry – Who the fuck knows.

road to goykyo Trail up Gokyo Valley

I tentatively and very carefully place each foot and hiking pole (ensuring four points of contact and hopefully safety) on the steep, snow covered, and very icy slopes of Chola pass. This is the same pass that a Nepali porter lost his life on days before in a sudden avalanche of rock and snow. While focusing on climbing, a counter question, with complete inappropriate timing, springs forth: “Maybe you are supposed to leave something in these mountains” rather than “hopefully you will find what you are looking for” as my dear friend Alan first proposed as I departed for these Himalayas. “What?” my brain screams- “What the hell does this mean, who the hell cares – shut the hell up – I am trying to stay attached to this mountain……what good is an answer to a dead guy?”

stone house and mountyain Stone house on route

Later that night I crawl into my down bag after realizing I will be sleeping on a platform of stacked rocks; largely flat, but hard and granite cold. The 3 inches of ancient, filthy compressed foam make little difference. I replay the question over and over trying to decipher: “Maybe you are supposed to leave something in these mountains….”. I turn on my headlamp, write the new question in my journal and recognize I must indeed be suffering from a lack of oxygen, that my mind has finally, at 46 years, gone….completely. Find something – leave something. I begin to cough again and notice through my lamp beam that my closet (5.75 x 2.75 x 5ft ) is completely filled with Yak shit smoke from the mis-directed flue of the dining hall stove. “Great: yak smoke, rock bed, flat mattress, shitty food, and stupid questions followed by even more stupid questions”. sleep comes slowly and is fitful.

porter Everest Region Porter

Days, and kilometers later in Dingboche the questions are far from my mind. In fact, I have not given them another thought. Rather I have been mentally preparing for my final and greatest “Conquest” of this trek – Island Peak. We are indeed going to follow Sir Edmunds lead – Like Mt. Everest in 1953 we were going to “knock that bastard off”. Hubris my ass. While a far cry from Everest this is my mountain, and like other goals throughout my life this +20,000 ft rock is on my “list”. Therefore and by definition – like all others before it, it will soon be reduced to a check mark along with, unfortunately but necessarily, my own mental asterisk – it will be a temporary positive feeling of accomplishment, of self worth, of bragging rights, but it will not be enough…they never are. That is not the point This is simply how things are, how they always have been, how they always will be.

robert angin kalipatar 2

Angin and Robert on Kalipatar

Forget that I have developed a nasty cold, that my cough is worsening due to high altitude combined with yak smoke and kerosene fumes (days later I will be diagnosed with severe bronchitis and a respiratory infection). Forget that I have concerns about the climbing conditions; more specifically the people who were creating these conditions; I see photos of nearly a hundred tents at base camp (you pay your rupees, and you can be a mountaineer – I realize, embarrassingly, that I am not alone in my ego), while hearing stories of skilled climbing guides doing their job of “putting” clients on top even if it means with the aid of mechanical devices (effectively “pulling em up and lower em down“). I hear of potential for serious bottle necks on the steepest part of the mountain whereas you can not climb up or down due to your nose in someone’s ass and your ass in someone’s nose – I have read enough climbing accounts to know that these potential traffic situation are very dangerous and have led to some of the sports biggest human losses. Forget that I am scarred. Tomorrow morning I will face these minor obstacles and in typical fashion I plan to kick their ass. That is what I do, who I am. I am not a strong guy or a particularly smart guy, but I am a guy who does not quit. A man my friend Michael describes as “Hitting an obstacle and thinks the only option available is adding more fuel to the tractor”. Yes, I have been told, and yes I believe, this makes me an incredibly effective corporate warrior, impossible to live with or maybe even love, and while not reckless potentially dangerous on mountains and elsewhere.

player flags on gokyo Prayer flags on Gokyo Ri

Earlier in the day I pay a Nepalese fortune to charge my Ipod Nano using a solar panel; once atop Island Peak, I can play the theme song “Memories” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece Cats in remembrance of my mom who we lost to cancer just over a year ago. I have not listened to this song since her memorial as I have been saving it for such a grandiose day. A day she would be proud of. A day my post divorce councilor would have described as “consistent with your narcissist tendencies”; like he actually knows a God damn thing.

Evening spot lights

Just before midnight I wake up frantically grabbing my mouth, my nose….my chest. Trying to clear an opening, trying to make a passage- open damit, open – I am fucking suffocating, I am going to die….hyperventilating, sit up, gasping. STOP! Breathe, concentrate, relax, you are fine. Breathe, breathe……breathe. No problem see, just a cold, just high altitude, just some fluid on your lungs, just one of those ever more frequent panic attacks – I now understand why climbers and divers often tear off their oxygen supply as they struggle to get life supporting air. When I die, please don’t let it be from suffocation.

morain contrast Moraine

What was that? Dreaming? Dreaming before I nearly suffocated? Who was that? While not part of my plan, I instinctively search for my Nano….feeling in the dark. I squint to see, hit the repeat function, and play “Memories” for hours while I stare at the ceiling to black to actually see; I try to breathe. I wake with the first rays of morning, my mouth sticky dry, – I sip tainted Iodine water to lubricate my swollen tongue preventing it if from affixing to my palate or teeth permanently. I blow my nose – thick mucus, dirt, and dried blood. One ear bud is wrapped around my neck, the other plays:

Ama Dablam (maybe the prettiest mountain in Nepal)

Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise.

I must think of a new life,

And I mustn’t give in.

When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too,

And a new day will begin.

Everest Base camp (this is the old camp sign)

I dress quickly and go to the small dining area where Angin pours morning tea. With no forethought I say “Angin, we change plans; we not climb Island Peak”. A look of great concern and then horror comes to the young mans face. “Oh no sir, you feel better in a few days, you strong man, you not quit, you never quit, you-me…we all ready walk Langtang trek, we climb Gokyo Ri, we climb Chola pass, we climb Kalipatar, we go Everest base camp….we now go Island Peak; you climb slow-slow all way top; you be rock star – like Mica Jackson. You satisfy, I satisfy” I had not considered this being Angin’s climb as much as mine but then I think back to all of the times he had bragging rights in front of the other Sherpa porters and guides as our time in the mountains far exceeded most of the other trekking tourist. From somewhere outside of me I say simply and with complete resolve: “Angin, I am sorry. I can climb that mountain if I want, and I can climb that mountain if I need, but I nor want or need to climb. I have no desire and nothing to prove…..especially to my self”. His response is simple and final: “Yes sir, you decide”.

lobeche tea house Loboche tea house

I eat my breakfast alone as my highly competent guide and porter manages the logistics of a sudden and surprising change of plans. Upon his return, we quickly and unceremoniously grab our packs and go outside. We stand for a long minute looking up valley towards Island Peak just as the sun began to touch her flanks. While there I hear: “I will always be here and you are welcome to try and climb me. If you come of “want” you will either reach my top or not…..who cares, it is unimportant. But if you come again of “need“, remember I am insidious, with an insatiable apatite. You may reach my highest point, but it will never be high enough – I will give you a higher mountain, a more precarious sea, a faster motorcycle,….you will never catch me, I can not be caught”. I smile a huge grin, laugh out loud, and give a nod as I turn smartly down hill. “How far down can we get today Angin?” I direct. “You sick sir, but I carry your day pack also, we make dinner – Namche Bazar”. I Okie/Nepalese blow-out – more mucus, more dirt , more blood. We leave.

more stone mantra Stone Mantras line the way

I do not speak, think, or turn around for over hour and while physically racked, I move very quickly down the valley. When we do stop and look back, Island Peak is gone – what an odd feeling – “Christ, Jesus Christ, did I quit? Yes, Robert you most certainly did quit – you are a quitter”. That is strange, quitting did not kill me, in fact I feel good, really good. My head goes foggy again and I shake myself back to consciousness when suddenly: “Maybe you were supposed to leave something in these mountains”. Shit, I just left a whole God damn mountain unclimbed, a life goal unattained. You are fucking kidding me!

chola ice field Snow field on backside of Chola pass

Really, truly my brain scratches? did you? Or – “Find what you are looking for in those mountains?” What? What the hell are you talking about I shout silently, give me a break – I finally get an answer to the question you bring forth, then you change back to the original question. Frustrated.

Stupa eyes

Walk, calm now – “You are in the land of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Genesh….the land of the Buddha and the Dharma…..the land at the top of the world……hold both questions – they are not exclusive, they never were….life is not linear nor singular; neither black or white, embrace the duality – a river of birth, a river of death – You left a mountain, you found Freedom”.

monisstary painting Monastery Painting

Read Full Post »

He is below 5000 meters, and back in KTM

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Back in KTM.

NOTE: I am publishing post on the date of event to make searching easier in the future. Thus you may have to scroll down past this post to see what has been happening the last few weeks. This situation will self correct as I get caught up.

The photos are downloaded, and I am starting to write. But I only have a bit of time as I am going to Chitwan National Park for a few days (doctors orders) to ride the Elephants and hopefully see the endangered white Rhino’s, and while not likely – but possibly, the Asian Bengal Tiger…… some days I love being me. But then again it may be all the drugs they put me on to hopefully curb the growing infection in my chest, or it could be the abundant amount of oxygen at this altitude. Regardless, I am on restricted duty so here are a few photos.

horse head

Horse on the Steppes of Nepal

horse

Ama Dablam (mother and her necklace)

After I sat down on the cold earth these two came over and ultimately let me scratch their matted hair. Now, as my crazy about horses friend Dana knows, I am scared of equines so this was a bigger deal than reaching the base camp of Mt. Everest.

Read Full Post »

Smartest Navy in the world

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

October 15, 2009

Namche Bazar – Dhole 4110m

We got news last night that a porter was lost on Chola pass due to a quick moving avalanche. This sad news hit many of us hard – especially those who new the man who lost his life. We also heard that Island peak was experiencing severe weather with temperatures of -35c; if it is anything close to that cold when I get there in a few weeks you can be assured that my lily white ass will be staying in the tent.

Angin above Namche Bazar

At 9:30am we reached our scheduled destination and appropriate acclimation altitude. Angin and I studied the map carefully and felt very confident the we could go on to Dhole without a significant risk of contracting altitude sickness. It was an absolutely magnificent day for trekking with Pacific blue skies, frequent vista’s of snow capped mountains, and glorious fall weather.

yak Yak

Just before Dhole a group of 4 young men who were carrying their own loads blew past us with nary a wave. They had also started at Namche and planed to push on farther up the valley. Around 11pm in the evening, I heard a great deal of commotion and realized that these “studs” were back in Dhole and one was suffering from Acute Altitude/mountain Sickness (AMS). He was suffering from an excruciating headache, nausea, blurred vision, shallow and labored breathing, and numbness in the extremities. And, well he was freaking out. They got settled down, and Diamox was given to hopefully counter the affects of the oxygen shortage. Diamox is actually a glaucoma drug but is used frequently for AMS. Some take as a preventative and others, myself included, carry it as a treatment option if problems develop. Unfortunately, some of the big outfitters hand this potent drug out like Chiclets and run the risk of masking the symptoms of a potentially fatal problem. In the morning we saw this poor guy and he looked like he had been hit by a yak – a very big yak. He was recovering but his trek was over as his options were limited to one; go down.

Mantra stones

Ironically or is that stupidly?, after watching this AMS situation unfold, a young and obviously very fit U.S. Navy guy who is stationed in Singapore announces to the group that he has limited time and is going to push on to Gokyo today, climb Gokyo Ri tomorrow morning and then return to Namche the same day. “I really don’t think I will have any problem, I have a headache, but Ibuprophen seems to take care of it”. Mind you this is the same guy who is traveling exclusively with U.S. dollars because “Everyone wants them right?” We have a good laugh at his expense as we watch the stupidly low (about half) exchange rate he is given at the lodge and his apparent lack of math skills. Later we hear from Angin that this guy has both a guide and a porter (who he hired at the airport), and he is paying almost triple the going rate. His guide and porter are also ordering food off the tourist menu and he is paying for that as well. I told Angin that he got the wrong client; “Oh no sir, he get killed, maybe kill guide”. Please tell me this guy does not represent the “New, smarter U.S. military”.

Read Full Post »

Yak and other dung

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal, Uncategorized on October 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

October 14, 2008, Namche Bazar

namche bazar monistary Namche Bazar Monastery

After some looking I found the Sherpa museum. It was locked, but a care taker let me in and I wondered alone amongst the tools and belongings of the people who truly have a mastery of these mountains. Nothing was behind Plexiglas, and there were no alarms; simply a “request to respect” our small collection. After walking around, I was offered the opportunity to see a slide show about the area that had been prepared by a local hotel owner and photographer. It was a very low tech power point but I enjoyed sitting in the musty room (which was also storing Yak dung) while the ancient PC labored to load each photo. Given my interest, I was then given a private tour of the Everest room that included a great newspaper collection (under Plexiglas this time) documenting the climbing history of the worlds tallest mountain. They were all here: Tenzing Sherpa, Sir Ed, Jim Whitaker, Rob Hall…all the great climbers and their greater Sherpa support teams. One memorable quote from the great Kiwi caught my eye from 1953: “We knocked the bastard off”. I may use that line on Island Peak. HUBRIS dummy…never forget hubris.

yak drying wall Yak and other dung drying

After awakening to the Tibetan horns of the monastery, I went for a walk and saw what I had previously been described at the museum. Away from the tourist routes I saw two men mixing human waste with Yak, Yakow and likely other dung. They were forming the mixture into large pancake sized disk. After the disk are dried, according to my understanding, the cakes are burned for heating and cooking fuel and the “ash” is used as a fertilizer in the high altitude gardens which support mostly potatoes and HUGE cabbage I see growing around town.

Big dung cabbage with help from Stupa

The morning air was also filled with juniper smoke as small dried branches are traditionally burned to make the “Gods happy”. This smoke smells really good as it wafts up in small clouds from mini shrines at nearly every home, lodge, and shop.

Read Full Post »

Nothing personal but some people

Posted in Uncategorized on October 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

October 13, 2009 Phakding – Namche Bazar

“Look asshole, just because people are poor and it may appear they don’t care, you don’t pee on the wall of someone’s home. You also don’t snap your fingers at the people who are trying, with limited resources, to meet your wimpy (myself included) needs”. The bad behavior is isolated and most people are fantastic but occasionally a few have tempted my walking stick to end up against their arrogant colonial heads. We often hear about the justly named ugly American traveler, and I certainly witnessed this previously in Paris, and to a lesser extent New Zealand, but the American crowd here are mostly the outdoor type and they are representing the stars and stripes rather well. In fact, my friend Martin who is Polish but lives in Sweden said: “Not to be rude and please take no offense, but if the Americans here in Nepal, yourself included I would add, would show up more often abroad and in the media, you guys would have a much better world reputation”. The big groups seems to cause the most consternation and I guess some is understandable. They paid a lot of money for this trip (about double what I paid by booking local), they have unrealistic high expectations (the operators have some responsibility – as they over promise and under deliver), and large group dynamics create a feeding frenzy of “Us first, us first, we are German after all”. The best “You have got to be flipping kidding me story” was the French guy I witnessed who wanted to buy bottled water. Now bottled water is carried up these mountains by man and/or beast and it is dusty out here. So while the proprietor hands this snob. bottle after bottle of water (after wiping each top as is customary) he continues to reject them for being “dirty”. After 12-15 bottles, the owner sends her son to another tea house and he brings back more bottles of water; again “disgusting – dirty”. Finally, she starts speaking in Nepalese and the boy disappears; I see him outside polishing the plastic water bottles out of sight of the French guy. When presented with the sparkling plastic bottle this pin-head Parisian says: “finally, clean water”; he then wants to negotiate the price. My hiking pole almost went through his spleen with a “No, you eat cake” comment from Versailles.

Yakow

We followed many Yakow trains out of Lukla and up to Namche Bazar. These sturdy beast are a cross between a Yak and a cow and are used at lower elevations. Yaks, apparently do not feel good below 3000m and actually start loosing their hair if they get to much oxygen. Yakows on the other hand like thick air and work hard; they are no match for the size and strength of the big male Yaks up high however. Now at home, I give things weighing about a ton with attached horns a wide berth, and this has, to the annoyance of locals, been my practice here. When I see these buffalo looking things coming, I get the hell out of their way while little school kids walk right by them and slap-em, silly if they get out of line.

We stay at a lovely tea house for a day of acclimation in Namche Bazar where I enjoy talking to the owner about his holiness the Dali Lama. She has several photos of her family with the exiled leader of Tibet and her husband has traveled with the great monk to the United States and I believe elsewhere. I visit the local monastery and witness the local monks continually chanting their mantras in order to bring focus and quiet to their minds.

mt above namche Mt. above Namche Bazar

I got off to a good start with this tea house owner when I requested a shower. She gave me the keys and I went into the small closet that was the shower room. On the wall was a propane instant hot water heater. I got naked, turned on the water, and waited for the heat. Instead, I found myself bathing in the fumes of highly explosive gas. I turned off the water, threw on my skivvies and got the hell out of there. I call for help and this traditionally dressed Tibetan women with a huge smile shows up and turns the water back on and laughs hysterically when the not so small explosion ultimate happens as the unit lights. “Happens every time, you pay me extra, I pay to have fixed”. She then looks at me standing in my briefs and starts laughing uncontrollably while shaking her head. About an hour later a British fellow runs up the stairs half naked complaining of a “gas” smell in the shower and a possibility of “real danger”. The Tibetan women looks at me and I say to this poor chap: “Happens all the time, you pay her extra and she will have fixed, otherwise just wait for the explosion”.

jax hanging

Yakows hanging out

I was very happy, to the point of smugness, with my performance on the way to Namche; I beat the porter with the plywood to the top of the hill! I was carrying Angin’s small day pack while he carried my full pack. The plywood guy was hauling 4 full sheets of our U.S equivalent (4X8X¾) laminated wood. To be clear, I can not carry one of these sheets from the rack at Home Depot to my truck in the parking lot. This guy walked, bent over to nearly 70 degrees, with this wood on his nearly flat back. He was wearing flip flops, had to cross several narrow suspension bridges, and walk up a trail that was effectively a boulder strewn staircase. It took me about 5 hours, but I beat him by over 20 meters: Go America! Later in the week I would see another porter carrying 7 (4X4X7is) post in the same manor; he would beat me easily and walked out of sight within an hour.

Below the tea house two men are making the foundation material for structures I will see throughout this region. The are making blocks out of solid granite that they have exposed beneath the earths surface. One man swings a huge sledge hammer while the other holds a short handled tool that has a spike on the end of it. After several blow, the a small hole begins to appear and water is added to the hole as a lubricant. Ultimately a big piece of granite is broke free and the men turn their attention to the more careful work of forming very uniform rectangular blocks. They utilize the natural crack lines in the rock and during my two day stay they hand chisel about 12 blocks. When I returned 10 plus days later, the underlying granite had been completely transformed into a stack of nearly a hundred perfect blocks.

Making boards

Beyond building blocks, timbers are hand made throughout Nepal also. A tree is felled and a platform structure is built out over a ledge. This allows for one person to stand about 4 feet above his partner sawyer. A long saw is drawn up with a “touch down” motion from the upper person and drawn down with the opposite motion from the person below. In doing this the four bark sides are carefully sawn away leaving a square timber. I watched several men perform this task and it looks to take about a half a day to make one 4x4x8 post. If you need a 2×4, well that naturally takes one more long and careful cut.

Read Full Post »

Flight to Lukla Nepal

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

October 12, 2009: KTM – Luklaa- Phadkimg 2610

The international terminal in KTM is a model of absolute sanity and efficiency compared to the domestic terminal. There are about 600 people in the terminal with a even mixture of westerners and locals. We have had our bags on and OFF, the scales 4 times in the last two hours and each time someone touches my bag they ask for a tip; I just told Angin that no one else is allowed to touch my bag because if they do I will not have any tip money left for him; he is now protecting his tip like a lion protecting her cubs. My flight is actually not listed on the intermittently working flight status board, and another couple I talked to who are scheduled for the same time and the same airlines, left on a shuttle bus to the tarmac 10 minutes ago; oh wait, they are back. We are now on another shuttle bus together; oh wait, I am now being ushered off this bus to the great laughter of everyone. Is that our plane? “No”. That was simply a plane that you were supposed to get out of your latest bus and look out…back on the bus. Another plane and it is ours; I would sure feel better if they kept that grounding cord attached while they fueled this relic up.

Is that a car GPS?

The signed said “We guarantee all seats to be window seats”. That is a rare promise that will actually be kept in Nepal. The plane holds 14 people – 7 on each side. My window has a big crack in it that looks to be repaired with Shoe-go. One thing for sure, they do not need to remind everyone to fasten their seat belts as we are all ratcheting ourselves in tight. What is this? Cotton for your ears and a piece of hard candy; how nice- welcome to first class. Engine one fires and the propeller whirls to life. Number two – cough, wheeze, belch of black smoke – but she fires; no worries, I know this bird can fly on one engine. Is that a automobile GPS on the dash? Is the co-pilot really tapping the instruments to get the needle to move? The pilot turns towards us, gives a half salute, revs the two big jets, releases the break and we barrel down the runway….we are in the air.

One engine is all we need

We are very late (1400 hours) in the day to be flying into Lukla – where last year a similar plane hit the nose of the runway due to limited visibility killing all passengers on board. I can see that we are fully equipped with instruments and they seem to be working, but I also notice that we are flying a cloud avoidance route. As we approach the typical starting point for Mt. Everest, I immediately see why – we are flying in between two mountains; one on each side. And “shit” that is a mountain in front of us. WOW, we just landed on a very short runway that extends to the edge of the bench before falling into the abyss. What? The runway actually runs uphill at about a 6% grade. One thing for sure, if you take off from here and do not have enough air speed you will either drop to the earth or hopefully glide into a mountain.

lucka air

Upslope runway of Lukla

Welcome to Everest region

Hope this cough of mine gets better

Read Full Post »

Ok, a few more

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 11, 2009| 2 Comments »

Kathmandu, Nepal heading to Lukla in an hour

goats and bicycle

Goat parts and bicyle

man box2

Most freight in Nepal is moved by human powere

apple bike

Bicycles are not for recreation

Read Full Post »

A few photos before I go

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 11, 2009| 4 Comments »

Kathmandu, Nepal

I am generally well, the power is on, the internet is working, and I had some time to post some photos. Now if you have not figured this out yet, I post photos and write about stuff by request; thus since Shannon said she wanted more of Statues, Buddhas, Stupas, so she could paint or draw them I will kindly try and oblige. There is obviously no structure or method to my journal, so seriously if you are interested in something, have a question or want to see more of something…..just post a comment and I will do my best. I can also send a high resolution full size jpeg to your individual email if requested.

gsnesh

Offering of rice and flowers to gods

dog

Da Dog

They say to be very careful of the dogs as they are vicious. What? the guards here at our hotel use me to catch our hotel dog each night as he likes me to rub his head.

cow in ktm

They just kind of wonder the street eating garbage

kids of lakes

Kids of Langtang region

more kids

So little and such big smiles

langtang hiker

Langtang

sitting buddha

Never tire of the Buddha, good thing…they are everywhere

yak in mist

Yak or Nak in the mist

boys and corn

Corn dries all across Nepal this time of year

temple

Temple

ktm

KTM

Read Full Post »

go-BIG 2009 Expedition

Posted in 2009 Asia, Uncategorized on October 10, 2009| 1 Comment »

Kathmandu, Nepal

budha

Sitting Buddha, little Tibet

Ok, so maybe an expedition is a bit of an exaggeration, but I figure a porter and a climbing guide, along with boots, crampons, ropes, helmet, ice ace, and 20,000 ft….has to count for something. I leave in the morning and will be gone for nearly a month. My new summit attempt day is October the 30th. On Dad’s birthday, the 23rd of October, I should be on top of Kalipathar enjoying the reported best view of the Himalaya (happy early birthday Dad); I should be able to see California from the top and will be thinking of you. My schedule is below and the locations can be found on any good map of the Everest regions if you are interested. Oh yea, “lodge” does not mean Timberline Lodge in the North Cascades; rather think of a shelter with a plywood bed complete with 4 inches of foam, a squat toilet down the hall, and some hot noodles to eat….all good.

Number one fact checker comes through again. I reported that Cei had pulmonary edema but she actually had cerebral edema. the former being a lung problem while the later is the much more serious brain swelling problem attributed to lack of oxygen reaching he brain. Thank you John, appreciate the help as always.

My dear sister Sheri said: ” Next time you post translate the mountain heights into feet for me :)”. I love you girl, but that is not going to happen. I am having to train myself in metric because when you say “feet” here people just role there eyes with that “catch a clue American” look. Seriously, I have talked to people from no less than 20 countries and NO ONE uses feet and can not believe the idiocy of the U.S for keeping a system that is archaic, difficult, inconsistent with the world’s scientific community, and directly responsible for conversion errors that have caused human life. But then again the “American government is famous for their arrogance” is typically the conclusion we jointly come to; albeit with good humor. I often respond with one of my favorite quotes that RT shared with me: “Yes, it is easy to be principled when you are insignificant” . That pretty much drives a final nail and solidifies the arrogance argument completely. Wanting to help my math challenged sibling however, the math is: 1 M = 3.28 ft. Or simply multiply the meters times 3.3 and you will be close enough for understanding purposes.

go-BIG 2009 Himalayan Expedition: Gokyo valley, Chola pass, Everest base camp, Imja Tse summit

Day 01: (October 12, 2009)

Fly to Lukla early in the morning (2827 m. 45 minutes flight) and then trek to Phakding (2-3 hours walking). Over night at lodge.

Day 02:

PHAKDING – NAMCHE (3440 m 6-7 hours.). Over night at lodge.

Day 03:

Fully day acclimatization and explore to climbers museum, Sherpa culture museum and visit to monastery.

Day 04:

Trek to Khumjung (3850 m 3-4 hours) Over night at lodge.

Day 05:

KHUMJUNG – DHOLE (6 hours 4130 m.). Over night at lodge

Day 06:

DHOLE – MACHHERMO (4 hours 4520 m). Over night at lodge

Day 07:

MAHHERMO – GOKYO (4 hours 4860 m) Over night at lodge.

Day 08:

Wake early morning, climb Gokyo peak (5480 m) Over night at lodge

Day 09:

Early morning walk to Chola Pass (5430 m 8-9 hours) Over night at Dhongla (5060 mtrs) Over night at lodge.

Day 10:

Trek to Labuche (5 hours 4860 m) Over night at lodge.

Day 11:

Rest day at Labuche.

Day 12:

Early morning VISIT KALAPATHAR for best Himalaya view (4 hours 5545 m) back to Gorekshep. Over night at lodge.

Day 13:

Early morning visit Everest Base camp (5 hours 5340 mtrs.) trek back to Labuche (5 hours 4830 m) Over night at lodge.

Day 14:

Trek to Dingboche. Over night at lodge.

Day 15:

Trek to CHHUKUNG (7-8 hours 4730 m). Over night at lodge

Day 16:

Rest day at Chhukung. You will be meeting your climbing guide and check all the equipment.

Day 17:

CHHUKUNG – ISLAND PEAK BASE CAMP (6-7 hours 5130 m). Over night at tent

Day 18:

ISLAND BASE CAMP TO HIGH CAMP (Imja Tse) (5-6 hours. 5820 m.). Over night at tent.

Day 19: (October 30. 2009)

HIGH CAMP SUMMIT PEAK (Imja Tse) (6189 m.) back to Base camp/Chhukung Over night at lodge.

Day 20:

PHERICHE – THYANGBOCHE (3868 m 5-6 hours.) Over night at lodge.

Day 21:

THYANGBOCHE – MONJO (7 hours.). Over night at lodge.

Day 22:

MONJO – LUKLA (7-8 hours). Over night at lodge.

Day 23:

LUKLA fly to KTM. (35 minutes flight.). Transfer to selected hotel in Kathmandu. Over night stay.

Talk to you all in a month; know you are in my thoughts and my heart.

Read Full Post »

These stomach bugs kick ass

Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on October 10, 2009| 1 Comment »

I have been hanging out at the International Guest House (recommended) in KTM for nearly a week. I developed a bit of a lingering cough in the mountains and it has been dancing into a respiratory infection ever since. Yesterday I went to the Travel Medical Clinic with my friends (who were there for a serious problem), and I got a chance to chat with a Scottish doctor for a minute. He was very helpful, not overly concerned but also not wild about me going back to high altitude: “It will only get worse at altitude, and makes you much more vulnerable to problems – your oxygen uptake will be further limited”. He suggested a series of antibiotics as a bit of insurance against further development of an infection, and told me to monitor closely when back in the mountains.

My friends, David and Cei, from Australia needed to see the doctor again because Cei was still suffering from brain swelling (or being a “fat head” as her father said once he heard she was going to be ok). About a week ago, she had been at just over 4500m and had a sudden onset of Pulmonary Edema; a very dangerous and life threatening ailment resulting in massive swelling of the brain, followed by ruptured blood vesicles in the cranium….then you die. This is caused when the brain is starved of oxygen (at 5000m there is only ~50% of the O2 available, and given that we loose ~2% of our V02 (max oxygen uptake0 each year as we age…these altitude can cause problems. Anyway Cei is very fit, was well rested, well hydrated, and acclimated properly. She was even taking Diamox (high altitude drug that helps O2 absorption-somehow) and had been higher a few days prior. Regardless, she suddenly gets a massive headache, starts to throw-up uncontrollably, and begins to loose consciousness; all within an hour. Miraculously, an Italian doctor was staying in a local village and had a medical kit from a summit expedition. Cei, was given a huge dosage of steroids to stop the swelling, they tried to get a helicopter in but the weather prevented it, so they literally stuffed her into a “porter basket”, and her climbing guide, after securing the basket around his forehead, ran down slope for 2 jarring hours to a location that the aircraft could reach and an altitude that she may survive at. So yesterday, we went to the Dr. because she was still having great difficulty with her motor skills. Fortunately, her clinical exam showed improvement and the doctor believed she was going to fully recover; but they are going to continue to monitor and do a MRI (they all ready did a CT) tomorrow if she is not better. It is also possible the altitude caused a stroke, but the doctor does not think so, and like he said “even if it did, there is nothing we can do about that now – is there”. Medicine is a bit more practical and direct here. Update: David, Cei and I just had breakfast and she continues to improve; they are booking tickets to a beach in Thailand to recover, and are planning on coming back in the spring to “finish, unfinished business…attempt the +6000m Island Peak again”. Update two: fully recovered.

As for me, I going for it in a few days. I plan to fly to Lukla on the 10th and start a 21 day mini expedition. I plan to ascend up the Gokyo valley, climb Gokyo peak (5480m), cross Chola pass and rejoin the primary route to Mt. Everest. From there I will ascend to Everest base camp and Kalaphathar (5545) and the infamous ice fields. Then I plan to double back and take the side route up to Chhakung; hike to high camp on Imja Tse (5820m) and tent over, and finally at 0200 hours around the 26th or 27thattempt to summit Imja Tse (Island Peak, 6181M). So around that time, look up because that is hopefully where I will be.

What month is it? The monsoons are supposed to be long gone, but Nepal and much of Asia is getting hammered with rain; mudslides and flooding are widespread and the paper reported a corresponding 34 dead in Nepal. In KTM it has been coming down hard for a few days now and I am glad I am not in the mountain this week. My trip may be pushed out a bit farther as many flights to Lukla are being cancelled. This is fine with me however, because over the years every time they try to “force” flights onto Lukla’s difficult mountain airstrip – they crash.

Things in Nepal are often different! Sometimes often very different. Order anything with a preconception and you will likely be surprised and disappointed. Check something out with an open mind, and you will likely laugh, or cry, but will enjoy the experience regardless. The bakery advertised chocolate brownies – my favorite. First bite is always tentative and while good the heavy cinnamon threw me off – cinnamon really, in a brownie? The Spaghetti with long chewy cheese strips layered in the middle was also a bit “off”. But we may have found the most “not expected” thing in Nepal last evening. We had a high end ($20usd) dinner and could not help but noticing the bar below the restaurant. The sign read: “Pussy Cat Bar, with shower”. After dinner, Cai says: “Ok guys I know you are dying to check that out, lets go…one drink”. Now I have not been in a strip club for a few decades and, well, I still haven’t. We knew this had to be something special as this is a Maoist and thus very restrictive government. Inside the bar we watched what could have been auditions for India/Nepal version of So you think you can dance; kind of a MC Hammer, meets Michael Jackson, meets John Travolta in a Bollywood thus very cheeky way. Some of the guys were actually pretty talented and the women served as back ground dancers (bad bad bad). There was indeed two shower heads over the dance floor and the floor had a drain but they were never deployed. We were actually concerned that one of the girls was going to put a high heel in a drain grate and break a leg. There was also a “pole”, which the guys used to swing around like Frank Sinatra in singing in the rain. One young women actually jumped on the pole for a micro second after a big approach…..we all looked at each other and nearly died. We asked Mimar (David and Cei Trekking guide) who joined us if this was a typical men’s club. “oh yea, very good, but not just for men”. What about the shower we asked, “with no clothes?” “oh no, with clothes…sometimes they wash their hair, very nice, very very nice”. The best part was when we got the bill and Dave had to borrow some Rupees because he failed to realize that the coke he bought for a “host”, who proceeded to fill his beer after each sip and pat his knee, cost him $350rp (5 bucks). Not to be outdone, I also paid $350rp for a $15rp water and I opted out of the knee patting. As we walked back to the hotel, we each practiced our “moves” , laughed at the condominium project advertised as “condom house”, while the local police drove the street picking up drunks.

We went a bit a field yesterday (relying on Lonely Planet) and discovered a remarkable Tibetan co-op where wool was being spun and carpets being made entirely by hand. The women working there, without a doubt, were the happiest people I have ever met. We tentatively looked in the door and were greeted with a chorus of “Namaste” as the artist masterfully managed their looms and spinning wheels all under the watchful eye of a large photo of his holiness the Dali Lama. The co-op supports over a thousand Tibetan refugees and relies on funds generated from the hand made rugs they make. Now, I have a thing for rugs; after my divorce I only asked for one picture, one chair, and both rugs (one Turkish, and one from Afghanistan); I am thinking about buying a 100 knot room rug – spectacular.

My journal “fact checker” has weighed in once again and it is obvious that his cube in the United Arab Emirates is providing him to much contemplative time. But facts are facts and I appreciate him holding me to the highest international reporting standards. There is NO SUCH THING as yak milk, butter or cheese. You see, as Yak is a male and a Nak is the female and thus the lactating one. I apologize for this grievous oversight.

“I wonder how long it will take them to find my body?” This was my thought as I had been lying in the fetal position for 40 hours….and yet again, I fortunately did not die. One thing for certain, the ‘bugs” in the U.S. are wimps compared to the kick your ass prowess of these stomach creatures. I sent word to my porter and while the communication system here is crude, he got word and showed up to check on me. I am sipping water and fruit juice and am planning on heading to Lukla on the 12th.

David and Cei were leaving in the morning and given that Lonely Planet had completely overlooked or decided not to report due to political correctness onthe “dance bar” scene in KTMm, we decided to do our own independent – complete review by going to every club in town. I think we ultimately saw 7 or 8 clubs with names like “titanic (and the dancers were) “Crazy bar”, “Tequila bar”……. many were equipped with shower equipment but I am sorry to report that we did not experience that; I think it may have been a pre-Maoist thing. What we did see was more really cheeky dancing with the guys being by far the most talented. But boy did we laugh.

I had a great week hanging out, seeing the sights, and exploring manufacturing options for their business, with David and Cei. I am looking forward to visiting them again in Brisbane or Laos….great people, and hanging out with the biggest guy in Asia was fun as the cleared the streets in front of Cei and me.

Kathmandu, Nepal