Himalayan Lodges

Our accomodations on the trip are more austere the higher we go.  All of the lodges do share some key points though:
* The only heated room in lodges is the dining room. 
* Showers are available for a fee, but not all lodges have them.  If they do, the room is not going to be heated and there is probably only one for everyone in the lodge. 
* If your cell phone or camera battery need charging, you can do that for a fee. 
* The are stark.  Two single beds with a hard platform and foam mattress. 
* Bathrooms may be western style or a squatty-potty but either way are not going to be that clean, will be shared by all on that floor of the lodge and TP gets placed in a small trash can, not flushed.  Oh, and this is important, you have to provide your own TP.
* The lodge, aside from the dinning room will probably have doors open to the outside, even if it is snowing.  * * The higher you go the higher the prices will be. 
* Water is not filtered but is boiled for cooking and water bottles.

I figure is a shower is available the the room has a mirror it qualifies at Himalayan 5 star. 

High Altitude Therepy

I didn't sleep much at all last night.  I can't complain as the previous two nights I slept pretty well.  It's all part of acclimating.  So this morning I was petty tired but still opted to climb Kala Patar for a possible view of Everest.  It was foggy when we bagan after breakfast.  The scenery on the hike was surreal in the fog.  Despite being tired, and the steep uphill slog, I found myself feeling so happy to be here, to be expending energy this way.  I think Kala Patar is about 18,800 ft at the summit.  It is heavily festooned with prayer flags and despite the limited visibility I felt like a child at play.  I scrambled to the actual summit, a series of slopping​ stones with an impossible drop off on one side.  It you follow tht ridgeline it takes you to Pulmori.  We had glimpses of Nupse and a peak in Tibet as well as a fantastic view of Everest Base Camp and the Kumbu Icefall far below us. 

Tomorrow we head from Gorak Shep to Base Camp after lunch.  If the morning looks clear enough I may try another run up Kala Patar for more pics.  At base camp we have one last rest day before the race.  I am feeling much more confident about my first marathon as this trip wears on.  I am not sure how long this will take me but I plan to do i more as a very fast trek than as a trail run.  I have discovered I have some advantages over many of the runners.  Running over rocky shorelines as a kid I am most comfortable on the worst sections of this course.  The altitude isn't as much of an issue for me either.  All the local peaks I've climbed last year are paying off.  If I can maintain my usual fast pace, limit rest breaks and take advantage of my long stride I think I'll turn a respectable showing.  Either way though, running a first marathon beginning at 17,600 ft comes with some bragging rights.  Life is wonderful!

Gorak Shep and a Kid at Christmas

OK, odd title I suppose but what can I say?  I do feel like a child at christmas.  When I have the opportunity to add photos to these posts many, if not most, will think I must be suffering from some sort of high altitude psychosis.  Yes, this is a desolate place.  Not much grows at the top of the world.  It is a stark landscape but terrifying and gorgeous.  The mountains are unbelievably massive, sheer rock, blanketed with falling glaciers, and hanging seracs waiting to come crashing down.  The Kumbu glacier next to Goak Shep is covered with debris from the moraine.  It is hiding.  But just as you think it's just a pile of debris left from the retreating Kumbu you spot the ice cliffs scattered along it and hear the snap and crack of it's constant movement.  

Gorak Shep is an odd little outpost of a few seasonal lodges that sits between a small sandy plain at the foot of Kala Pathar on one side and a sheer cliff of loose moraine abutting the Kumbu on the other side.  It is the last stable ground before Base Camp which itself sits atop the Kumbu. 

I have no rational explanation for my euphoria.  All I know is that as I look around me at the terrible beauty of it all I feel such tremendous joy.  I was asked by someone a week before I left for Nepal what I felt about this trip.  Without thinking much I answered with complete honesty.  "I feel like I am going home."  Perhaps that is why I am so happy.     

Hello From Lobuche!

Welcome from Lobuche! We are spending the night on the other side of the moraine from the bottom reaches of the Khumbu glacier.   We hiked here from Dingbuche.  Now that we are here many in the group are really feeling the elevation.  For whatever reason I feel amazing though.  One of the group commented tonight that it was nice watching how happy I am at just being here.  The closer we gt to he run the less anxious I am about fast trekking 26.2 miles from 17,600 ft.  After we arrived at our lodge my roommate and I hiked up to the top of the moraine and debated walking down to the glacier.  It looks very strange here because after melting so much the top is nearly uniformly covered in rocks and dirt.  But look closely and ice cliffs are visible.  As we looked at possible routes down we were​ distracted by the amazing views and kept going further up stream along the top of the moraine.  Eventually we stopped and while taking it all in began to hear the crack and crash of movent coming from the glacier below...  such a good thing we didn't go down there!  It seems atop the moraine we were at 15,600 ft! 

On the way here, above Thukla are the climbers memorials.  These are stacks of stone or boulders with plaques affixed.  These are the shrines to the many dead taken by Everest over the years.  I knew we would be seeing these and we were told it would be an emotional part of our day.  I don't generally feel too emotional when climbers or clients die.  Frankly, it is and has always been part of the business of climbing dangerous peaks.  So I approached these with the thought of reading the plaques and taking some photos... not tacky selfies as many trekkers were given to.  As I passed one particular memorial I was overcome with emotion and began sobbing.  It was no one I have heard of but I couldn't detach from it.  I took a photo of the plaque and will look up the climber when I return home.  after that a number of the stone monuments had that effect on me.  I was walking around reading the details of these past climbers and openly weeping.  There was another plaque that mentioned a climber who perished on the descent and named the sherpa who held the man as he died.  That place had a much larger impact on me then I could have imagined.    

   

Sleeping at Altitude

For he past two nights I have not slept well.  Two nights ago my sinuses were stuffed and I didn't want to breath exclusively by my mouth.  I was afraid I'd wake with a sore throat so sleep was fitful.  Last night I was beginning to reconsider my choice to drop taking Diamox.  I found I developed a low level headache and some anxiety.  The headache seems to have been cured with Motrin.  The anxiety was a new thing for me.  I found myself feeling somewhat trapped in my mummy bag.  Or perhaps not trapped as much as constricted.  Part of that is likey my own doing.  I had two Nalgege bottles full f hot water in my ba to ore-warm it.  The result though was I felt a bit strangled.  So it was another fitful night of sleep. 

I am not going to resume Diamox yet.  So far poor sleep and my minor headache have been my only symptoms of AMS.  Let's see what tody brings as  head to Lobucheand higher elevations.

The Daimox Delima

Diamox is supposed to lessen the effects of altitude.  I started taking it a few days ago because I figured it couldn' hurt to have every available edge.  As of this morning I have changed my mind.  One of the other members of our party mentiooned that Diamox can casue loose stools.  I thought, gee perhaps it wasn't the wather I used to brush my teeth after all that caused that.  Then I decided to check all the side effects.  We were told by our guides it increases urination.  Looking it up I found out why.  Not sure how I missed it but Diamox is a diaretic.  That explains having to get up multiple times to pee last night.  The deciding factor though is that it causes tinnitus.  Crap, I already have that thanke to the USAF F16's at Bagram.  OK no more of that stuff.  We ae acclimating very slowly, only hiking a few miles a day, a few rest dys thrown in.  I shall be fine and to hell with Diamox! 

Altitude

Last night we were at 3820 mt.  I think we go above 4000 tonight and remain above that until we run back downhill.  The air is thinner here but I have been at or near this altitude quite a bit in the past year.  Practicing Tai Chi Chuan up here is interesting as my breathing rhythm has to shift to compensate for the O2 level.   I did begin taking Diamox a few days ago and need to drink more fluids as a result... which I haven't been.  The Diamox causes tingling in the fingers and toes.  It' actually more like needles and pins.  So each morning I debate if I should continue it.  For those of you who are not sure what Dimox even is, it's supposed to help prevent or at least lessen AMS (Acute mountain sickness... aka altitude sickness.  I have had to deal with this little malady once or twice above 4000 mt so thought I'd give this newfangled drug a shot.

At Dingboche tonight and tomorrow night.  Tomorrow we have a shot 2 hr hike to check a loop in the course and grab a view of Island Peak.  We just got word that the Hillary Step has collapsed.  That could potentially kill ascents from the South Col.  It would have a major impact for the region.  I don't think the trekking will change much but the coin that expeditions spend to move gear will definitely impact both the regula porters as well as the hight altitude porters.

It's cold out tonight.  We are now above timberline until the run.  That means more wind and colder temps.  I may actually have to break out my thermal undies soon, at least at night.

One last quick update on posts.  I don't know when I'll have a good connection for my tablet so I will probably post a group of updates at a time.  Sorry about that.  OK time for bed.