Nepal and Everest Base Camp???

 I am now less than 1 week away from flying to Kathmandu, Nepal.  It’s been a lifelong ramp up to this excursion.  I didn’t really appreciate that until a few days ago.  I recall being quite young and thinking that one day I would see Mount Everest.  Then there was the family friend who used to entertain us at holiday events with amazing slide shows of his travels to the Valley of the Kings and other amazing places.  I always envied his travels.  I used to tell myself that I would one day do that.

I hadn’t thought of either of these things until a few days ago.  It was probably a year ago that my friend MJ told me she was going to run a marathon in Nepal and this I should join her.  Not just a marathon mind you but one that begins near the Khumbu ice fall.  I laughed and told her I gave up running back in college.  She was persistent though.  She insisted because I hike and climb mountains I would be fine.  I finally looked up info on this crazy race last fall.  There are a small number of runners completing it in under 5 hours.  Most of them are Nepali military.  A good number of participants take 10 to 13 hours to finish.  When I read that my first thought was: I can do Mt Whitney in 12 hours from the portal to the summit and back.  And that hike climbs more than 6,000 ft. and is 22 miles long.  This “run” would be less than 2,000 ft. of climbing and only 4 miles further.  Suddenly this looked quite reasonable.  Suddenly I no longer had an argument.  OK, count me in!

So this blog is intended to become an account of my trip.  Some people are worried about me but if you look back at the beginnings of this blog, Nepal seems to sedate compared to Bagram, Kabul, the Salang Pass, Rawalpindi. 

A few days ago did my last training hike: Mount San Gorgonio, 18.5 miles and 5,800 ft of elevation gain, a beautiful day and a wonderful hike.  Didn’t need the crampons or ice axes we brought, but better to have them and not need them then to need them and not have them.

I don’t know how much net connectivity I’ll have, but I will do my best to chronicle this adventure.  It’s going to be different using a small tablet to type things out.  I am also using a new camera and hope to get some amazing pics as well.  It’s hard to imagine not taking amazing pics in the Himalayas.  I could probably take a Kodak Instamatic and get amazing photos!  

https://www.oneworldtrekking.com/all-trips/341-tenzing-hillary-everest-marathon-nepal.html