12,810-ft and Climbing

Greetings all from 12,810-ft in Tengboche, Nepal;

Today we trekked from Namche Bazar to Tengboche. Pretty brutal uphill climb gaining 1,000 feet then dropping about the same and then another 1,000 more up, up, up again.

Once again, the scenery is unreal as the peaks are starting to surround us and close in on us. We will stay the night here and head to Pheriche in the morning. Then we will spend several days in Pheriche at the HRA medical clinic organizing our medical equipment and gear…we do a lot of this organization. From here it’s on to the Everest.

We are getting dispatches out on the website, so check it out…for that matter, check it out. Luanne has been posting pictures as we go along on our journey. The site is www.EverestER.org.

While in Namche (really we stayed in Zorak, just above Namche) we climbed several rock routes in the area…I think there are some pictures of the climbs on the website? We had a blast, but climbing at 11,800 feet on super cold rough rock did us in...awesome none-the-less.

Yesterday we did an acclimatization hike over to Kumjung and got our first view of Everest...Holy you know what! Again, cannot even begin to describe the awe of it all...plumes of snow blowing off the summit miles long. Also, got a full view of Ama Deblam...the ‘Matterhorn’ of the Himalaya’s and the rest of the peaks in the Everest region are just awesome!

Still no definitive word yet on the status of the climbing this season on Everest. We have passed several expeditions heading up and its all the same...we will see when we get there...what a trip. A lot of folks are on pins and needles due to this crisis. Only time will tell the outcome.

This will probably be the last dispatch that I can get out from the edge until we are settle in base camp and even then it may be just the Everest ER website issuing dispatches, so keep checking back.

As always, Kristin says hello to all.

Hope all is well back your way...take care and be safe.

Namaste!

T&K