You are here: Home / Archives for Kala Patthar

Gorakshep, Kala Patthar, and Everest Base Camp!

April 22, 2012 by 9 Comments

Amazing day! Today wake up tea was especially nice, because it’s pretty cold here at 17,000 feet! There is nothing quite like getting up to hot tea served by my new Sherpa friends! Today we had breakfast at 8 a.m. and then we were off toward Kala Patthar (18,200 ft) by 9:30 a.m. Ed and I took off ahead of the group and we summitted by 11 a.m. 5 of our group decided to stay behind. The rest made the summit by noon. Bob Veno and Quincy Hill made it with the main group and got some great pictures. Ed and I got to sit on top for an extra hour taking it all in and taking a few photos. Words can’t describe the enormity and the beauty of these mountains. We just sat and stared at clear views of Everest, Nuptse, and Pimori, with Ama Dablam in the distance. It really is a religious experience. I am so fortunate to have seen this in person.

Once everyone got their pictures, we were off toward Everest base camp. This hike was pretty long and arduous, with many large rocks and slides and many areas of uneven footing. Once we were about an hour out from base camp, some of our Sherpa friends were waiting for us along the trail, with hot tea and cookies. We missed lunch, so I was quite thankful for this very thoughtful touch. Once rested, we trudged along again. All of the hiking became worth it when we finally made it to the glacier. What a sight!

Base camp is huge! Once we got to the edge, we still had a 30 minute hike to our camp. Peak Promotion had an incredible set up for us, with our camp sitting close to the Everest ER and David Breashears’ display of his project, River Works. We get to tour his project tomorrow. We have our own dining tent, and our two- person tents are spread about the rocks on the glacier. What a scene! We had bean soup waiting for us when we arrived. We unpacked, and sat down for a hearty dinner of momos and baked lasagna. Our Sherpa cook is fantastic! We listened to a hypothermia lecture by the HRA physician and then we were off to bed early. I listened to the sounds of the surrounding avalanches and cracking glacier as we were tucked in to our sleeping bags. We are actually here at Everest base camp, sleeping on a glacier. Pretty cool!

Another Blue Sky Happy Day in the Khumbu

Filed Under: Medicine, Travel Tagged With: , , , ,

Rest Day in Pheriche

April 18, 2012 by 10 Comments

Today we had “wake up tea” a little later so we got started on our “rest day” at 7am. Pheriche sits at about 14,000 feet and it appears we are all acclimatizing nicely. Once tea and breakfast were finished, we went on a Wongchu rest day hike. These are used to help us acclimatize. This hike was about 3 hours for most, 4 hours for 10 of us who wanted to go to the top of the “hill” behind Pheriche. Of course you couldn’t keep Bob Veno, me, or Quincy Hill away from going the extra distance. Quincy has no previous hiking experience, so it is quite impressive that she is able to run around at altitude like a mountain goat! We made it to 15,776 feet and Wongchu abruptly turned us around due to the high winds that had picked up. We still got some amazing pictures of Ama Dablam and the surrounding peaks. We were also able to get some shots of the distant Makalu. Quincy and I even got a special Boise State photo. Enjoy!

Once we made it back down to Pheriche, we had lunch and then went to the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic where the three volunteer doctors presented case studies and showed us the clinic. These three are very dedicated and enthusiastic about altitude medicine. They have seen many cases of high altitude pulmonary edema and cerebral edema, along with some other interesting cases.

I got a shower today, which was very primitive but welcome! Tomorrow we leave for Lobuche, which is at 16,200 feet. I don’t know if I will have much wifi access from here up the trail, so I may not be able to post for a few days. The general plan is to spend one night in Lobuche, then hike up to Gorakshep (16,900 ft) and spend the night, then day hike up to Kala Patthar (18,000 ft), then on to Everest Base Camp (17,600)! We spend 2 nights at base camp, then we start our trek back down. I will keep the updates going when I can.

Another Blue Sky Happy Day in the Khumbu

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: , , , ,

Countdown to Nepal

April 3, 2012 by 8 Comments

Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

I am on the final countdown until I leave for Nepal and Mt. Everest Base Camp! For those of you who don’t know, I am traveling with the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) for the trip of lifetime. I am one of a lucky few medical professionals, along with some lay friends, who will be taking part in a continuing medical education (CME) adventure trek. Through this blog, I intend to share my first attempt at combining adventure, travel, and medicine. The WMS is partnering with the exceptionally experienced and professional Himalayan trekking and mountaineering agency, Peak Promotion, lead by none other than Wongchu Sherpa.

In fact, Peak Promotion is also blogging about the experience of all of the trekkers and climbers associated with the WMS trip and can be viewed here.

Our trek will start with a tour of the big city of Kathmandu, which will include the famed Monkey Temple, followed by a flight into the infamous Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla. Often cited as “the most dangerous airport in the world”, the runway at Lukla is carved into a steep incline (12%) on a hillside. The terrain is such that there is apparently no opportunity for a successful go-around or short final. In fact, the southern end of the runway ends in a 2000 foot drop-off!

From Lukla, our trek begins, with our sights set on Mt. Everest Base Camp and the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) sponsored Everest ER.

Our general schedule is as follows, with a start date of April 10th.

Day 01:  Kathmandu arrival and welcome dinner
Day 02:  Kathmandu sightseeing
Day 03:  Fly to Lukla, trek to Phakding
Day 04:  Trek to Namche Bazaar
Day 05:  Namche and Hike to Khumjung Syangboche
Day 06:  Trek to Tengboche
Day 07:  Trek to Pheriche
Day 08:  Rest day in Pheriche
Day 09:  Trek to Lobuche
Day 10:  Trek to Gorakshep, hike to Kalapatthar, back down to Gorakshep
Day 11:  Trek to Everest Base Camp
Day 12:  Everest Base Camp
Day 13:  Pheriche
Day 14:  Namche
Day 15:  Lukla
Day 16:  Flight to Kathmandu
Day 17:  Rest day in Kathmandu and Farewell Dinner
Day 18:  Departure*

*Departure date, on day 18, ends the WMS/Peak Promotion sponsored trek. A handful of other lucky trekkers and I will be heading to Chitwan National Park for 4 additional days of a jungle tour, elephant riding, and a search for tigers, sloth bears, and honey badgers!

Thanks for following. Pictures and updates to come!

Filed Under: Medicine, Travel, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,