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South Route, Everest. Image courtesy of International Mountain Guides

April 4, 2010 – Arrived to Khumbu

I have arrived in Lukla on the last plane of the day. Flight 105 was supposed to take off at 8:30 am but as these things go it was nearly 4 pm when we left the ground. I have to say that I was very happy to not have the flight cancelled after over 7 hours of delays. I am staying at the Sherpa Lodge and Coffee Shop.

Let me fill in a bit of the back story. On the afternoon of March 29th I left Seattle and went to LAX. In LAX I ran into a bunch of climbers Cedar Wright, Heidi Wertz and a film crew were going to Tazmania to rock climb. In addition, I met Scott Semple and Steve “The Gear Guy” also heading to Everest. The Mexican Everest expedition was there as well. Next I caught a 17 flight to Bangkok, Thailand. After a four hour layover it was off to Kathmandu. The journey took over 32 hours from Seattle. I was very relieved to see my bed at the Yak and Yeti Hotel. So glad I went to bed at 2 pm and slept until 8 am the next day, April 1st.

The first three days of April were spent shopping for last minute items like a bathroom scale and lithium batteries. I did a bit of sightseeing and met a Buddhist Lama at the Boudhanath Stuppa that walked me through the different sacred areas, some of which were closed to the public. I met a friend of David Kalil’s named Amelie. She introduced me to a wonderful Buddhist Lama named Tulku Jigme. Tulku Jigme gave me a blessing for my expedition and a Kata. Following the blessing I had dinner with Eric Remza Saturday night. Eric is heading to Tibet to climb Cho Oyu with a group of clients. Following dinner I packed my pack for the 6 day trek to base camp. I set my alarm for an early 4 am wake up call to be at the airport by 6 am. I am glad to be leaving the pollution of Kathmandu!

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