Moving UP

Hi!! As usual I have to be quick.

Days of resting are quickly turning into a week of climbing Mount Everest.

We have two teams moving up to camp 3. I am on the second team. Although I climbed Lobuche, I only did it once as opposed to most everyone else, but I do feel well enough acclimatized. That could change up high but I'm hoping for the best. I've been recovering from this annoying chest muscle tearing thing.... the good news is I've had a lot of time to recover and I am leaving tomorrow morning with 13 other climbers and Sherpas.

Oh, we did have a fantastic party in the white pod a few nights ago - didn't get to bed until 1am. I haven't done that in a while. It was fun watching the Sherpas sing and dance (and some of the guides and climbers).

Today we hiked to crampon point (where we put on our crampons before heading into the Icefall), about 25 minutes away at the regular Everest base camp. I saw Asian Trekking and was lucky to catch Apa Sherpa for some tea. I climbed Everest in 2007 with Apa and Lhakpa Gelu's company (WRET) that I'm told by Apa no longer exists. It was great fun seeing Apa again and meeting some of their climbers - Will Cross (a diabetic from Pittsburg who reached the top of Everest in 2006), Mogens Jensen (who I've actually met a few times - he climbed with Himex in 2005-2007, summited, and visited our camp 2 weeks ago). Apa looked the exact same as he did 2 years ago. He will be attempting his 19th summit (the most ever).

Our schedule is to climb through the Icefall to camp 1 tomorrow. Then to camp 2, where we will spend 2 nights. Then up the Lhotse Face to camp 3 for a night (that will be tough), followed by another night at camp 2. I will either be back at base camp on the 6th or 7th, depending on how acclimatized I feel. Right now I feel good... but we have MUCH higher to go!

The report on the mountain is that our first group is doing very well.

I'll write again in May.

Lobuche..Nobuche...Lobuche

I realize it's been a REALLY long time since I last sent a post. This will be long.

Once again, I encourage you to visit some of the blogs of my team members. There are links in this blog and you can visit the himex site for more information. There are some dedicated, bordering on fanatical, bloggers in this group. Some notable blogs are Billi Bierling's (she is a journalist and is writing about the expedition in general - logistics and interesting info) and Lance Fox's.

My blog is just about little ol' me. We have an understanding here that bloggers write about themselves and the expedition in general and not about others (except for my endorsements of other blogs and other little tidbits).

Now I'll fill you in on my last week here.

As mentioned, our plan has been to climb Lobuche peak - roughly 6100 meters, 20,200 feet - twice to acclimatize. I was on my way when I last wrote. The problem with my plan in particular was the 2 nights before leaving I had a 3 hour coughing fit in my tent. The next morning I started feeling that familiar pain of a pulled muscle in my chest. It got worse as we practiced climbing and rappelling in the icefall. That night I couldn't watch the movie (we have movies here - it's crazy) because leaning back in the comfy lounge chair made me uncomfortable and instead I had to sit up. That's a waste of a good chair. The next morning when I set off toward Lobuche base camp I knew something was not right. The pain in my chest was worse and it made me feel fatigued.

Within about an hour of the walk down, I used my arms to pull up over a boulder. That was when a sword dug through my chest. The pain was so intense and unexpected, I burst into tears. From then on, every step hurt. There was that spiked golf ball residing in my chest again!

At Lobuche base camp, Monica gave me a strong anti-inflammatory and we both agreed I would not ascend Lobuche with the group the following day. I had no choice really. I ended up spending the next 4 nights at Lobuche base camp watching the three teams ascend, descend and return to Everest base camp. I admit I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, even though the massive pain subsided within a day after taking a very strong anti-inflammatory. Then Russ radio'd down to ask me how I was feeling and to see if I could go up with the trekkers the next day. The plan was for me to climb with the trekkers but stay at top to camp with the first group, returning for their second Lobuche climb. The difference this time was that we would camp for a night just below the summit!

So that's what I did. We went to camp 1 the first day and at 5:50 am the next morning we set off for the summit. I initially climbed with the trekkers but at some point I decided to move a little faster. The two Sherpas had to stay with the trekkers so I ended up climbing to the summit by myself. The weather was spectacular and the climb very tough in parts. Although I made a few mistakes (Nima, one of the Sherpas, was yelling at me from below to move way left because I'd gotten off track and could not find the ropes the Sherpas fixed for us), I enjoyed climbing alone and going at my own pace. Eventually I made it to our high camp, just below the summit. Phurba and the Sherpas were digging platforms and setting up tents. I was surprised to see them because my altimeter said I had about 800 feet to go. By 10:05 am I was standing on the summit. It was a huge relief for me to make it up there in good time.

I was such a knucklehead though. Rather than drop my backpack off at the camp, I wore it to the summit. When I reached the summit, I tried to radio Russ but could not get the radio to work. Then I realized I was alone and could not get a good summit photo. Didn't matter because after only 2 shots, my CF card was full. For someone so obsessed with photographing my adventures, I dropped the ball bigtime on Lobuche. The view was so amazing! See other blogs for photos.

When I returned to our high camp, Phurba checked my radio and told me I needed to turn up the volume. Duh.

The first group trickled in during the afternoon and everyone was very impressed with our camp. Phurba and the Sherpas did a spectacular job, as usual.

So my first attempt at Lobuche may have been aborted (Nobuche) but I did get to go up eventually and sleep at high camp.

We descended back to Lobuche base the next morning and returned to Everest base camp that afternoon, in time to share a couple of beers in the white pod.

I could write on and on about this whole coughing fit chest intercostal muscle tear thing - needing to recover but also needing to climb and acclimatize - but I feel as if everyone is sick of hearing about it! This is Everest (I know), it's an 8,000 meter peak (yes, got that), and I need to toughen up (whatever). The cold and cough are now gone. I just need the tightness in my chest to GO AWAY! How's that?

So let's move on.... I was thrilled to get back in time to call my parents and wish them a happy 61st wedding anniversary and my Mom a happy 83rd birthday! Sorry to wake you up but you are never home at night and I figured I could catch you in the morning.

The plan going forward is to start climbing Everest. I think Lobuche was a great peak to climb to prepare for Everest and avoid spending so much time in the Icefall with all the other climbers. For the most part, we had Lobuche to ourselves. But I know everyone is anxious to get onto the mountain we came here to climb.

The food here has been awesome. Really. I am not having an ounce of trouble with my appetite. I eat better here than I do at home. But I have lost a few pounds. It's amazing what altitude does!

Russ calls me Meeegan. He could call me whatever he wants because he's the guy in charge. What bugs me is that now some of the other climbers are calling me Meeegan!

So that's what's been going on this past week and why I haven't emailed. I was away for 6 nights.

Two people have now asked to use the computer and I'm running out of things to say.

I'll write again later when I have more news!

Club Himex

Hopefully many of you have been checking in on others' blogs. There are some very sophisticated bloggers on this team, sending daily photos and videos, etc... I'm not so diligent - sorry for my obvious lack of photos. I'm lazy.

So if you've been reading the other blogs and seeing those photos, you know more about what is happening on this mountain than I do. You also know that we have a pretty nice camp here. We are not at Pumori. Instead we are a leisurely 20 minute walk up from the regular base camp, just off the trail. And it is pretty nice here at Club Himex with the white pod and blue cheese and crackers for the afternoon. I strolled up to the regular base camp yesterday and was thankful for our nice spacious camp. Despite what you've read, Everest is a place where one can catch up on sleep and read good books.

A couple of days ago I hiked up Kala Pattar with fellow climber, Jim. We both wanted to return to the place that launched our interests in mountain climbing. For me, it was 10 years ago and for Jim, 5. We took our time and completed the round trip in 5 hours. The views were clear and the weather beautiful, so I got lots of nice shots. Thank you, Big Jim for a wonderful day.

Today we practiced some ice climbing and rappelling. I didn't feel too good after coughing for hours last night and pulling the left muscle in my chest (or whatever that is that makes it hurt to cough and breathe hard). We were filmed and photographed. Some of the guys have been taking photos of the model release we had to sign for Billi - never signed a model release before! I haven't showered in a week, I'm feeling weak and I look like hell but I managed to smile for the camera. We actually had a fun time. Always nice when the sun is out and we're nice and warm.

Rather than acclimatize in the dreaded Icefall, we are climbing another mountain - Lobuche. We are going in groups and I am in the third group that consists of (1) the Japanese climbers and guides, (2) climbers who have been sick (me), and (3) climbers who joined us late. Group 3 includes our entire group of 6 women (3 Everest climbers, 1 Lhotse climber, filmer and doctor). So yesterday, Team Testosterone I left for Lobuche and today Team Testosterone II took off. Team Estrogen and the rest leave tomorrow. We will walk to our Lobuche base camp, climb to camp 1, climb to the summit and descend, and then walk back to Everest base camp the following day.

Then we will do it again but sleep on the 6,100 meter summit. The plan is to prepare for our first trip through the Icefall and ascent to Everest camp 2.

So that is the plan. I give myself a half hour to spill as much info as I can - this post is more like a twitter, all off the top of my head. Now I am going to return to the hot whiskey I was given as I walked into the computer room.

I'll send another post when I return from Lobuche. Also, I may not respond to comments but I do read them and I do appreciate them!

Cheers.

These Are The Days..

These are the days when I ask myself, "Why can't I be a Club Med person?"

"What's wrong with golf? Or Hawaii?"

After a fabulous day yesterday, I woke up this morning feeling very nauseated. I slept soundly through the night, breathing through a balaclava to keep the cold dry air out and moisture in, and because of the cold, I probably had my tent zipped up a little too tight. I wasn't breathing enough oxygen. Combine this with extreme congestion and an inability to cough because of the pain in my chest when I do so... and you get nausea. Not fun.

Monika came by after noticing my absence at bfast. My oxygen stat is not bad - 88% - but my blood pressure is through the roof. I'm normally at the lower end of normal so it was interesting to see 110 over 70 turn to 170 over 110 in altitude! This is not unusual.

Russ came by and told me by tomorrow I'll be strong enough to go to the summit with the Sherpas. I asked him what time they would be leaving.

Today we had our Puja Ceremony. I wrote a little bit about the Puja in the link at right called, "Mount Everest." We all gathered around from about 10am to 11:30. I wasn't going to miss it, no matter how bad I felt.

Someone mentioned it is Easter Sunday! So Happy Easter everyone! Sorry I seem to keep writing about my woes up here but it really is not so bad. I'm being looked after and I know I'll feel fine tomorrow.

The most humorous part of the day was being interviewed by Kirsty of the film crew, who is also suffering from this cold. She very nicely asked me if I wouldn't mind being interviewed while I was feeling bad. I figured if she could do her job filming and interviewing (with a cold) then I could sit for 5 minutes and talk about how I was feeling.

Tomorrow I hope to join the trekkers on their hike to Kala Pattar. They are a great bunch, particularly Katie, who I roommed with during our trek, and I want to see them off (they are leaving). My home page on my website has a photo of Everest I took on Kala Pattar 10 years ago. It is so incredible to be back here.

Happy Easter! Love love love....

Megan

Everest Base Camp - We're Here!

More importantly, I am here. It was not easy. I had stomach and back cramps, a fever, a cough, all from this wonderful cold I keep trying to forget about. I ruptured something in my chest from all the coughing so now it hurts to cough or breathe hard. Swell. Someone told me if I stop coughing it should heal in 2 days. Oh the joy of living in altitude!

Now for the good stuff. I actually am acclimatizing well and have a great appetite, which is always a concern of mine in altitude. The walk up here was beautiful. I followed Eugene from Lobuche base camp at a perfectly slow and steady pace. We got spectacular views of Everest and were rewarded by Sherpas serving hot tea along the way.

Himex has both a Lobuche and Everest base camp - we plan on climbing Lobuche as part of our training and acclimatizing for Everest. It is quite an operation with all these climbers.

What is it like here at base camp? Pretty darn big and organized. We each have our own 3-person tent, home for the next several weeks. There are 2 shower/toilet tents. We ladies have our own special place to pee, although I just go in my tent into my own pee bottle. Sorry if this is too much info for some of you but I am frequently asked how basic bodily functions are done up here.

Himex is well known for the White Pod, an enormous tent with a big screen tv and bar. We can order soft drinks or beer/wine. Pretty luxurious. We eat 3 huge meals a day. This morning we had bacon, beans (yes beans for bfast - loved them), eggs and toast. For lunch it was cole slaw, fries, tortillas and hammy spam. Some of you know how much I love spam but this is not so bad. Yesterday Eugene shared his French salami with the people fortunate to be sitting in the same tent with him... we combined that with a big plate of blue cheese. I thought I was in heaven. The simplest things can make you SO happy up here!

The temp has been freezing cold at night and 80 F during the day inside my tent. I generally am outside the tent, chatting with others in one of the dining tents or sitting in the white pod. Today I washed my hair and some clothes.

So that's life here at BC - we have all been ordered to rest rest rest and I am following orders. Since I've had this cold, I keep thinking what Mom would be telling me to do and that is rest rest rest. So don't worry, Mom, I am doing just that and I am feeling SO much better than just a few days ago.

Love and hugs to everyone back home. Miss you lots.

Megan

Dingboche

I want to first thank my good friend, Kelly Bobbitt, for posting the map on my last post! I was surprised to see that this morning. It put a smile on my face! So thank you, Kelly! (he's a GPS mapping expert so I think the right guy is helping me here).

To recap over the past few days, from Namche we hiked up about 1,000 feet to Khumjung. It's a short walk uphill. We stayed at Phurba's lodge for 2 nights which was great for me because I could use a rest day to help recover from this cold. Phurba is Himex's larger-than-life Sherpa. He's been to the summit of Everest 14 times, and like many of the Nepalese, he has sparkling eyes and a smile that lights up a room. He also has 5 adorable children - I enjoyed watching some of the climbers playing football or keep-away with them.

Little sidenote, in Namche, some of the guys ran into Ed Viesturs and got a photo with him.

From Khumjung we made our way to Tengboche, where several of us visited the Monastery, noticing how some trekkers either don't notice or don't care to follow the instructions that clearly state NO video and NO flash photography. One woman was abruptly escorted out by a monk. Hello? Total knucklehead.

The walk from Tengboche was down and then up, resulting in just a few hundred feet of elevation gain. It took about 3 hours I think. I was not feeling well because of this cold that I keep trying to stay positive about- "if you're going to get a cold, better to get it now," "it will go away," "it happens...." While walking up the hill, all I could think was "this really sucks." I'll be positive later.

Yesterday we walked from Tengboche to Dingboche at about 14,100-200 feet. And today, THANKFULLY, we have another rest day. I cannot believe all the internet cafes! The price goes up with altitude. Today I'm washing clothes and me. Some are going on a hike. Others are simply sitting around. It's important to rest as we acclimatize and it is especially important to hydrate. I drink at least 2 liters of water per day and on same days a little more than 3. We drink throughout the day, not all at once, so water is absorbed.

This is an incredibly nice and interesting group of people from South Africa, Norway, Ireland, Japan, China, France, etc.... and I am frequently surprised when I walk into a room and someone offers me his chair! I wondered out loud whether I would get the same courtesy at the Hillary Step (a section of Everest we climb on summit day) and the consensus was that we can't tell who is a man and who is a woman up there! But I am already feeling close to several of the people, something I love about expedition climbing. We are all away from our families and lead different lives, but have similar interests and dreams. Hard to describe without sounding sappy but suffice to say, I am so far thrilled to be with this group.

I finally finally finally read John Wood's book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (I know, I suggested it in my link at right but I hadn't actually read it yet myself - bad), and I don't know if it's because of the altitude or because of the things his organization, Room to Read, is doing, but I felt myself tearing up through much of it. If more people with John's background and skills (he was a director at Microsoft) put their energy and resources into building schools and libraries in developing countries, the world would be a better place. Climbing Everest seems so small and petty!

My next book must be a mountaineering book so I could snap back into climbing mode.

Tomorrow we are off to Lobuche. Then to Base Camp where we will have plenty of rest days and where I hope to kick this cold. Two climbers, including me, have it, as well as Monika and another woman on the film crew. Hopefully, that will be it.

I know I keep saying this, but next post will be at BC. I'll try to post photos from there. Meanwhile, I'll let Kelly add whatever clever maps and images he has!!

Oh and the time difference from California is really 12 hours, 45 minutes. I can't keep track.

Greetings from Namche Bazaar

Well, this is a surprise post! Namche looks the same as when I was here 10 years ago except that the lodges are nicer (our room has a private bath), warmer (I recall rooms with slits between the wooden planks where the cold air would seep in back then), and there are plenty of internet cafes!

We arrived in Namche yesterday after about a 2.5 hour (2 hr 15 min?) uphill walk from Mojo. The altitude here is about 11,400 feet. Seems everyone is doing okay. The flight from Lukla the day before went as planned. It was great to run into Val Pitkethly, my guide from Peru in 2002. I keep running into her because she and the nine trekkers she is guiding are on a similar schedule.

While rooming with Monica the doctor was great (we switched yesterday), catching her cold has not been all that great. So now I've already had two bouts of sickness. The strange thing about this cold is I feel better while walking and doing something than lying around. A couple of other people are also sick. It's really part of the deal here and while I'm a bit uncomfortable, I'm not too concerned (I know that probably shocks my family because I have been so paranoid about getting sick before leaving but this cold feels like a "real" cold and not something related to my inflamed esophagus from reflux - that is, thankfully, under control!).

And despite my cold, I still drink a beer a day.

The weather is spectacular - seems we are hitting a hot spell because prior to our arrival we heard it was pretty cold.

Which brings me to our arrival in Namche. When I reached the Alpine Lodge where we are staying, I went to take photos and Lance Fox said for me to wait so he could put his shirt back on. I jokingly encouraged him to keep it off, and then suggested maybe some of the other guys remove their shirts as well. Didn't have to pull too many legs for that one. Next thing I knew we had 6 guys lined up for a photo as I shouted "1-2-3- Flex!" I can't load it up here but if you go to Gilad's website (see the link to other blogs at right), you may find a shot I took with his camera. I'm pretty sure Lance has a shot loaded since he's on the internet daily. His website is http://www.foxeverest.com/. It was hilarious.

Enjoy!

Next post probably from base camp unless we see some more internet cafes like the one I'm sitting in now! This afternoon we are walking to Kumjung to stay in Phurba Tashi's lodge.

PS - The real time and date right now is 10:25 am on April 2.

Namaste!

I arrived in Kathmandu on March 29 free of drama. That means my luggage also arrived and it didn't take long to find the other 9 Himex team members and guides flying into Kathmandu on the same plane.

The flights from SFO were mostly uneventful (and wonderful because I upgraded to BClass) except for a few things: Due to the fierce wind in Tokyo, our plane was wobbling like a weeble as we descended into Narita. About 10 seconds from the runway, the pilot suddenly thrusted the plane, and my lunch, upward. It took the entire 20 minute turnaround re-do time for me to recover from my nausea.

Someone told me that's a good sign - I've already had my bout with sickness, so the rest of the trip should go smoothly. I believe that.

The next flight was made cool by the fact that Ed Viesturs was sitting across from me. If you don't know who Ed Viesturs is, click on the link called "8000 Meter peaks." I was star struck but unable to muster the courage to say anything to him. Maybe later on the mountain I'll ask him to sign my copy of Outside magazine (he's on the cover).

From the airport, we drove through the crowded streets of Kathmandu, familiar to me now because not much has changed since my first visit here in 1999, and made our way to the Hotel Tibet. My fancy Suunto altimeter watch battery died the day we arrived. Come on! Luckily Russ said I can find everything I need in Kathmandu, and I was able to replace the battery.

So now I'm here in the hotel lobby using the computer. We had a dinner last night as most of our team members are now here. Alec Turner from Alaska apparently was delayed due to a volcano eruption??? Check out his blog at http://www.glacierboy.com/. Maybe he can fill you in on that. We hope to see him soon.

To avoid viruses and get over jetlag, I arranged to have my own room in Kathmandu but I was told I'm sharing with Monica, the team doctor. Apparently Hotel Tibet is booked.

I'm glad I arrived a few days early because we have a 12 hour, 15 minute time difference with San Francisco (I was wrong in my earlier post - it's not 12 hours 30 minutes). The jetlag can be extreme but so far I'm handling it really well, thanks to my best friend, Ambien.

Arriving early also makes it much easier to learn the names of ALL THESE PEOPLE a few at a time.

Speaking about my earlier post about Kathmandu, it seems I was wrong about everything. Usually when I'm here this time of year, it's been warm in the 80's, and everyone's wearing shorts and tshirts. Now it's more like the 60's with thunderstorms in the late afternoon/evening.

The exchange rate per Oanda, 84 rupees to the dollar, is obviously not the "working" exchange rate of 78 rupees to the dollar. Oh well, this is boring stuff.

So what's our agenda? Today we're sorting out our gear, preparing for our 6am flight to Lukla tomorrow morning. Last night Russ introduced his team and went through some of the logistics. Dick Coulthurst with Tigress Productions gave his best pitch to allow them to film us for Discovery Channel - it's entirely up to each individual.

The only difficulty I'm having so far is understanding the various accents. Despite all my traveling, I've never been very good at that!

I won't send a post again until we arrive at Base Camp around April 9.

I must go because people are waiting to use the computer!

The date and time is actually 3/30, 8:30 am.