Rhodie - POW!

I've never walked in a rhododendron forest. In fact, I don't think I'd even heard of rhododendrons before Sandie mentioned it. One of the things to do on the Annapurna trek is to hike in the rhodie forest when its blooming.

To be walking along a trail surrounded by gnarly old trees bursting with blooms of pink and red was so peaceful. It reminded me of the old Batman comics - POW!

We got up early from the Hotel Snowland in Ghorepani to hike to the top of rhodie saturated Poon Hill and watch the sunrise. Getting up at 4:30 wasn't so easy after yesterdays 5000 foot climb; the legs are definitely feeling tired after 17 days of trekking. We were rewarded with this is the view of Annapurna South with rhododendrons in the foreground.

Thorong La

5416 meters. 17,769 feet. Likely the highest I will ever be in my life.

The days leading up to Thorong La are filled with so many Altitude Mountain Sickness conversations about people getting sick and turning around or getting evacuated by helicopter it's difficult not be hypersensitive to how you're feeling. Nervousness dominates the mood in base camp.

As we start the steep trek out of camp my mind is full of doubts; I'm sure how I feel, I'm sure I can do it. Am I starting to feel AMS or am I just being paranoid? Do I not feel well because I didn't sleep much, it's 4 am, freezing cold and I'm going up a steep trail? Of course I feel like hell!

We get up early and start up the trail just as the sun is rising. Anyone who has been trekking (you 14er folks back in CO) will commiserate with today. My heart is pounding and my lungs are burning but my feet are barely moving. How can this be? But at the same time the scenery being fed to my eyes is amazing. Moments like these define the word breathtaking.

Hours of slogging uphill are rewarded with a brilliant view of the Himalayas. One side Manang and one side Mustang. We made it!


Unfortunately for our knees, the day was only half over at that point...

Acute Mountain Sickmess

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a real problem affecting mountaineers who ascend too quickly. Only one person or so dies on the Annapurna circuit each year, largely due to the efforts of the Himalayan Rescue Association. Thanks!

Several days before we arrived in Thorong Phedi we heard stories about a Chinese man that was evacuated by helicopter. Trekker friends with defeated looks on their faces who had turned around to spend another night acclimatizing at a lower altitude were becoming a common sight on the trail. Thorong Phedi was full of people who were spending an extra night acclimatizing after failed attempts to cross the pass.

The reality of what we were doing was beginning to hit home.

Those who do not listen to their bodies and continue to ascend risk the dangerous complications of HACE and HAPE.
HACE - High Altitude Cerebral Edema: Potentially deadly accumulation of fluid in the brain.
HAPE - High Altitude Pulmonary Edema: Potentially deadly accumulation of fluid in the lungs.

A lesser known danger is that of HAFE.
HAFE - High Altitude Flatulence Explosions: Potentially deadly forms of gaseous explosions that occur unexpectedly at altitude. The risk is amplified by eating large quantities of lentil soup and snoozing in sleeping bags. Beware!

Playing cards with Ayushma

Connecting with locals has always been my favorite part of traveling. Today was one of those favorite parts...

We met a charming young girl named Ayushma from the guest house restaurant. We taught her and her friends how to play the card game Knock. It was an instant hit!

Dodging rocks

We were on the last uphill push to Thorong Phedi, the last place most people sleep before they make the big push over the Thorong La pass. Hari, our guide had warned us to move quickly through the next area because they have frequent rock slides. Recognize that after half a day of hiking at 4500 m (14763 ft) you don't feel much like doing anything quickly. We had heard several crashes and seen several avalanches along the way but I wasn't ready for what was to happen next...

The crash of rocks overhead and stopped dead in my boots. I watched a rock the size of a refrigerator bounding down the mountain and crash on the trail between Hari and I before continuing down. The smell of fresh dirt in the crater left in the trail told me it was real!

"We very lucky today bhaai (younger-brother)," the wide-eyed look on Hari's face reiterated the point.

The day before we had heard about a man that had been killed in a rock slide just outside the town we had just been in.

Sorry no photos of this adventure...

Flat tires or just good luck

Day 1. The bus ride from Kathmandu to Besisahar. Not a great start for me as I was having a terrible case of diarrhea. Even with a couple rest stops and food breaks, 6 hours on a bus sounded like torture... Fortunately we got a flat tire! Anything to stop for a moment to use the roadside shrubbery...







Day 25. The bus ride from Birethani to Pokhara. I wasn't even praying for a stop on this bus ride and POP! Another flat tire?? Are you serious? But this flat tire also turned out to be fortunate as well... We were lucky enough to be near a little town so Sandie and I hopped off the bus and went to a little shop for a snack. Turned into a wonderful snack of sukuti, fried dry meat, and cool drinks with a woman and her son.


Therefore, I have decided that flat tires are actually good luck!

Annapurna Circuit & Sanctuary

25 days of trekking in Nepal, I'll try and give an overview of what it was all about before I dive into the stories.

Transitioning to 5-10 hours of hiking everyday with a pack on your back is a bit rough. We only took 1 rest day in 25, no wonder we're tired and broken! The experience of carrying everything on your back for extended periods of time is a challenge that everyone should undertake at least once in their lives.

I expected the Annapurna Circuit to be more hiking in the remote of the Himalayas. In reality, we were never more than about an hour away from a town or village which are completely built up around trekking tourism. It was some of the most beautiful and varied scenery I have ever seen, we trekked through dry regions, lush apple orchards, a snow-packed pass, blooming rhododendron forests... Amazing!

Hiking with a guide and friend was probably the most challenging aspect for me after eight months of traveling alone.

Getting sick was the second most challenging aspect for me... Everyone gets sick at some point. Even if you are paranoid about the cleanliness of your food and water you get sick at some point. Problems are: you don't feel like hiking much when you have vicious diarrhea; proper technique in the use of a squat toilet becomes very important to you; not sleeping because you are making frequent trips to the loo... It all wears you down.

All in all, a life experience not to be missed!

Annapurna Circuit

No blogging for the next 24 days. Sandie and I will be trekking the Himalayas on the Annapurna circuit and sanctuary (Annapurna Base Camp), starting in Besisahar and finishing in Nayapul. My life for the next 24 days will consist of daal baht, sleeping in tea houses and trekking an amazing mountain range.

Maximum elevation is 5416m (17,769ft) on the formidable Thorong La. Will be the highest I have ever been in my life by 3,500 feet... Yikes! If its anything like climbing a 14er, I will be trekking slower than snail. Of course we will be climbing slowly and stopping for acclimatization rest days.

You can view the itinerary on www.yetizone.com. We will be starting in Besisahar and going counter clock-wise with a stop in the Annapurna Base Camp before finishing in Pokhara.

See you soon with tons of photos. Hopefully no photos of Sandie or I getting the heli-vacuation... (Just to get your blood going mom!)

friends at Boudhanath

My favorite photo from an afternoon I will never forget.

Hilltop villages

Majuwa is a village of 300 people situated on a ridge above the city of Kathmandu. My first full day in Kathmandu, my guide Expansion called to say his brother Ganesh was going to a village above Nepal and I was invited to come along. Ok... Why not! Ganesh has been working on a pipeline system with a Dutch company to deliver water from a spring to the village of Majuwa. Today he was delivering a couple more rolls of tubing to the village. So I got a tour of the plastic tubing factory and we strapped a couple rolls of tubing on the top of the taxi...

Its a wonderful village full of such friendly people. We enjoyed a cup of tea at the village tea house. We enjoyed a taste of rice whiskey hot off the distillery.

We hiked up to see the pipeline and fix leaks and to see the storage tank and cement tank near the spring. We stopped for tea and a thukpa lunch in the village above named Jaikuti. School had just finished for the term and kids were playing carrom in the courtyard area in front of the school. This is a photo of the school and a woman carrying water to her home.