I haven’t talked about Galzn, my Sherpa guide yet. That will come. For now, suffice it to say that we’re still feeling each other out. I think he envisioned today as a 2 hour stroll to the Everest View Hotel and back, and showed up this morning with nothing but a jacket. I, on the other hand, had other ideas. I wanted to hike up a ridge above the hamlet of Khunde. We had talked about it the night before, and I even pulled out a map to show him, but I don’t think it really sunk in. On the trail, he seemed annoyed that I kept wanting to go farther, and I had to coax him forward on several occasions. When we reached the summit he confessed to me that he had never been there before, and at some point I noticed that his body language had changed: he was having a good time.
Just to be truthful, it’s not really a summit. It’s just one of a dozen bumps on a longer ridge… you could go as far as you want, but this bump seemed to have more prayer flags on it than any of the others, so we declared victory.
Galzn on the way up with Everest behind.
The obligatory summit video
On the way up, we had ascended a very easy but indirect trail. To mix it up I wanted to descend a slightly steeper ridge but one that didn’t really have a trail on it. Galzn was very skeptical of the idea, and I got the impression that he was starting to dig in his heels. I think we were about 15 seconds away from our first argument when a young woman in running tights ran right past us and down the ridge. We never spoke a word to her, nor did Galzn and I say anything, but without further ado, Galzn just started walking down the ridge. The decision was made. Trekking in Nepal can be a journey into the past… and I’ll leave it at that.
Our “summit” today was about the same altitude as the Grand Teton (Gaia had me 30 feet higher). So far I seem to be acclimatizing well. It takes discipline to resist just putting it in gear and sprinting uphill, but I’m trying not to irritate my lungs. Most people around me are coughing, including Galzn. I don’t think it’s an illness… I think it’s just irritation. The trail is really dusty, and the wind blows the dust everywhere. Plus, the haze from the brush burning in India is acrid and feels toxic to me. Many if not most people hike with a buff over their mouth. I’ve worn a buff in the past, but I’m a little skeptical that it actually does anything. This year I’m trying to wear an N95 mask. We’ll see if it makes any difference. It’s only day 3.
Tomorrow is a rest day. That means walking around town for an hour, eating a pizza for lunch and then reading a book. I will leave you with a panorama video from the start of our hike. The internet isn’t working very well this morning (nor was it last night) so this might just be a link. Cheers.
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