4 April – Khumjung to Phortse

Overnight low in our room 41F.  Starting altitude 3780 metres (12400ft), ending altitude 3845 metres (12600ft). There is no internet in Phortse, so this will get posted a little later than usual.

Today, I got up before dawn to hike up and shoot some photos of Ama Dablam in the dawn light. I knew when sunrise would be thanks to my über-watch. Dang if the photographer guy in the video wasn't right. Early morning light is fantastic.

Hillary memorial and Ama Dablam

True fact: it is pretty much impossible to take a bad photograph of Ama Dablam. Another thing I have found to be true is that it is nearly impossible to keep from taking picture after picture of Ama Dablam.

Ama Dablam at dawn

I will issue a challenge: if anyone can take this trek and refrain from taking less than a zillion pictures of Ama Dablam, I will buy them the dinner of their choice anywhere in the Oklahoma City area. Meanwhile, the dawn light also lent itself to taking some photographs of the ridge on the opposite side of the Hillary Memorial, which was obscured by clouds yesterday.

Mountains in this ridge are… Anyone? Anyone?... Something o-i-n-t-y?...

Today’s trek took us to Phortse.  Phortse is at nearly the same altitude as Khumjung, but we would be doing a lot of climbing and descending to get there. This is par for the course for pretty much all of the days’ treks. One must simply embrace it. Ohhhhmmmmmm… We would be stopping for tea at a small village called Mong, climbing to the highest altitude we would reach today, 3945 metres (12950 ft). However, we did not start climbing immediately; we first had to descend a bit.

Up: what happens after you go down

On the way up to the tea house, another couple kindly took our picture. In the background to our right in the picture is the ever present Ama Dablam. Just above us, behind the mountain that is in the foreground us you can see the top of Nuptse, an 7850+ metre peak, with a snow plume blowing off it.

Balling

Definitely ready for a break by the time we arrived at the tea house. There were large thermos jugs of black tea, hot lemon, and milk tea set up for everyone to partake. We all basked in the sun, sipped tea, noshed on a candy bar.

Just chillaxin' in the Himilayas

The second film crew is shooting a documentary of an effort being undertaken by the Heroes Project – Seven Summits, a foundation that takes veterans up to the summits of the highest peak on each of the seven continents. The segment being filmed on this expedition will be that of a vet with a prosthetic leg summiting Everest.

Julia yaks with Tim, head of the Heroes Project

At the tea house, we were above Phortse, we would have to descend. Of course, we would descend a couple of hundred metres below Phortse, to 3570 metres (11700ft) before climbing back up.

Phortse. This would be a great place for a zip line…

Flashing back to a bit earlier on the trail, here is another shot of Ama Dablam. Surprise!! Ama Dablam means “Mother’s Pendant”. From the central peak, two ridges extend, one on either side. These are the arms of the Mother, embracing the valley below. Just a small bit below the summit of the central peak is a large white mass of snow and ice – the pendant. The main route for those climbing Ama Dablam is over that pendant and up the face.

Ama Dablam. Say it with me: Ama. Dablam.

After the long descent, it was time again to go… up! After a climb of 275 metres, we arrived in Phortse. At the top of the trail, as is customary, stood a stupa keeping a benevolent watch over all.

The most welcome sight of the day

As I made my way through town to our lodge, I came upon a small yak. A fairly common occurrence, except that in this instance the yak had two large crows perched upon its back. The crows were grabbing masses of fur from the yak’s back and yanking it out with their beaks. I could hear the fur rip out of the beast’s back. It didn't seem to mind. I assume the crows were going to line their nests with the fur.

Not sure what the yak gets out of this deal

We have been staying in lodges all the way up so far. We will be in a lodge in Periche – our next stop. After that, we will be staying in tents, first at Lobuche Base Camp and then at Everest Base Camp. Here is a picture of our room for tonight. This is actually a pretty posh accommodation. We have an electric light, and lots of room at the base of our beds for our large duffels. Each bed has a comfy pillow and a thick duvet.

All that is needful

And in closing… Ama Dablam.