Overnight low in the vestibule 24F. Altitude 4785 metres
(15700 ft).
Today is an acclimatization day; we will be spending another
night here in Lobuche BC. There is no town here to explore (Though the town of
Lobuche is nearby, we did not hike there). Rather, we stayed in camp and rested
– except for taking a hike up a ridge behind the camp to get a little exercise
in.
I’m pretty jazzed so far with the performance of my sleeping
bag. Granted, the temperature only got down to 24 last night, but I spent the
night in undershorts and a light, short-sleeve base layer top, with my sleeping
bag unzipped half way.
As for the wakeup experience, I felt totally pampered. At
7:00 am I heard one of the Sherpa staff utter a friendly “good morning”, and
unzip part of the tent vestibule. When I partially unzipped the inner door to
the tent, I was passed a hot, scented towel for my face and hands. This was
followed shortly by a cup of hot tea delivered to my tent.
I knew Himex was a class operation, but it still gets my
attention when all the little ways this is true impact my reality. There is a
hygiene protocol. No entering a mess tent without first washing your hands, no
exceptions. And facilities set up to handle that. Did you tie your boot laces
this morning? They are impregnated with yak poo. Wash your hands. No
exceptions.
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| Turn the spigot, and the water that comes out is hot |
In addition to freshly brewed coffee, there are large
thermoses of hot water inside the mess tents, with a variety of different drink
mixes and teas. I've toted along one of my favourite pieces of backpacking gear
– my 600 ml titanium mug – which I regularly fill with fauxcha (instant coffee,
hot chocolate mix, and powdered milk).
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| Outside of the sleeping bag, it was still cold enough to bust out the marshmallow pants |
The mess tents themselves are well appointed. They are
decorated with flowers, and lit with electric lights after sundown. On a rest
day, everyone is usually pretty much wiped out from the day before. There is a
lot of napping in tents, or, as you can see here, some laid back social
interaction or reading. Proximity to tea and other drinks. Hydration is a real
issue at altitude. A frequent topic of conversation – particularly if you are
speaking with Ann, the expedition doctor - is the condition of everybody’s pee.
(Without going into too much detail, you want it clear and copious).
 |
| Everybody drink!! |
Most everyone has, by now, been afflicted with what is known as the Khumbu
Cough to some degree or another. Given the altitude, the air is very dry. This
is compounded by the fact that, by now, everybody’s lungs are also chock full of dust
and yak shit. So it’s not uncommon to hear someone walking past emitting a
series of dry coughs. Hardcore dry coughs. At this point in the trek, if someone says something that
is very funny, the best way to acknowledge that is to make eye contact, smile,
nod and chuckle. A full on belly-laugh will almost certainly transition to you
hacking up lung tissue in short order.
A corollary to the Khumbu Cough is what I have dubbed the Nose
Olympics. Runny noses are commonplace, as are fits of sneezing. Of course,
Himex has this covered as well.
 |
| Get yer snot roll right here… |
Peel and use. It’s a good idea to wind a couple of yards
around your hand before heading to your tent in the evening, for use during the
night, too.
Despite the discomforts of altitude that I have mentioned, I
find being in camp more pleasant than staying in lodges. First of all, I’m in a
tent, which brings the simple familiarity of previous experience gained from
backpacking. But the other thing is that items that you have to pay extra for
in a lodge are simply included in the deal at camp. Things ranging from toilet
paper (if you happen to have run out of your own supply), to wine with dinner,
to candy bars.
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| Burn too many calories today? We can help with that… |
Julia and I tore ourselves away from the lethargic luxury of
camp, however, to climb up the ridge behind camp to take a look up the valley
we would be travelling tomorrow. We ended up climbing about 180 metres, which made
for a nice challenge on a rest day. We were pretty proud of ourselves. Below is
a view from the top of the ridge where we hiked, up the Khumbu valley.
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| The valley floor is actually the Khumbu glacier |
Here is a picture of Julia I got, pointing the camera back
in the other direction.
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| The pointy mountain thing never gets old |
We made our way back to camp in time for lunch, after which
there was some serious rest and napping to be done, particularly after the
morning’s climb. I got this shot when we had descended just a bit, showing camp
from elevation.
 |
| Happy rest day. |
Tomorrow is the final push up to Everest Base Camp.
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