Friends in the High Places

I had planned to post this update 2 days ago but no service. Today we are on our way down to Lobuche base camp. Hope to post more if I have service.

—————————————

The day we moved up from Deboche to Pheriche, we were all exposed to some really…really…realllllllly nasty GI bug. That night, I started getting fever chills, so I zipped up in my mummy bag thinking maybe I could get over it. A few hours later, I was frantically trying to unzip myself, then completely dizzy I pinballed down the hallway to the, uh, bathroom. Words cannot describe the toilet conditions here in the Khumbu. OK, one sentence to set the stage for the next few days. For those with a weak stomach, skip to the next paragraph…

The three foot radius on the floor around the commode is wet with a slick, yet chunky mixture that we would contribute to over the next few days. We’re on the mend now, most of us opting to go on antibiotics (Cipro) and yesterday I was able to keep down three meals, with only a few bites of toast and a bowl of tomato soup each of the previous few days.

Today we moved up from Lobuche to Everest Base Camp in 5 leisurely hours, and feel pretty good here at 17,500 feet. Our base camp is interspersed in the glacial moraine, and getting around is quite a chore. Its probably a 10 minute walk on loose gravel covering glacial ice to get to a toilet, and Mark and my tents are located precariously up on the slope of the glacier. Tomorrow I’ll plan on making some cairns to mark the route to my tent in case it snows tomorrow. Seriously.

We were reunited with our climbing duffels here at base camp, so we spent a little time getting things organized for day after tomorrow when we will head back down to Lobuche base camp to acclimatize on +20,000” Lobuche. On the way to the charging tent I walked right past Russell Brice. Russell is the rock star of Everest climbing, a legend. I didn’t want to bother him for a photograph just yet, but I’m sure I will before this is all over. We are very happy to be here in base camp now and out of the tea houses. The good news is our respiratory systems are still doing very well. More tomorrow if I can get some time on the charging system. By the way, we thought we would have 3G service here in base camp, but no luck, I barely have any service at all.