Start: Phakding, 8700 feet (2650 m)
End: Namche Bazaar, 11300 feet (3440 m)
This was the big day! Namche Hill was conquered. Tea arrived at 6 am or so. I had chai again. This stuff is very good- I’ll end up drinking a lot. Then, a warm bowl of water was brought to our tent around 6:15 to wash up. Then we packed up. Breakfast was at 6:45. We had toast with marmalade and honey, oatmeal and corn flakes and more chai. We were walking at 7:40. We had an easy 3 hour walk in the morning. This is what they call “Nepalese Flat”. There was lots of up and down but not much net change and it was not overly strenuous. We had a light lunch of bread, a slice of canned meat, beans and coleslaw and more chai. I drank 2L of water in the morning.
We entered Sagarmatha Park before lunch. The scenery was stunning, but misty and cloudy again. After lunch, we walked very uphill to get to the “high bridge”. This one is over 100 metres above the river and it was windy. I found it exhilarating, but some folks were not as happy to cross it.
On the other side, we descended some very steep “stairs” and then began the massive climb to Namche. It was very steep and difficult. This was the hardest physical day of my life but I’ve accomplished what I know I never could have even a few months ago. Dad was very happy. I was very proud of him and of myself and we shared a hug at the top. We felt slow but were only 20 minutes behind the fastest of the group. Everyone was so helpful and supportive. Bhola stayed with us at the back and urged us on but never forced us. Breathing was the worst. I’m hoping to acclimatize better tomorrow as I’m labouring a bit. My chest is very sore. My legs and body and back feel pretty good overall. Nothing like what I was expecting after the Barr Trail in Colorado. THAT was a walk in the park compared to this.
I had a great supper of dhal, rice, spring rolls, pasta with tomato sauce, warm fruit and more tea. It was so delicious. I was very hungry and ate a lot. I have no headache. It is good to not show any AMS signs after ascending well over 2000 feet today. I have slight neck pain tonight- probably getting used to the pack. We had really good laughs over supper tonight. Everyone is getting along well- I think we lucked into a great bunch. I worry about holding people back, but everyone seems very good about it. It will be a blast to get to know these folks better. It is colder tonight.