Kathmandu domestic airport
Waiting to fly to Lukla.
Nice red sari, but the lady wasn't too thrilled with me taking her picture in spite of asking permission.
Only trek and climb pictures.
Unloading and reloading our plane in Lukla. I can't remember ever being so glad to be back on the ground!
Looking down the runway at Lukla.
Our plane.
Welcome to Lukla
The runway at Lukla. It is only 1/4 mile long and is angled downward at 12% (about 6 degrees) to help planes stop in time and to gather enough speed to take off. Considered one of the world's most dangerous airports.
View of runway from the top.
"Downtown" Lukla
Our group - Team Livin' the Dream - walking through Lukla. I was very grateful to be walking and not having to worry about the landing. Eighteen passengers and two crew members died in a crash the morning we were scheduled to fly.
Carrying a very heavy load of lumber.
Gateway to our trek.
Dzos (yak-cow mix) carrying supplies near Lukla
Terraced fields
On the trail from Lukla to Phak Ding on day one of our trek.
Porter carrying a heavy load.
Bhuddist stupa, flags
Bhuddist mani stones. These are prayers carved into rock and then stacked up.
Japanese owned private resort. It looked quite a bit nicer than anything else we saw or stayed at.
Porter
Pool tables were everywhere in the Khumbu. They are carried in on the backs of porters! I assume they are disassembled!
This is our hotel the first night in Phak Ding. We stayed in the building on the far left with the multi-peaked roof.
Sun room at our hotel
Building under construction. Watch for this same building towards the end of the pictures to see the progress they made in two weeks.
There is very little flat ground in Nepal. Stairs like this were very common, and many were much steeper.
Sagarmatha is a Nepali name for Mt Everest.
Gateway to the National Park.
Looking down from one of the many suspension bridges we crossed.
First view of Everest.
Everest
Namche Bazaar, the biggest village in the Khumbu Region.
Yak
Our room at the Panorama Hotel in Namche Bazaar.
View from our room. What do expect for $6 per night?
Namche Bazaar
Camping at Namche Bazaar (not our group)
A porter's load. 25 gallons of kerosene which would be about 150 pounds plus the box on top and there was some more stuff at the bottom of the basket. Maybe 200 pounds total??
Shopping in Namche Bazaar.
View from our hotel room in Namche Bazaar
Ama Dablam.
Sherpa museum
Dried yak dung for fires.
Nuptse, Everest, Lhotse
Ama Dablam
Rough cut stones for ready for construction
Lhakpa Sherpa, Dawa Sherpa, me, Khami Sherpa. Lhakpa has climbed Everest 11 times and his brother Khami has 12 summits. Dawa is featured in the National Geographic movie that follows Peter Hillary and Jamling Norgay in 2003.
Khunde
A yak proudly carrying my red bag.
Gopol working his magic under the most primitive of conditions.
Ama Dablam. When young kids draw pictures of mountains, this is what they draw.
Prayer wheels in Khumjung.
School built by Sir Edmund Hillary in Khumjung. Lhakpa and Khami both went to this school.
I reckon they sometimes are guilty of wreckin' their English.
Khami (or maybe Lhakpa, I can't remember) in school
There is no such thing as a bad view of Ama Dablam. The weather wasn't too bad either!
The old bridge.
A typical lunch on our trip.
Jeff Roe, my roommate for the trip. He is a fireman from Fresno, CA.
This lady made me think of Nana.
Island Peak.
Possibly one of the world's worst rock climbers!
Ama Dablam from the north
Memorial to climbers killed on Everest in Pheriche. There are a lot of names on this thing.
Welcome to the gun show.
Memorial to guide Scott Fischer, one of the 12 who died on Everest in 1996. There are lots of these memorials in this immediate area.
Winslow, our guide.
Everest (the one that appears shorter in the center)
Our campsite in Gorak Shep (Dead Crow). 17,000 feet.
Island Peak
Practicing ascending a fixed line and rapelling back down.
Part way up Island Peak at daybreak. We left camp at 3:15 am.
Nearing the end of the rock portion of Island Peak.
Makalu (world's fifth highest peak) from Island Peak
Ama Dablam from the east, on Island Peak
Top of Island Peak. My watch was wrong, we are at 20,305 feet.
Looking back down. We camped about 75 feet above the lake, although we couldn't actually see it from our tents.
My tent at Island Peak base camp.
The "Littlest Room" in the house. It covered a hole in the ground.
Yaklets, taken for Jackie
Our shower in Dingboche. The water was poured into the bucket on the roof and then flowed down via a garden hose that had a shower head on the end.
Water powered prayer wheel.
Mani stones piled high
Bakery at Tengboche. It was from this spot that I spoke with Peter and Mom on my return. You can see Tengboche's lights at night from the top of Everest which is the peak just above and to the right of the "Y" in "Bakery"
Rules for the Tengboche Monastary. I like number 9 the most. Is this really a problem?
A two hole squat toilet! Sorry mom!
Deepak, one of the cookstaff. He was very nice and extremely hard working.
Same building, about two weeks later.
Yam (Gopol's younger brother), Can't remember, Deepak, Can't remember but he looks like Grant Davis, Gopol, Never knew, Khami. The can't remember/never knew guys spoke no English so I had no interaction with them.
Yam (pronounced "yahm", not "yam" like the vegetable). One of the most likable people I have ever met.
Back at the dreaded Lukla airport.
Eating lunch with Jeff on the roof of the famous Rum Doodle restaurant, named for the book that spoofs the big climbing expeditions of the 1920s to 1950s.
The Kathamandu branch of Star City Motor Sports.
Lhakpa, Robert, John Burns, Jeff Roe, Gopol, Winslow, Alexandra, Khami eating dinner in the Rum Doodle.
Gopol, Lhakpa, Winslow, me, Khami in the Yak and Yeti Hotel lobby.
Decorations for a festival
My last dinner in Nepal - Dhal Baat.
