Into Thinner Air....

7 Days 

Everest Trek to End Trafficking 

We are now climbing into thinner air... Our trek will continue to Tengboche (12,664ft ~ 5 hours). The trek continues along the rushing glacial waters of the Dudh Koshi with magnificent views of the Himalayas mountains. Our group will have the incredible opportunity to visit a Buddhist monastery and observe a prayer ceremony. At this I will take all the prayers I can get. ;-) 

The small village of Tengboche sitting  at 12,664 feet will give us total elevation gain of 2,881 feet from the night before. As we wind our way around the valley the mountain of Ama Dablam which sits at (22,349 ft.) will come in and out of view, as well as the Everest mountain range further out in the distance.

I'm sure at this point of our trek my body will start feeling just a touch of altitude. The highest I have climbed was Quandary Peak in Colorado (14,271ft.)  Once I start getting over that 15,000ft I may have some affect in my sleeping. So acclimation to these villages will be much needed. We still have another 6,000+ft. to climb to our highest point on the trek. Everyday of this trek gets more exciting and the views just simply get more beautiful! 

Let's get higher!

8 Days 

Everest Trek to End Trafficking 

Our trek now starts climbing in some attitude... How will I feel? I know how I feel at 14,000+ ft and for the most part I felt great. So now we are off to Namche Bazaar (11,289ft) as we continue trekking 5.5 hours. We will be gaining 2,700 ft in elevation this day. The expected temperatures at this altitude will be around the mid 30's. We will be traveling along the banks of the Dudh Koshi, crossing the majestic river many times on exciting suspension bridges. After entering the Sagamartha National Park, the trail climbs steeply with breathtaking views. The mountains come alive as we will be surrounded by them everywhere. 

Namche Bazaar is home to many quality restaurants, hotels, shops, money exchange services, etc. We will spend the day here Namche Bazaar to acclimate. We will trek a short distance to a museum that is celebrated for its exhibits of the traditional customs of the Sherpa people. We will also hike up to Everest View Hotel, one of the highest-placed hotels in the world, where we can see some breathtaking views of the Himalayas including Mount Everest! THIS is where I plan on doing some night sky photography with the Himalayas as my backdrop... The Milky Way over the Himalayas oh this will be epic! The moon will be approx 39% illuminated setting around midnight. Oh.... Yes please.  

 

Hair raising..... (World's Most Dangerous Airport)

9 Days 

Everest Trek to End Trafficking

 

After spending a few days in Katmandu exploring it's now time to continue our trek to Everest. We will be flying to Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla (9,383 ft) a 40 min scenic flight thru the mountains. Some very interesting facts about this airport. The runway is at a 12% uphill grade to reduce speed as the pilot lands. In return helps them build up airspeed when taking off. The runway is 1,729ft long. There is no go around when landing since you are landing directly in the side of the mountain. The pilots have one shot only to land. Yikes.... They go thru some serious training to be able to fly into this airport. The end of the airport is only a 9,000 foot drop off. Hair raising... yes indeed! Make sure you watch the video below to get a better idea of this crazy little airport. 

This is where our official trek to Everest Base camp starts. We will spending a little time here before we start our trekking to the Everest Region.  

We will start descending towards the Dudh Kosi River crossing our first suspension bridge. We will continue to Phakding for the night (8,562 ft). Phakding is a small village in the Khumbu region of Nepal. It lies in the Dudh Kosi river valley just north of Lukla and south of Monjo.

 

The Beginning...

10 days 
Everest Trek to End Trafficking

In these short days left I have been wrapping on packing and making sure all the little (Big) things are ready. I mean I will only be 7500 miles from home. Half way around the world... No biggie right?? Hard to even think about that. A experience filled with memories and pictures that will last a lifetime!

Day 1:

On Nov 3rd I will be on bus from Madison to Chicago O'Hare (873ft) to take me non-stop to Doha the capital of Qatar (33ft). Our next flight is off to Katmandu, Nepal the capital city at (4,593 ft). We will arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport where we will meet our guides for   the first time. At this point I expect everyone in our group will be pretty tired with just a touch of Jet lag... From here will will need to get our visas.

We will then spend the next day touring and visiting areas of Katmandu. We will be touring Durbar Square, Pashupatinath Temple, Swayambhunath Stupa and Bouddhanath Stupa which are all UNESCO world heritage sites. We will also be closing out the evening by spending some time in the red light district to try and grasp the Trafficking district.

 

Life in the streets of Nepal

Everest Bound

Wow...... Over a year being delayed due to Covid I'm beyond excited and nervous the time has finally come for this epic adventure!

So as I prep for my Everest trip, I decided to throw a blog up so you can follow me on this journey. I'm hoping I'll be able to update here when I'm in Nepal. So I will update and post images.

First I want to say Thank you everyone for your kindness and donating towards the cause for this trip. I have received a overwhelming support from my family and friends. THANK YOU! 

Stay tune for daily post on this upcoming trip....