We made it to our last stop before crossing the pass! Luckily no one is experiencing any problems besides heavier breathing while walking. There were some falling rocks right before Phedi. It’s a landslide area, and there were some deer up there causing the rocks to fall as we walked through. Binod was looking out for falling rocks because he’s had problems in that area before, and he told Matt to look out, who in turn told me. I ducked down next to the side of the mountain where there was a short retaining wall, but my arm still got hit by one of the rocks. After the shower of rocks passed we ran. It all happened in just a matter of seconds. My arm hurt, but I think more than anything I was really just shaken up. I mean, falling rocks—you could die from that or get really seriously injured. As we walked the next 20 minutes to Phedi I just kept thinking what ifs and was glad that I only got hit in the arm. Having to get helicoptered out would be awful for several reasons, but especially this far into the trek. At Phedi we rested for a half hour and I was able to ice my arm (luckily ice is in no shortage at this altitude). Thankfully I am able to move me hand and wrist ok; I’ll probably just have a bump and bruise for a while.
High Camp is in an amazing setting, nestled in the snow between various peaks.
It is also somewhat disgusting. Between frozen water in the flush bucket and apparent problems with people being able to use the squatters (how they still don’t know how to use one this far into the trek I don’t know…), let’s just say the bathrooms are less than sanitary. It’s so bad that people are just going outside behind the buildings rather than inside the outhouses. Descending tomorrow will be good for many reasons.
Cold. That’s pretty much the only way to describe today. It snowed again last night. Inside our room, Joylani’s alarm clock said 29 F. Nonetheless, we departed Letdar at our usual time of 8am. We made our way towards Phedi and then up to High Camp. Most of the past few days have been a gradual up. Today was back to Nepali flat- down a big valley and then up again. Besides being cold and above the snow line all day, we had another incident today. Yesterday, Binod warned us about a rockslide area and told us some personal and second-hand stories of the dangers. Passing a warning sign, we made our way along a path on a steep mountainside. All of sudden, a few meters ahead of me, Binod yelled, “Matt, rocks!†I quickly glanced up, expecting to see a large rock rolling down towards me, but instead I saw 4 or 5 golf-ball-sized stones whizzing towards us- too many to try to dodge. They made the sound of a baseball with busted seems- zzzzz. I turned and yelled at Joylani to get down, as I fell to a crouch in the corner of the left side of the trail (as the trail was an L-shape cut out of the slope). I heard the rocks whiz by and waited until Binod told us to get up and run. After we were somewhat clear, I learned Joylani had been hit in the arm. We took a rest at Phedi and iced her swollen arm. I felt pretty lucky for a few reasons. One, Binod had heard/seen the rock and alerted us. Two, Joylani only got hit on the arm by a smaller stone- a Swiss lady we met tonight got hit by larger stone on the leg and apparently has a large black bruise. Three, some American girls passed out at Phedi from the altitude. So, with all things considered, we’re doing okay.
After resting and treating Joylani at Phedi, we walked the steepest 45 minutes I’ve ever walked up to High Camp. The trail just zig-zagged straight up the mountain face. We walked incredibly slowly as the air is so thin and rested pretty often. In all, we only walked about 3 hours today, but after arriving in High Camp, we rested for a few hours. Despite everything being covered in snow, it felt nice taking the sun in through the double-paned windows of the dining room. After resting for a few hours, we too a quick walk up a “hill†adjacent to the camp to be better acclimatized for tomorrow. The view from the top was unbelievable, but very cold. The rest of the night was spent huddled together with everyone else in the dining room, trying to stay warm.
A few things about High Camp. Its completely covered in snow. For the past couple days, all the buckets of water near the latrines have been frozen, so flushing isn’t possible. As Joylani mentioned, that’s one reason to try to not go to the bathroom. Second reason is that its so cold, you really don’t want to pull your three layers of pants down. And the air is thin. I find myself panting even just walking the 50 meters between our room and the dining hall. The short two to three hundred meter walk up the hill today had me breathless, and not just from the view. Its really tough.