We’re staying in tents in front of a lodge again, Peak 38 View Lodge, but the irony is not a bother because we’re so glad it’s already warmer. Sleep was actually restful instead of a struggle against nature. The clouds rolled in early in the evening yesterday and I imagined slight flecks of condensation falling from the sky. When I woke up early just before the sun and crept out of my tent I got a good pile of snow down my neck. I was planning to wash up a little, but the snow wrecked that notion. It was kind of nice to see though. Actually, it seems like it was too cold in Lobuche for snow. At least now I have the luxury of a hot stove and a cozy dining room from which to enjoy the view. This lodge is very busy today. Yesterday evening the dining room was packed tight with smelly, white monkeys. Amid the roar of 10 conversations in the small room we could pick out French, Japanese, Hebrew, Italian, English, and Sherpa. Everyone was so scraggly and worn out or frozen from their adventures that there were not exaggerated physical expressions. Today John, Cody and I will be climbing up a mere 1,000 feet to see the Ama Dablam Base Camp. The rest of the group will meet us in Pangboche.

After a long, long, long night of sleep we waited until it was not quite Pluto cold anymore before we crept out of our sleeping bags. I was so tired the day before, but after that long rest I felt great again. We enjoyed a little breakfast on our tarp on the ground and mentally prepared to leave this area we had worked so hard to reach. We also had another long hike ahead of us, to Dingboche just past Pheriche. Again the tone was relaxed as we retraced our steps with much less urgency. I enjoyed walking along the clear water stream running off of the glaciers and the high mountain snows. We had passed through the area just a few days before, but the memories seemed much older, we had been through quite a bit in just a few days. Richard was really worried about his boy Matthew and his wife Gaye, so he was really anxious to set out on the trail and meet up again in Dingboche. We hiked and hiked and hiked… and hiked. My legs were soon worn out again. I’m not sure of the mileage, but it was a worthy distance to cover in one morning. Gaye met us at the stupa on the hill overlooking Dingboche and we were all relieved to see that everything was ok. We also thought of alternatives to climbing Island Peak. We may hike up to Chukhung, at the base of Island Peak, and we will also have a look at the Ama Dablam Base Camp just 1,000 feet above this village. That’s very exciting and we’re glad we can really just relax now.

Today, October 18th, was the big day for us. Supposedly we were supposed to be up and ready to hike at a terribly unreasonable hour, but with the little bit of disruption caused by taking care of Tashi, we slacked off a little. Nevertheless, the skies are wonderfully clear and it is bitter cold. For various reasons we loafed around a bit before setting out and that was a rough start to the day. Since it was so cold we were freezing. I just wanted to get moving so that we could warm up a little. As we got started it was exciting, but soon we found that one of our members, Matthew, was having a little trouble. Gaye decided to turn back with him and take him lower. With all the boys gone it must have been a great disappointment for them, especially when they got lower and had a short time to recuperate. The hike from Lobuche to Gorak Shep is not a minor excursion in itself. It is quite a distance and is follows the length of rivers and rocky glaciers. We left our camp at about 7 a.m., just as some sunlight was tipping over the peaks. After two and a half hours of stumbling over river rocks we made it to Gorak Shep, where one of our guides, Nima, owns a nice little restaurant with a second floor sun room. We stopped there and charged up with some ramen noodles. Outside we had a fantastic view up the barren hill up to Kala Patthar, and from what we could see it wasn’t that bad, maybe only 45 minutes at the most. Of course that was a foolish assessment, because all we could see from the base in Gorak Shep was the brown, barren nub, and certainly not to the peak, over 500 meters above us.

Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I watched the light of the full moon passing across my tent. The very good news is that I didn’t develop a headache, I just got bored being stuck in my skull. Just before bed time I took one half of a Diamox pill and a couple of ibuprofins just in case. With the reduced dosage I think I got the benefits without the side-effects. I didn’t have to pee as much. Finally in the morning, just after one of the cooks brought out some tea, I overheard some bad news. David, our friend from ontario, Canada, came by to tell about his wife Hillary, who was having another very bad headache. They had tried to climb up to Lobuche a few days before, but they were having altitude problems then, so they took a break down in Pheriche, where we met them. They’ll most likely be calling it quits and turning back down to Lukla.