Let’s say the symptoms of spring fever suddenly flare up on you when you’ve got a free day. You dig into the back corner of your closet where you last remember seeing your boots and hiking gear, and lace up and cram in a few things into your daypack. At least here the snow has just cleared and the air and soil share a similar soggy quality. It’s not a terrible idea to get an early start conditioning to up for hiking, but then the weather conditions are still going to take some serious consideration for safety. The thing about those of us living inland and up in the mountains is that we base clothing levels on a skewed relative perspective on the outside temperature. I was reminded this winter that it get’s really cold here with a relentless chill to the point that it eventually seems normal.

We were so amazed and thrilled with the sights and unexpected experiences every day along our trek, and we wanted to be ready with our cameras and laptops to record all the details. Rich and Cody slung out their digital cameras with every adorable Sherpa child and lumbering yak we passed, and I filmed every colorful wildflower fluttering in the breeze. Of course at the end of the day I just had to deploy the notebook computer out of my day pack and type up blog entries about adorable yaks and lumbering children. Of course if I let it go more than a day at a time I might mix up the details. It didn’t take long on our hike for us to become very mindful of the power meters on our electronic devices. We had to carefully monitor our usage and to try to power off as quickly as possible after all interesting sights and experiences had moved along. I brought a huge pack of AA sized batteries with me to make sure I had a guaranteed power source for my operation critical electronics (the GameBoy). However, keeping the computer and the video camera charged up was a technical challenge.

Our Sherpa guide and dear friend Pema Dorje Sherpa sends his cheery regards from Nepal and he’s very excited for the new trekking season that is building up now. Pema is a vastly experience expedition and trekking Sirdar from countless adventures through the high mountains of his home country and he loves sharing his stories common sense. He led us on a hike through the Khumbu last October and we had a very enjoyable and safe journey with his wise guidance. Of course he’s pretty well balanced with a great sense of humor and a funny laugh. Of course we won’t be able to set out for another trek soon, but Pema loves meeting and taking care of other outgoing trekking groups. For the rest of us stuck only reading about Nepal on websites, Pema is there for us and ready to send responses to questions. We’ve added a little banner button on the right panel with “Ask Pema!” Click on the banner and open up a mail client to send him a question at pema@sherpatrek.com and he’ll certainly have something to say.

There I was, flapping in the frigid wind and clutching to a chunky boulder, my jaw gaping in amazement at my personal view of Mt. Everest. That’s one (melodramatic) way to describe the pinnacle of our journey trekking through the Himalayas last fall. To be honest, I didn’t get a very clear view of anything because my legs were locking up from the chill in the gusting wind and the steep drop seemingly on all sides. I was so cold and worn from climbing the last hundred meters or so that I only sought out shelter between the rocks for relief from the elements. I had my video camera with me, and I did my best to reach up out of the rocky crevasse to record a panoramic view or the mountains and to assess just how steep the drop was just down-wind from me. Watching the footage now it’s a bewildering sweep across indistinguishable rocky terrain and a crackling audio track of the wind and the violently snapping prayer flags overloading the tiny microphone.