Day 4 of hiking
I actually got a decent night's sleep last night. Up at 0500 and came down to mess hall for coffee but place was empty and the wifi was not connected so played Spider Solitaire on my iPad mini.
Day 4 of hiking turned out to be a repeat of day 2 and is the second most difficult physically challenging day of my life. The hike started with a very steep climb out of Namche. After that we had a relatively easy 3 hours that followed a ridge line without a lot of climbing. Then we went down, down, down. We stopped for lunch and I had no appetite but forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes and a yak cheese sandwich on soggy bread.
After lunch came the climb. For the next 3 hours we climbed. I would force myself to go 100 steps before having to stop, gasping for breath. This cycle went on and on and felt like I was being water boarded. It was strenuous climbing and that alone would take the wind out of my lungs . . . but add in the thin air and it was killing me. I got to thinking about my SCUBA diving days and how I was always the first one out of air. Even when I dove with my brother I sucked down all my air faster than him and would use his spare regulator to share his air so we could stay down longer. At any rate, the climbing and thin air is killing me.
At lunch I had to go to the bathroom as I've had diarrhea for 2 days. The outhouse ate the cafe was literally a dung house! It was a small room with a huge pile of fresh dung on one side, big bags of pine cones on the other side and a hole in the floor to do your business. I decided I would hold off going. Nick and I debated the use of the pine cones. Were they for fuel for the winter or for wiping? IDK.
We got to the top of the hill which was our destination 7 hours after leaving Namche we found there is monastery with Buddhist monks beside the guest house. This guest house is the raunchiest hole we've stayed in. The toilet is kind of an outhouse with a little stool about a foot off the ground. You are not supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet. I have absolutely nothing in my digestive track right now. We were too tired and had no appetite for dinner. It is odd because we probably burned 10,000+ calories today yet neither of us was hungry. I figure the loss of appetite is due to the altitude. I think we are at 12,600' now and I am getting winded walking on flat ground.
At 4 pm we got to go into the Buddhist temple and observe the monks prayer or meditation time. We had to take our shoes off before going in and then get a rug to sit on. They did chants and banged on various instruments and hummed and such. Very strange ritual.
After that we came back to our little cell which is barely big enough for the 2 single beds. We laid down at 5 pm and fell asleep. Ross came by at 7 and asked if we were coming to dinner as they were about to shut the kitchen down and we both said we were not hungry and fell back asleep. I got up a could hours later for another fun trip to the toilet hole and by now I'm just passing almost clear water.
I woke up about midnight with an aching tooth. I've not had any toothache before so I surmised it was maybe the altitude. I also have a little upper respiratory congestion and i sure that contributes to the difficulty breathing. I took a couple of aspirin and went back to sleep. I woke up at 0300 hrs and am up for the day.
Before we went to bed, Nick and I talked about the trek. He seems to be doing fine with the altitude and strenuous climbing. But this is killing me. The enjoyment of hiking is lost when I am constantly doubled over gasping for breath. So what to do? I have concluded there is no way I will make it as high as EBC. That is just never going to happen. We are only at 12,600 and EBC is 17,600'. I can't keep food down (hurled on the trail from pushing myself so hard) or up. I can't breath and the higher we go it will only get worse. This is an adventure but is also our vacation and I don't want to just kill myself on my vacation. We talked about me going to a camp about an hour from here that is a stopping point on the way back from EBC and the Nick could continue on to EBC. But this trip is more about father/son time that reaching some arbitrary elevation. Another option would be to turn back now and hike back to Lukla and the fly back to Katmandu. Then we would spend 4 days exploring Katmandu before our flight home. Another option would be to hike back down to a lower elevation and do some local hiking to various locations to see what we can see. Nick and I will talk to Ross this morning and come up with a revised plan. If we do go back to Katmandu I am gonna try to find a Hilton or Marriott to get a real shower, comfortable bed and maybe a hot tub.
It is 0430 now and I am waiting for sunrise. We are supposed to have great views of Everest from here with the sun coming up over the mountains. I hope it is clear. It rained last night. That should help with the dust on the trail.
Went outside at 430 and the sky was bright yet the sun was not yet up. We are surrounded by huge peaks including Everest and Lhotse. We had breakfast of soup and a disgusting cheese omelette.
Nick and I talked again about our plan going forward. He really wants yo press on to EBC and I've no doubt he would make it with little difficulty. I cannot send will not try to ho higher. We talked about splitting up but that would put me in Namche for 4 days waiting on him. I don't want to do that. There is nothing to do in Namche and I don't want to just sit around for 4 days doing nothing. So Nick being the good son that he is said he would ho back down with me and we'd find something to do in Katnandu. But we still have 3 days of hiking ahead of us to get back to Lukla. Hopefully we can get a flight from Luka back to Katmandu.
Day 5 of hiking was pretty tough. We hiked a little over 5 hours with only breaks long enough yo catch my breath. The hike down from the monastery was much harder than I thought it would be as the trail is wicked steep (like 45 degrees) and is covered with big rocks. This was the 5th consecutive day of hiking and my body is feeling it. I have a little upper respiratory congestion and that just compounds the breathing. We still have two tough days of hiking ahead of us till we get yo Laklu and fly back to Katmandu.
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