Island Peak 2018: On our Way

At some point in every trip, you feel like you have moved from planning to doing. Well that’s exactly how I felt today as Kami and I left Namche for the Goyko Lakes.

Once again, the morning skies were crystal clear with a bite in the air signaling that winter would be here soon. We set a leisurely pace knowing it would take abut 6 hours to reach our first destination, Dole. I did this route in 1997 but honestly don’t reminder a lot of the details. As we left the main trail that leads out people to Everest Base Camp, we saw fewer and fewer people.

The views, however were just as stunning and in fact, I think the view of Ama Dablam was even better! I already have 5,923 picture of this amazing peak so I added a few hundred for good measure!! 🙂

We walked slowly taking in the views and chatting about everything, anything and nothing. We stoped for lunch and of course, Kami had Dal Bhat. The trial climbed steadily through the day. We are now at 4410-meters or 13,484-feet leaving Namche at 3440-meters or 11,286 meaning we gained 970-meters or3.182 feet; not a bad day’s work.

Along the way we stopped at the memorial for Alex Lowe who died in an avalanche on Shishapangma in 1999. It is a simple rock alter overlooking Porter the home of the Kumbu Climbing Center, created in Alex’s honor to train Sherpas on climbing.

So, the views are inspiring, trail is smooth, the skies clear, our feet are light and spirits are soaring. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Climb On!

Alan

Memories are Everything

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