Everest Expedition (Day 13) - Kalapathar

Climbing Kalapathar - April 8, 2015

I've lived a charmed life throughout my Himalayan hike. I should have known it would continue.

I awoke at 4 a.m. to beautiful weather, so decided to climb Kalapathar for one of the best views of the Everest summit, aside from actually scaling Everest.

If you look over my left shoulder, you'll see the top of a black mountain jutting up from behind the mountains in front. That's Everest's peak.

Here's a closer look.






The rest of the scenery was stunning, as well, 360 degrees worth of snow-capped mountains.

View from Kalapathar

As I snapped these pictures, I was standing at around 18,000 feet. Kalapathar's summit lay at least an hour away. I felt fine, but reaching the top just didn't seem that important.

Factoring in my altitude sickness from two days before and the all-day hike awaiting me after breakfast, I decided happily to return to town, where most of my hiking colleagues were still sleeping. Plus, I'm not superstitious, but the mountain gods had been quite good to me during my journey. I didn't want to push my luck by being overly greedy.

After breakfast, I began my return hike. It took me nine days to reach base camp. Now, I've got three days to make it back to Lukla. How's that possible?

The big difference is I no longer have to worry about altitude sickness. My body is acclimatized to 18,000 feet, so I can push much harder dropping down in altitude.

Today, I lost more than 4,000 feet in elevation during a seven-hour hike to Pangboche, where I'm spending the night. My guide Pasang said the same hike going uphill would have taken two-and-a-half days. We think we covered almost 15 miles.

Even though a lot of the hike was downhill, seven hours trekking is still seven hours trekking; however, my body feels strong, although my ankle is rebelling.

Tomorrow, it's another long one.



NOTE: These are the exact, unedited journal entries I wrote during my trip. Because of limited internet access in the Himalayas, I am posting them now, rather than during my actual journey, which I finished two weeks before the first earthquake. I hope it's not perceived that I'm disrespecting the dead or those suffering. On the contrary, I'm hoping to provide some insight into why so many people, considering the risks, continue to be drawn to the Himalayas year after year.

Tourism will likely be what fuels Nepal's recovery. Until that happens, Nepal continues to need our immediate help, which is why I'll continue providing a list of relief agencies for anyone wishing to donate.

Please see Why I'm Resuming My Everest Blog for an explanation of my decision to restart the account of my Nepalese journey.