The End of a Journey

We had a short walk to the Lulka airport at 6:30am. Saying good bye to these mountains did make me a little sad. . . . . but the shower was calling my name.

Luckily the weather was great and we had no issues catching our return flight. The first thing Cyndee and I did post hike was take showers. I took the longest hotest shower I could. I shaved everything that needs shaving. Leg hair and armpit hair were way longer than they have ever been in my life. I washed my hair twice to get it clean and used conditioner. It felt amazing.. To my surprise as soon  I get out of the shower I noticed my fingernails were clean. I think scrubbing my hair so many times got them clean. It seemed like a miracle.

We spent the rest of the day trying to find an apple store for Cyndee and finding food. We went out around Kathmandu with Vincent and Louis that evening. It was a pretty good day but I was ready to go home. That night I slept amazing. I slept 12 hours and think I could have slept longer. My body was so tired.

We had an easy morning and then caught a taxi to the Buddhanhath Temple. We explored and killed some time here.

It was pretty we were just so tired and ready to be home. After the temple we shooed around our hotel and found a really good pizza place for dinner. The next day we had to kill half a day before our flight. We stayed close to the hotel. We were eager to get home. The flight home was sooooo long but we made it. I have never been so happy to see Moki and my house and America.

The trip to Nepal was amazing and I loved it. It was everything I hoped it would be and such a cool adventure. I am so glad I made it happen. My life is so different than I ever thought it would be and I am trying to embrace that. Having little adventures occasionally helps me to do that. If you have any urge to go to Everest Base Camp you should just do it you will not be disappointed. If you can go in the spring or October go then. But if you can't go then go in December and just dress warm!

Namche Bazaar to Lukla

The last day of hiking. We were all pretty excited about that. We were going to hike a little over 13 miles. The first half of the day would be more downhill, with some very steep sections, and the second half of the day would be almost all uphill. We would hike from just over 11,000ft to 9,300ft. It was another sunny day on the trail. There were a lot less people and animals now. Most people had left for the winter. Tour groups usually take off January and February and so even the villagers head to Kathmandu for the winter if they can. We hiked without jackets and as long as were moving we were good. I will say it was chilly. You could feel the chill in the winter air but as we moved we were fine, especially when going uphill. I definitely prefer the uphill to the downhill.

Leaving Namche the trail was so so so steep. It did not seem that steep going up but it was a steep downhill.

Crossing the highest suspension bridge on the trek one last time!

 You can see the bridges in the background. There is a lower one, that is the old one, the higher one is the one that is currently used.

 This is what all the posters looked like carrying our stuff. Such a heavy load.

The views were stunning.

We were pretty excited when we finally saw the from the start of the trek!!!!!!

I was so happy to be at the end of the trek. I loved the trek but it is always nice when you finish. Goal accomplished.

 We got back to Lukla pretty early because the only break we took was lunch. Our poor guide kept telling us we should rest and we were all in go mode. Get us back to Lukla!

One last tea house to sleep in. This one was more like a hotel. Definitely much nicer.

 Last dinner together. I feel like I really lucked out with our group. They were all great!

 Some views from Lukla.

 There are no vehicles in Lukla so a traffic jam is caused by animals.

 This is a place where you can stock up on gear before you start hiking if you need to.

Tomorrow when we fly out will be our earliest morning. We will leave the tea house at 6:30am to go catch our flight. I can't wait to take a shower and wash my hair. I slept pretty great and it was a lot warmer so that was good too.

Dingboche to Namche Bazaar

It is truly incredible how much better your body feels when you start going down. I think because the uphill is so gradual I didn't notice how hard it was to breathe and walk. We descended so much faster and so the difference was very noticeable. Going down felt so good. The first day of downhill was all downhill. My calves were sore from Dingboche to Namche because of all the downhill the day before. Luckily we had lots of uphill and downhill this hiking day. We were cruising. We hiked really fast and didn't need any breaks even after the long and steep uphills. Our bodies were responding great to the lower elevation. I hiked most the day with just a long sleeve shirt which was really nice as well. We hiked almost 14 miles this day. We went from 14,468ft to 11,154ft. Although there was a lot more change in elevation because of the terrain. We hiked for seven hours. That is including stopping for lunch and snacks and pictures.

The day was beautiful. We left Dingboche and followed the Khumba river most of the day.

 Lots of Stupa's along the way.

We stopped in Tengboche for lunch.

I did have to put on my coat when we stopped. It is so cold if you aren't moving. Lunch would be the last of our really great Everest views

One more group shot in Tengboche in front of the Monastery.

Lots of farmlans at the base of Ama Dablam.

 Following this beautiful river makes the hike so enjoyable.

We got to Namche Bazaar pretty early. We went out into the village in hopes of finding a cafe or bakery that was warm. No such luck. That place is seriously so cold and with the no fire rule it is a little rough. We were happy to get the same room we had before. We really liked our room. We were also back to having a bathroom in suite which is amazing. At this point in the trip I was ready to be done. We had been hiking for 10 straight days with no rest. My body was ready for a break. The last two days had been lots of miles. I was also soooooooo ready to wash my hair and take a bath. My fingernails were so disgusting. I honestly didn't think they would ever come clean again. I slept great and was ready for the last day of hiking!

Gorakshep to Dingboche

So we were supposed to wake up at 5am and summit Kala Patthar before heading to Dingboche. That would have meant waking up at 5am, hiking in -20 degrees Fahrenheit, wearing a head lamp, and going straight uphill. Everyone in our group decided it wasn't worth it. Too dark and too cold. It was funny of the 30 or so people staying in our tea house only two people decided to summit Kala Patthar. I think if it had been warmer I would have done it but at this point in the journey i had no interest. So we got to sleep in and not worry about breakfast until 8am. That was nice. It was also great because today would be all downhill!!!!! We started the morning off with a herd of yaks!

The yaks and naks have the most beautiful area to roam.

This was a day of absolute amazing views. over and over all day I could not believe how beautiful the Himalayas are.

 Hiking down is so much easier at the high elevation.

With every step you get more oxygen and your start to feel great again.

 My team looks so little in the midst of all the giant mountains.

 Following my people.

 The VIEWS!

 I love me some cairns.

 It's me.

 It was exciting as we got closer to Dingboche. We ended up on the ridge we hiked for our acclimatization hike days before.

 More flags and cairns.

 We are almost to our bed for the night.

 The clear sky and the mountains are the best. This picture is crazy because I am taking a picture of a very tall mountain but I am standing at 15,000ft. It is so crazy to think how high the mountain are.

 We had heard multiple trekkers talk about the cafe in Dingboche. They mentioned that it had free wifi and the best treats on the trek. We couldn't wait to try it.

It definitely looked more western. It also had the best hot chocolate on the trek. I meant to bring hot chocolate and totally spaced it. It was soo disappointing every time I tried to order it. I finally stopped trying. Dingboche had good hot chocolate.

 We hung out t the cafe until dinner time and then walked back in the dark on very frozen paths. It was a fun evening and nice to meet new people at the cafe.

It was also New Years Eve. Our team was the only group at the tea house so we were able to hang out by the fire and enjoy the evening. They refueled the fire for New Years Eve. That was awesome. We visited and hung out until we couldn't stay awake any longer. I think that was probably between 9:30 and 10.

Hiking downhill had been pretty easy. I could tell my calves were going to be sore but I was excited to be back at 14,000 ft and breathing a little easier.