Dulce Vida

Absolutely nothing could have dragged me out of bed. My first day of freedom from responsibilities….I blissfully slept for 12 hours. Vaguely aware of the banging on the door, someone trying to remind me of my surf lesson, then the maid coming by 3 times to try and clean my room, and then a voice outside my door telling me to either shut my window or turn off the AC in my room, and barely noticing the frog that was sitting at the foot of my bed staring at me….as i drifted back off to sleep. Add this to the fact that all I currently have in my possession is a pair of long jeans (which Id cut into shorts by the time my luggage arrived 2 days later), running shoes, a tank top, and a sweatshirt, and its probably 100 degrees outside with humidity…I have no desire to leave my cold room and the comfort of a bed.

9:40pm and my flight begins its descent into Liberia airport, Costa Rica. For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing a plane ride was actually longer. Fear and self doubt set in, along with a sense of vulnerability…. im in a foreign country, no knowledge of the local language, no structured itinerary or plan (no excel sheets of to-do lists which had become my life back home), no direct deposit checks appearing into my bank account bi weekly, and 4 months worth of all my possessions stuffed into a backpack. A backpack I quickly learn, as the luggage carousal comes to a halt, has not made it with me to Costa Rica. Approaching the young gal at the “service desk” to tell her of my predicament, smiling, she proceeds to hand me a 2 page form, entirely in spanish. In broken english, she instructs me to fill it out, and “es posible” my luggage will turn up in “dos o tres dias”. With the help of my diccionario espanol, and the gals genuine attempt at helping me translate it, I complete the form. As I walk away, a highly pierced and full body tattoed guy standing nearby, who’d overheard my exchange with the gal, approaches to tell me he owns several properties just 45 minutes north of LIberia, and there are many women staying there who would be able to lend me some clothes if id like. Kindly refusing, I shuffle off to find my shuttle.

Only 3 of us made it to the summit, the others had descended back down due to altitude complications…..dizziness, vomitting, extreme lethargia, hyperventilation, disorientation, etc…..
We reached an elevation just above Base Camp…..18,898 feet:)

Today we started our descent ….I will be among civilization – and at normal oxygen levels- by saturday

Words in an email or pictures from my camera wouldnt do justice to the extraordinary journey ive been through on Everest, and the people from across the globe, whom ive met here on these remote mountains…..
snapshot moments:
*4:30am trek over endless expanse of glaciers as far as the eye can see…moonlight and headlamp providing sole source of light on our path
* subfreezing temperatures…..sleeping in fleece, thermals and gortex…..inside a sleeping bag WITH a fleece lining
* Bouldering over Cho La pass (17, 779 ft elevation! – No classes at presidio gym could have prepared me for climbing at that altitude…if i wasnt religious before, i certainly became religious that morning)
* Witnessing an avalanche…. (should i finish my porridge or run for my life….ummmm, run!)
* 80yr old monk taking hold of my hand in front of the monestary, and in total silence for 2 hrs, sitting watching the clouds sweep in, and scoop up the tiny villlage of Thame below
* Trekking Base camp, Kala Pattar, and now Debouche with 19 british marines who have just returned from Afghanistan, and are all wounded in some way (gun shot injuries, partial paralysis, mental disturbances, etc…) trekking everest is part of theyre reassimilation and rehabilitation ….they’ve been incredibly inspirational
* Getting pulled under a boulder on Renjo La Pass (an 800ft cliffside we were climbing over) by my French savior, seconds before the thundering noise of a rock slide comes crashing down around us…. (my dad & rest of our grp witnessed whole thing from bottom of cliff…. they were horrified….apparently all you could see was rubble and boulders flying down the mountain at death defying speed towards us)

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Spectacular dosnt even begin to describe the overwhelming beauty and magnitude of Everest. Today we reached 11 000 feet… in the last village (namche bazaar) that we will come across for the remainder of the trek (trekking till oct 23rd). its a tiny little village with a cyber cafe, surrounded by snow capped mountains, sitting in its own total solitude. (other than the sounds of rescue helicopters overhead, and the yaks with ringing bells around theyre necks)… its the last ‘semi civilized’ overnight stay (our showers have consisted of a bucket with boiled water that you wash up in).
When we reached about 9000 feet, temperatures dropped significantly, and the high elevation, coupled with 6-8 hours of ascending directly upwards daily, definitely started to become challenging. but the views…..breathtakingly magnificent. A sense of peaceful spirituality overwhelms you up here. Our first glimpse of Mt everest left me speechless for an hour, in awe, and overcome with emotion.
Our group consists of a sherpa trek leader, my dad, me, and 6 wonderful guys from england
At sunrise tmrw, we continue to ascend upwards, into frigid temperatures, and without any further mode of communication with the outside world available to us, lost in the mountains…..until we descend back down on Oct 23rd.
So until then, my friends, wish us luck….
Namaste
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