Entries By jess wedel

Hello!

Today we spent a full day at Everest Base Camp. How cool is that!

After coffee and a big ‘ol breakfast everyone that wanted was able to take a hot shower. The sun was blasting and it was such a treat. The Lobuche climbing team met together to talk about our plan for the next few days while everyone else relaxed and took in the views. Before we knew it, it was lunch time! 

Right after lunch we all headed into the lower Khumbu Icefall where the climbing team got to practice ascending and rappelling on the ice. Everyone did awesome and we are even more excited about the climb. We all headed back to camp to pack and prepare for our base camp departure before dinner. 

Tomorrow, we will go our separate ways. The trekkers will head downhill and fly to Kathmandu, the Lobuche climbers will head to high camp. But tonight we cheered with one last cup of hot tea to this incredible adventure, the warmth of the Sherpa people inviting us into their lives and mountains, and to 12 strangers becoming new companions. 

We are sending lots of love to our friends and family at home and can't wait to share more with you all soon.

RMI Guide Jess Wedel, Sam Marjerison, and the base camp team.

Namaste everyone!

We did it! Everyone successfully made it to Everest Base Camp on our most beautiful day yet! We started this morning once the sun hit the trail and walked for about three hours - taking in the incredible views, the warmth from the sun and stopping for photos every chance we could get. It’s no secret we haven’t had perfect weather this trip but it’s shifting and today it was extraordinary. Sunshine, no clouds, views for days as we looked up at Everest, Nuptse and Pumori. We weaved in and out on the edge of the Khumbu Glacier and eventually arrived at our incredible base camp.

We had a delicious lunch of warm soup followed by a huge plate of food. We settled into our tents after lunch. The tent platforms are chopped into the ice and rock. It’s a pretty amazing sight. We are SO close to the edge of the lower Khumbu icefall we can touch it. This afternoon, we took in the views, felt the intensity of the sun heat up our tents and just took a few hours to enjoy all the effort it took to get here. Our camp is surrounded by mountains and glaciers everywhere you look and it all feels like a dream. We are about to eat a hearty dinner and everyone is looking forward to some sound sleep before we get to spend tomorrow exploring the area around us a little more.

There’s no wifi or service here at base camp so don’t be worried if you don’t hear from loved ones until we make it back down the valley. Everyone is doing well.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the Everest Base Camp crew

We made it to Gorekshep — our last stop until Base Camp. Wahoo!!

We started the day with some affirmations sent from home (shout out to Heather! We are LOVING all the little surprises) and decided our motto for the day was “Be Happy. Shine bright. Dream big.”

After days on the trail and as our bodies are working hard to adapt to these altitudes, little reminders to keep a positive attitude and hold fast to our dreams is so important. We walked slow and steady today focusing on each breath. Deep breath in, out, pressure breath, pressure breath, deep breath and repeat. After all this time at high altitude we have learned how much this helps as we go into thinner air. This team is STRONG and after a few hours we made it to Gorekshep.

We warmed up with lemon ginger honey tea and RaRa soup before some of us ventured to the top of Kala Patthar, a climb just outside of Gorekshep, reaching over 18,500 feet. The rest of us stayed warm in the teahouse dining room while playing cards and telling stories. The daily afternoon clouds moved in but the Kala Patthar crew still got some epic Everest views.

We’re off to sleep and can’t wait for what tomorrow holds!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

All is well on the trek!

Today we left Pheriche and hiked further up the valley to Lobuche. One highlight of the day was crossing the terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier. A moraine is a mass of rocks and sediment carried down by a glacier. Some of the white rock we walked across is millions of years old! 

The second highlight of today was stopping at the Climber’s Memorial at the top of Thukla Pass. It’s a humbling place to be with over 100 memorials of climbers who have lost their lives in the mountains. With the misty clouds moving through and the many prayers flags surrounding the memorial stones, it was surreal. After leaving the memorial, we carried on a gentle trail leading us to Lobuche at nearly 16,200 feet.

We were greeted with warm tea and veg fried potatoes for a late lunch. We also got to share a masala tea with our porters and Sherpa guides. We could not do this trip without them and it was a special day for us all to get to sit down together. We spent the afternoon resting and enjoying good conversation with our team. All while cuddled up next to the warm stove and in our puffy pants! It’s a chilly night in Lobuche but we’re all happy to be here and be healthy.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the base camp crew

Hello to everyone at home!

Today we had a rest day in Pheriche.

A few of us went on a lovely walk through the village (making sure to stop at the bakery, of course!), some hiked a little ways up the hill behind the village and the Lobuche climbers went to the top of Nangkartshang Peak reaching over 16,600 feet.

Whatever we chose to do, we all got better acclimatized to the altitude before we head higher tomorrow. This team made smart decisions about what their body needed to keep our goals of Everest Base Camp and Lobuche Peak in mind and that’s what any guide likes to see.

We all made it back in time for lunch together at the teahouse enjoying warm rara soup and heaping plates of french fries!

We spent the afternoon having coffee in the warm sunroom, working on puzzles, and even doing a little harness and ascender demonstration for the Lobuche climbing team.

We had a lively dinner followed by some cribbage and Uno. We’re all tucked into our warm sleeping bags with hot water bottles keeping our toes warm and looking forward to our hike to Lobuche tomorrow.

RMI Guide Jess, Sam and team

Namaste Everyone,

We woke up this morning to sunshine and beautifully clear skies. From our dining room window, we had views of Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. We’ve settled into our daily routine of getting up, packing our duffel bags and heading to breakfast where we have all found an affinity for Tibetan bread with honey - it’s delicious warm fried bread (think funnel cake) and we have made it our mission to review every Tibetan bread in the valley. We’ll let you know which one we think is best!

After breakfast, we head outside, determine which layers to wear for the day, put on sunscreen and our buffs over our mouth and nose to protect us from that cold, dry air. Once on the trail, we do our best to maintain a nice, steady pace, with stops every hour or so to stay hydrated and take in the insane views. There haven’t been too many other hikers on the trail but we are constantly navigating yak trains moving up and down.

Our mantra of today as we moved to nearly 14,000 feet was “I’m strong like a yak”.  We hiked for a little over five hours to get to our tea house in Pheriche and everyone did great. We’re looking forward to spending two nights here as we let our bodies acclimate before moving higher.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and the base camp crew

After dinner, a few of us sat around the dining table and I asked, “what was the highlight of your day?” And the answer was “walking through the pine trees in a cloud.” Someone else chimed in that they agreed because “everything seemed very peaceful.”

We had another big day - leaving Namche and heading toward Tengboche. Climbing up to the top of Namche and turning the corner on the trail to views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam was remarkable. We had intermittent clouds this morning but the mountains continued to peek through as we moved along the trail. This is one of my favorite trekking days because the views are endless. We stopped for as many photos as possible because we knew the clouds would settle in by the afternoon.

Just before lunch, we headed back down a big hill toward the river and lo and behold we saw a large group of Himalayan tahr - a type of mountain goat. They were so curious looking at us looking at them with tilted heads and calm eyes. After lunch, we had two more hours of uphill. Everyone did excellent even as the clouds socked in and it began to snow. Before we knew it we were in Tengboche, dawning all the layers we brought to try to stay warm and dry.

We were able to have a very special blessing by the llama at the monastery and spend some time listening to their afternoon meditations and prayers.

Now, we are all tucked into our sleeping bags with hot water bottles right next to us. We are staying at a beautiful teahouse called Rivendell and being taken such good care of. It was a special day today and we are so thankful for the people of the Khumbu valley opening their hearts and homes.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam, and team

Hello again!

It was an incredible day here in the Khumbu Valley. We woke up to blue skies and sunshine beaming in our windows. It was such a welcome surprise after a few days of rain.  We quickly ate breakfast so we could get outside for some views of the great ones. We had a “choose your own adventure” day — some of the team climbed to Everest View Hotel while some of us walked to the Sherpa Culture Museum. No matter how we spent our active rest day - we all got to see MOUNT EVEREST!  And boy, was she showing off. It was more beautiful than could ever be captured in pictures and a moment none of us will soon forget. Being surrounded at every turn with towering mountains makes you feel small in the very best way.

We all met back up for lunch just as the clouds rolled in. We spent the afternoon wandering the endless shops of Namche, picking up little treasures and learning more about the Sherpa culture.  It’s been a bit colder than normal so we opted to get down puffy pants. We are happy to have these as we go higher and an added benefit is the highlighter yellow, blue and red makes it nearly impossible to lose each other.  Another day comes to an end here in Nepal and we are all refreshed and ready to keep climbing towards our goal.

Sending lots of love and hugs to our family and friends back home. 

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

PC: Jess Wedel

“We look like a bag of skittles,” Jenell said as we started our morning leaving Phakding.

It had rained all night and the colors surrounding the Dudh Khosi River were saturated. Amongst them our bright rain shell jackets and pants seemed especially loud.

Did we stop at the bakery just a few minutes outside our teahouse? Yes. Yes, of course we did! Pockets filled with pastries we made our way to the base of the Namche hill. It stayed cloudy and  drizzled on us as we officially entered Sagarmatha National Park and soon took a quick break for lunch. The drizzle turned to a full-on rain as we stood at the base of the hill looking up at the Hillary Bridge. We got in formation, one step, and then another right behind the person in front of us. Taking deep breaths and climbing steadily. The rain didn’t let up and the mud was epic but this team stayed positive and many laughs were had along the way.  We stood to the side of the trail as the train of mules slipped and slid their way past us. We listened for their bells to know when they were coming.  The rain turned to a quiet snow as we hummed along those final few hundred vertical feet to Namche.

Namche Bazaar, the city on a hill. Somehow made even more magical covered in a dusting of fresh snow. What a place! We climbed a little higher through town to our teahouse, Camp de Base, and were greeted with big pots of hot chocolate and popcorn. What a day!

One of our Sherpa guides, Dawa, said to me this evening, “this is a strong team” and I couldn’t agree more. Conditions were tough on an already hard day and everybody absolutely crushed it. We are one step closer to our goal but very much looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team

P.S. Diane, we miss you!

Hello from our teahouse in Phakding!

At 3:45am, our alarms went off and we woke up - ready with our duffel bags and all the excitement (and maybe some nerves) for our flight to Lukla.  Everything went smoothly and we were first in line at the airport. After security checkpoints and the duffle shuffle, we were called to board our plane. It was a little cloudy out so we crossed our fingers it was clear in Lukla! And boy, was it our lucky day.  We made it in and we were one of the only flights that did.

We were so excited to finally be hiking, the trails were quiet and the clouds hung around to keep the temperature perfectly cool. We meandered down the path, passing ancient mani stones and crossing our first suspension bridges. After three hours, we made it to Phakding! Our home for the night. Warm RaRa soup (the Nepal version of a hearty ramen) filled our bellies and we spent the afternoon resting to the sounds of the Dudh Khosi river out our windows.

All is well and everyone is doing great!

RMI Guides Jess, Sam and team