Remeberance Day

The splendour of Mount Everest behind one of our poppies that we placed up on Gokyo Ri (5,340m) with all the prayer flags, having observed a two minute silence.

Arrived in Gokyo

So after leaving the main Everest trail we have been slowly trekking and acclimatising for the past three days and yesterday arrived at the village of Gokyo (4,800m).
If anyone is thinking of trekking in the Everest region the Gokyo valley is worth a visit: the scenery is fantastic, it feels like you're entering the mountains and you escape the crowds heading backward and forward to Everest base camp.

On the way up to Goyko we stopped at a village called Machhermo. This village has a Rescue Post and Porter Shelter manned by volunteers from International Porter Protection Group and Community Action Nepal. Certainly worth a visit. The people there are very friendly and give daily informative talks on Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) awareness.
Anyway, today is a rest day and this evening we're planning on trekking up Gokyo Ri  (5,357m) to see the sunset over the summit of Everest.
Tomorrow we head across the glacier to Thangnag before trekking over the Cho La Pass to rejoin the everest trail.
So far so good.

View of Cho-Oyu from Gokyo village.

Ama Dablam - first views

Leaving Namche and our last postcard opportunity, we followed a winding path contouring past Tenzing Norgay's memorial and a few Yak trains to the Ama Dablam View Lodge. Here we stayed for a rest day at 3650m but made a day excursion to Kumjung (3950m) for more conditioning. Our first views of Ama and Everest are breathtaking but we are feeling ever more confident about technical aspects of the climb.

Arrived in Namche Bazaar

We had a lovely walk up to Namche through pineforests and along the river. Last night we stopped in Monjo.  We had an exciting flight to Lukla, though we spent an hour stood out on the tarmac waiting to get on the plane.  Lukla has a very short runway and I'm sure the pilot did a handbrake turn at the end!

Good morning from Kathmandu

Arrived safe and sound. Bags all present and correct and only £80 in excess luggage charges.
Today we have been sorting out with the Sirdar and the agent...... which has involved handing over large bundles of cash (all a bit gangster) followed by shopping (and shedding more cash) and soaking up the Kathmandu vibe.
Kathmandu is pretty chilled with a mountain town atmosphere ....but watch out for the motorbikes running over your toes,snakes' wedding power grid and sunken manholes....

Fundraising target reaches 10%

Firstly a big THANKYOU to everyone who has kindly donated and supported us to raise money for Help for Heroes and The Cumbria Legacy Group.  We have recently just reached 10% of our target to raise £6,856 for these two great causes!

If you would like to help us support these charities, please visit our just giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/teams/amadablam14

As training for the event is starting to come together; I (John) entered the Rab Mountain Marathon over the weekend to rack up two good hill days in the final rundown before we set off on the expedition.  A two day race where competitors carry everything they need to be self-sufficient in the hills and an overnight camp for two days of running between a series of checkpoints.  Overall it was a cracking weekend with friends and the weather just about held off.  The most reassuring thing being my legs feeling reasonably fresh on Monday morning (or as fresh as they can be), giving a fair bit of confidence in the amount of training gone into preparing for the trip.

 

Now onto the last bits of prep pulling all the kit together, jabs and sorting the visas…

The Itinerary

As our departure date of the 1st November is fast approaching, our plans are also beginning to come together. Below is a draft of our itinerary we are intending to follow. However as with most plans, this is what we are aiming for, but of course this is flexible to allow for: weather, acclimatisation, conditions, etc.

• Day 1 (2nd November) = Arrive KTM
• Day 2 = Sightseeing / last minute prep
• Day 3 = Fly to Lukla. Trek to Phak Ding or Monjo
• Day 4 = Trek to Namche
• Day 5 = Acclimatisation walk. 2nd night at Namche or around the corner at Kyanjuma
• Day 6 = Trek to Dole
• Day 7 = Trek to Machermo
• Day 8 = Trek to Gokyo
• Day 9 = Acclimatisation day. 2nd night at Gokyo
• Day 10 = Trek to Tagnag
• Day 11 = Trek over the Cho La to Dzongla
• Day 12 = Trek to Dingboche
• Day 13 = Trek to Chukkung
• Day 14 = Trek to IP BC
• Day 15 = Ascend IP
• Day 16 = Spare day
• Day 17 = Trek to Dingboche
• Day 18 = Trek to Ama BC
• Day 19 = Rest day
• Day 20-26 = Period to climb Ama Dablam
• Day 27 = Trek to Kyanjuma
• Day 28 = Trek to Lukla
• Day 29 = Fly KTM
• Day 30 = Depart KTM

Well thats the plan anyway...