Khunde Peak

I will say I'm going to have to get creative for the next couple weeks. At this point I think I can say that I have settled in. Essentially, we have about two more weeks of testing after which the lab will close and a few of our team will go romping in the wilderness for a few days - peak bagging and all that - at the end of which I'll have a whole ton of great pics as I return home. In the meantime, the anticipation makes it hard to find Namche quite as blog-worthy.

Don't get me wrong, the area remains incredible - spring is springing with flowers and butterflies, the bouldering is good and hard, the groups that trek through are tons of fun, and new friends and faces continue to be a highlight. Still, Namche is starting to feel like a home away from home and I wouldn't blog about watching Hulu and eating artichokes on the couch, which is a favorite pastime of mine when I am at home. Now I've made myself hungry for artichokes so I'll distract my senses with some great photos from yesterday:

Helicopter landing at Syangboche airstrip

After seeing a wonderful Trek H group off, Tom, Willem, and myself set our sights on a beautiful ridge that purportedly has a monument to Sir Edmund Hillary as well as his daughter and first wife who were tragically killed in a plane crash outside of Kathmandu in 1975. The ridgeline rises above the village of Khunde, where Hillary was very important and influential - building a hospital and a school. It is well off the beaten path and seemed the perfect objective for semi-permanent residents such as ourselves. The ridge can be seen in the distance with a few sharp shoulders just below the heli in the photo above.

Tom G and Willem, AKA the Belgian Bear - with Namche in the background and the airstrip in the top left

 Unfortunately, the views were a bit obscured by the haze from controlled forest burns which happen down the valley near Lukla this time every year, but it didn't harsh the vibe in the least. Once we passed a few yaks loitering in the grazing pastures below, we didn't see a single soul on the ridge.

I think this is where they killed Aslan

About 3/4 of the way up the ridge, we found a nice little lunching spot with walls, benches and a nice table around 4100 meters. We were here in about 90 minutes which means that if we wanted to sleep higher for some acclimatization and we had a tarp for covering the space between the low walls and the table... Lab duties mean we can't sleep away often so I'm not saying it's going to happen, just food for thought...

Lots of prayers

The ridge must mean quite a bit to the people of Khunde because the ridgeline was covered with small Buddhist rock monuments called "stupas" and countless prayer flags - some of which stretched a couple hundred feet between high points on the ridgeline. In the photo above, the ridgeline continues on to a peak that is famously unclimbable. The story goes that after climbing Everest and gaining both friend and hero status among the Sherpas of the area, Sir Edmund Hillary wanted to climb the peak. The Sherpas asked him not to do so out of the reverence they had for the particular mountain. He paid their request no bother and gave it the ol' college try, returning unsuccessful with a broken leg - how's that for Kharma?

Monument to the Sir Edmund and his wife and daughter with the Unclimbable Peak in background

In only two hours we were on the top of the peak enjoying a nice Snickers with the wind in our hair (my hair definitely catches the most wind) and not a care in the world (except how to get down).

Not exactly a US Geological Survey Marker, but much easier to read

For good measure (and because we already told the lodge we wouldn't be back for lunch) we decided to make it a round trip by following the ridge as far as possible before finding a trail to turn back towards Khunde. Further along the ridge we had some incredible views down the opposite face over exposed cliffs towards a valley that crosses between Thamo and Machermo.

Another rare sighting of the Belgian Bear

From one of the last shoulders we spotted what appeared to be a trail heading straight back down to Khunde. When we arrived we found that it was not a trail but rather a trench that has been dug, probably to bury utility lines or water (although where they were taking the utilities is anyone's guess, it seemed like the middle of nowhere). Still, the trench served as a general direction for a nice steep bushwack down past a few wandering yaks into Khunde.

A good reference view at the end of the ridge: Khunde in the foreground transitioning to Khumjung further down. Just right of center is the trail that leads from Khunde back to airstrip at top right

Once we were down the descent to Namche was quick and the kitchen was kind enough to heat up some potatoes for us to hold us over until dinner. With no treks in the house, we had a special dinner with more fried Momos than you can shake a stick at, a movie on the big projector, and a bedtime snack of some phenomenal cheese brought to us from the UK (yaks are pretty solid porters, but their cheese is the pits). All in all, it was quite a day off. Today the sun is shining and trek G arrives just after lunch which means we've got just a couple hours to squeeze in some bouldering. Thanks for stopping by!

Namaste