Snowbird, Utah for Botany & Mycology 2009 - my last day here

I'm heading home this morning, one day before the conference ends. That's the problem with timing I have given the travel time and the Dublin Irish Festival this weekend. Next year looks to be the same or even worse timing - depends on when the festival weekend will be.

At any rate, yesterday was a very full, but productive day. I chaired the morning session on Lamiales and Gesneriales. It was a great session with a lot of good talks, including the one by my co-author on the Penstemon low-copy nuclear gene phylogeny. A quick break for lunch and then I had a talk scheduled in another great session on hybridization and speciation questions. My talk went well, which is always nice, but I have to admire Pam Soltis for her amazing handling of the technical difficulties that resulted in her slides not working. She was talking on the polyploidy of European Tragopogans and her slides just quit changing (Mac incompatibilities with the equipment in use). She was calm and collected and just did the talk sans slides. I know she thinks it was a disaster, but it came across as an amazing display of professionalism. Kudos, Pam.

The genomics talks were interesting. I'm not in that field of systematics, but I sure do appreciate the results of the investment NSF has made into those projects. I also enjoyed meeting Ken Wolfe, the Karling lecture speaker. He talked about genomics of yeast - another topic far afield from my work, but I'm interested in how others are mining the huge genomic databases that are now available.

Genomics is a field of study where whole genomes (all the DNA in the nucleus and organelles) are being sequenced. The information is analyzed for content - genes, repetitive DNA elements, control regions, etc. and the data are deposited into databases that are available for everyone to use. There's a whole new field of science called bioinformatics, which involves the mining of those databases.

I think most people have heard of the human genome project. It's that investment in science that has led to a cost-effective way of sequencing the genomes of other animals, plants, fungi, and microbes. We're learning so much about how life evolved and how it 'works' in terms of development and growth of the organism, and the timing and location of gene expression that makes it all happen. It's a fascinating area of science all on its own, but its particularly interesting in the comparative framework of evolutionary biology.

I also enjoyed visiting with students who did their PhDs with me and are now out on their own, training the next generation of scientists. I'm an academic grandmother and all of my 'progeny' have been pretty impressive. That's a great feeling, to know that I've contributed to our knowledge base through my career as a scientist. It's also incentive to stay current with what's going on in my field - it changes so rapidly. Genomics wasn't even a word when I started coming to these annual meetings in the late 1980's and now this field of study dominates funding priorities and research in systematics. Pretty amazing.

Ok, this 'interlude' is done and I'll resume my Nepal trek posts later in the week. Then I'll have another interlude for the Dublin Irish Festival - coming this weekend. One of the biggest and best in the world - don't miss it!

Snowbird, Utah for Botany & Mycology 2009 meeting - day 2

Yesterday was very, very busy, but also very productive. I have to confess that I honestly did not want to take the time to come to this meeting for a variety of reasons. First, the timing of this meeting is really awful for me, personally. This coming weekend is the Dublin Irish Festival and having to take four days out of my schedule ahead of the biggest gig of the year for Aisling is a real pain. Second, I've felt disconnected for the past couple of years and really didn't think I would be comfortable back in the thick of things. Third, I've been away from home way too much this year already.

Thus, I had a lousy attitude going in, but the first day of the meeting was a tonic of sorts. I had some fantastic conversations, received some invitations to do seminar visits, plus the start of a new collaboration. All those things are what these meetings are about, plus getting to sit in on some great talks and see where the cutting edge in my field is at the moment.

So, let that be a lesson to be learned - just do it!

One of the highlights from yesterday was a talk given by Noel Holmgren of the New York Botanical Garden. He presented an overview and history of the Intermountain Flora and I truly enjoyed seeing the slides of Art Cronquist, Art Holmgren, Jim Reveal and Noel and Pat in the field, plus the amazing landscapes of the intermountain flora region. It's such a fantastic project that was conceived seven decades ago.

ps - the scenery here isn't hard on the eyes, either.

Snowbird, Utah for Botany & Mycology 2009 meeting

My Nepal posts will be interrupted for this brief interlude to my annual scientific conference. I'm in Snowbird, Utah for the Botany & Mycology 2009 meeting. Snowbird is a lovely setting for a meeting; a ski resort with the conference center sitting at 8,100 feet. The top of the resort is at 11,000 feet, I think. It must be higher than the mountain I'm looking at from my room, because the tramway goes up and over that spot.

Here's a picture of my view, taken with my cell phone.



I'm watching the sun work it's way down from the peak this morning, so my view is to the east.

I arrived mid-afternoon yesterday and it was pretty hot outside. I enjoyed watching ground squirrels on the grass - they must have dens in the slope down to the stream. There are a lot of plants in bloom up here as well and I photographed a couple of different Penstemons yesterday in the calm air at dusk.

I went to the Plenary lecture, given by Nancy Turner, on the ethnobotany of Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples. It was pretty interesting and I learned a lot of new things about the use of plants in those cultures. The mixer was afterwards - well attended, but I never enjoy those kinds of things. I don't know why I haven't developed a social ability after all these years in academia, but I'm always uncomfortable in a mixer setting. I need to bring Emma, my miniature dachshund - that would make it bearable. She doesn't have any trouble approaching strangers and distant acquaintances for some social interactions.




Doesn't this picture just scream, "Love me! I'm adorable!" ?







One thing I didn't know about Snowbird is that the bird doesn't go for the early worm around here. This place is shut tight until 7 am. That's pretty hard for an early riser on east coast time, especially with it not getting light until well after 6 am. Oh well - off to my first session this morning. Should be an interesting couple of days for the beginning of this week and then the Dublin Irish Festival is next weekend.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 15, Climbing Kala Patthar

Today was the big day - our climb of Kala Patthar. We headed up the mountain after breakfast in the tea house. That was an adventure all in itself because a pony came in the back door and walked down the hallway. The Sherpas chased it back outside before its pal could come in and do the same. That would have been even more exciting - two ponies in the tea house.

Gorak Shep sits atop the lateral moraine on the western side of the Khumbu glacier. On the western edge of the moraine is a dry lake bed, so you have to climb down the moraine to the lake bed and then start climbing Kala Patthar. You can probably see the circle there that's demarcated by a stone ring. That's the cricket pitch for Gorak Shep. It's beyond my ken how anyone would have the breath to run around at this elevation to play cricket or football, but, then, I'm a lowlander living at 900 ft elevation. Gorak Shep is at 16,990 ft.

The first pitch up the mountain is a bit steep and so you gain elevation rather quickly. I took a series of photos of our campsite at Gorak Shep. This village used to be Everest Base Camp, but now is a seasonal village that caters to climbers and trekkers.

Our line of green tents is out behind our teahouse (off to the right, just out of the frame of this image). There's a blue toilet tent just up the hill from our tents. We usually had an outhouse or an inside squat toilet at the tea houses, but the staff always dug a trench for a toilet tent as well. At some of our camps, this was the most luxurious and clean spot to do your business. The hole was covered up with the dirt removed for the trench as we broke camp, but I wondered if there was more to the clean-up since the outhouses compost human waste for the fields where crops are grown. One can imagine that there would be an incredible amount of sewage to deal with each climbing and trekking season.

We tried to keep together for the first pitch of the climb, but it didn't take long for our group to split up. Monika and Steve ended up going fastest, followed by Thilo, Chris and myself, and then John, Megan and Kyle. These three ended up turning around and returning to camp - altitude was truly a wildcard on this day. Kyle came back later in the day and pushed through to the summit, but paid the price later on. He came back to the tea house totally chilled and sick and slept through tea, dinner and on to the morning. He pretty much laid down on a bench in the tea house and didn't rouse again until the next day. Jon Miller filmed an interview with him, which, if I recall, was pretty incoherent.



Yep, we're getting up there and our camp is disappearing. The view of the Khumbu glacier and the peaks flanking it was stunning. You can see how small Gorak Shep is - just a few buildings.







I think this is the view to the south. I'm not sure what peaks those are.











This is Changtse - the closest peak to Everest on the Tibet side of the border.









Pumo Ri dominated our view as we climbed Kala Patthar. During one of our rest stops we spotted some climbers on their way to the summit, and we found their advance base camp. I wish I had brought my binocular with me to have gotten a better look, but I was trying to keep my pack very light for this climb - only spare layers and water, plus my camera gear.





Gorak Shep has all but disappeared from view at this point, but the Khumbu glacier is there in all its glory. We couldn't have asked for a better morning to climb and to see the mountains.










Aha! Our first glimpse of Everest, up close and personal, just coming above the ridge of Nuptse there in the center.







This landscape inspires one to sit and ponder. Well, actually, the elevation motivates one to sit and rest, but that presents a good opportunity for reflection. I loved it!










Nuptse










There were a lot of huge glaciers coming off the flanks of Nuptse, down to the Khumbu glacier.









Now, this is an ice fall. Those seracs are probably more than 100 ft tall, but it's hard to get a sense of scale without a reference point.










The guy in orange was described as a "crazy man" by Tendi, our lead trail Sherpa. He acted as if he were drunk or high on something.









Another view of the glacier coming off Nuptse. You really have a sense of how glaciers are rivers of ice when you can see one merging into another.






The rocks and boulders capping the Khumbu glacier serve as a reminder of the force of nature to wear away the slopes of these mountains. These Himalayas are the biggest mountains in the world - the result of crashing continents, but they are being brought down before our eyes. To put this in perspective, one has to travel back in geological time about 400 million years, to another era when the Appalachians of North America and the Sperrin Mountains of Northern Ireland were the size of the Himalayas. Anyone familiar with these two mountain ranges (they were connected at the time of their orogeny) will have a hard time imagining that they were mighty giants in their day. Over the course of millions of years, erosion wore them down to the nubs that remain in our day and time.


And there, my friends, is the mother of all mountains - Sagamartha, Chomulungma, Everest - whatever you call it, it's the biggest mountain in the world. From the summit of Kala Patthar, it's still two freakin' miles above your head. I've always wanted to see this with my own eyes, and now this sight is one of my fondest memories.







We had been hearing the roar of avalanches all morning as we climbed, but by the time we heard them, they would already be done. I caught this one early enough that I was able to snap a photo as it was near the bottom of the slide.




The upper third of Kala Patthar is rock, snow and ice - at least it was for us. I'm sure it's just rock later in the season - black rock, the namesake of the mountain. Kala Patthar means "black stone."

Trekking poles came in pretty handy here. At 18,000 feet you take a few steps, breathe hard, say a few choice words, and then go on. This was my biggest challenge, but I decided that I would make it to the top if I just took small steps and took my time. It worked.



The reward is a spectacular view of Pumo Ri, which I forgot to photograph from here, plus Everest and the other big mountains, and Everest Base Camp. It's a sprawling tent city on the western edge of the Khumbu glacier.







Our two Sherpas who assisted us: Pasang Dawa Sherpa and Tendi Sherpa (in the pink hat). Pasang climbed the mountain in just a couple of hours, bringing two hot thermoses of orange drink and wearing pink Crocs sans socks.








Thilo brought a flag from his home town in Germany.










A spectacular view of Everest Base Camp and the Khumbu Ice Fall, which is what the climbers have to negotiate on their climb to advance base camp.









Everest and prayer flags.












The clouds are rolling in, but Everest is still visible above them.









Steve thought it would be neat to play his flute at 18,230 feet - it wasn't all that successful. One has to be able to breathe to play the flute.













I loved Tendi's pink hat - it reminded me of a Smurf's hat, but pink instead of blue.











Steve brought some prayer flags to the summit.









Last view of Everest before the clouds filled in and we headed down to Gorak Shep.









Interesting rocks here - looks like fossils, but aren't.


Here is my blog entry from Gorak Shep: climbing Kala Patthar.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 14, Lobuche to Gorak Shep

Sunrise comes late to the mountains, simply because the Himalayan peaks are so huge. Lobuche is situated in the Khumbu valley, toward the south end of the glacier. The peaks to the east include Nuptse, Lhotse, and Everest. No wonder it's a late sunrise.

We were always awake by 6:00 am with breakfast served at 7 am, and a start time for the trail around 8 am. The first few pictures of this post are from around 7 am. First, a view of our camp.



Ama Dablam with the morning sun ablaze on its summit.











Sunrise over Nuptse. I'm so glad I got to see this sight.










Our "kitchen" - even though we ate inside the tea houses, all of our food was prepared by our team staff and they did this outside or in a side shed at every camp we made.







By the time we finished breakfast, all our tents were packed and our gear was on its way up trail to Gorak Shep.










The last staff members to leave camp were our kitchen boys, cooks and servers. They had to really be fast on their feet, because they had to be at our next stop to prepare lunch before we arrived.







They're so fast that I couldn't get my camera set up to take a proper picture. They pretty much ran out of camp to hit the trail.









One of the Lobuche peaks - not sure if this is the east or west - given the lighting, I'll guess west.









This landscape is pretty much what we had up there on the Khumbu glacial moraine. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks with some patches of soft dirt.









I actually enjoyed the scenery the most of all the places we trekked.











That's Chris Marquardt, front and right. Check out his podcast - Tips from the top floor. Here's a link to the Everest Trek 2009 teaser.








You'd never think that we were walking along a glacier - it looks just like a boulder field. That's the top layer. The ice is below and that rocky ridge is the lateral moraine to the east. We're walking on the western one.









There's a well-worn path to follow - somewhat rocky in places, but easy enough to see on the flats.








As we walk north, Changtse comes into view - that's the peak in the center to the back. It's actually in Tibet, so you can see how close we are to the border.





We had a rest break at a place where there were some memorial cairns. Jon Miller is talking to Apa Sherpa there on the left. Apa has summited Everest more than any other climbing Sherpa or non-Sherpa climber and he was on his way down from Everest for a low-altitude (well, lower altitude compared to base camp) rest break. He summited Everest (his 19th) about a week after we left Nepal. I wish I had thought to have him sign my trekking journal.




I can't believe how lucky we were with the morning weather. The mountains were everything I ever dreamed of - so glorious, so pure, so beautiful, so BIG!!!!!








You don't have a sense of scale from these pictures, but the peaks you can see in them are all over 20,000 feet. The one on the left is Pumo Ri - 23,494 ft.









This is Nuptse - 25,790 feet.











A good view of the Khumbu glacier, flanked by these majestic peaks of the Himalayas.










One of my best Woodcentral sightings pictures - ever!










A glacier coming off the base of Nuptse.











A glacial cirque along one of the flanks of Nuptse.











I had brought the travel section of the Dispatch along for a photo op. We became the subject of an impromptu workshop on the proper use of a reflector. Thilo snapped the picture and a whole lot of others were involved in setting up the reflected lighting.





The birds up at this elevation were very tame. They didn't seem too bothered by humans or yaks and just kind of wandered around us as we were trekking. I need to look up this bird in my Birds of Nepal book - wherever I put that. Hmmmmm - I'm sure there are other things that are misplaced from the trip, too.







You can see where the Khumbu glacier makes the turn, lower left. Everest base camp is just at the edge of the turn.










A good view of Changtse.








The Khumbu glacier. This gives you an idea of the boulder field that caps the glacier. Where the ice has melted you have glacial lakes and erosion caves for runoff. You can see in this picture how much of the glacier has melted - it's dropped about 400 feet there from where it used to be.

Melting of the glaciers will have a severe impact on Nepal and the countries that depend on melt water for their supply of fresh water. It's a sobering reminder of what we're experiencing on a global scale, but there are dire consequences to a large population in this part of the world.


If you click on this picture, you should be able to see the tents of Everest Base camp on the left. EBC is a huge tent city with hundreds of tents from all the expeditions. We're still about a day's hike away (western pace) at this point.









Pumo Ri in all it's glory. The darker peak in front of Pumo Ri is Kala Patthar - at 18,230 feet. More on that in a later post.









Our final rest stop of the day - hot fruit drink and snacks. What a grand place for a picnic, don't you think?










It's so beautiful. The clouds start rolling in after lunch, so it won't be long before the views of the mountains disappear.








The trail becomes a bit more challenging the closer we get to Gorak Shep. Cairns mark the way.







Trekking poles are pretty handy. Steve's front right in this picture, followed by Pasang Sherpa, who is carrying my pack. I was really feeling poorly with my upper respiratory infection. I posted a bit about this day while we were in Nepal. You can read that post here: We're in Gorak Shep.







One more ridge to climb and then we're over into Gorak Shep.







The yak parking lot outside our tea house. It was so nice to come into the tea house and warm up by the yak dung stove. I don't remember much about the afternoon or turning in for the evening. I do remember there was a team of climbers down for a rest break and they were having a good time.

What I remember the most from this evening is that it was very, very cold and the yaks were restless all night. The cacophony of yak bells ringing all night was enough for me to put in ear plugs. I do remember getting a good night's sleep, despite the high elevation and the restless yaks wandering through our camp. We were at 17,000 feet at Gorak Shep - two nights of camping there and some major highlights of the trip to be had - stay tuned for my fun day of climbing Kala Patthar.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 13 - Dingboche to Lobuche

After three nights in Dingboche, an extra night due to heavy snow that kept us from going on to Lobuche, we awoke to beautiful skies and the news that we would be moving on this day.

Before breakfast, I decided that I really needed to get some pictures so I wandered outside the tea house and found this scene. Thilo was doing the same thing, but wanted to come back inside. One of our yaks had different plans.

"Now what do I do?" asked Thilo.

"Wait right there while I get your picture," said I. Now, is that a sign that we were in the middle of a three week photography workshop, or what?




This is the scene from our campsite, looking to the southwest. It was the first glimpse of these snow clad peaks we had during our entire stay in Dingboche.









Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak . . . .









After breakfast it was time to start the trek over the mountain to Lobuche. We would be gaining 1650 ft of elevation. Starting out with blue skies was a good sign, but one has to remember that the weather can change very quickly in the Himalayas of Nepal.




May 14th is Megan's birthday. After John's big to-do we were expecting something similar for Megan, but all was quiet during breakfast. I would have been disappointed if I were Megan, but, other than being a bit on the quiet side, she acted as if everything was a-ok.

We climbed the first ridge, where we had visited the stupas a couple of days earlier, and were on our way down the other side when Sonam, our guide Sherpa, stopped the group and told Megan to look at the hillside. You may have to click on the photo to see the words spelled out in rock on the slope. It says, "Happy Birthday Magan." She has a new nickname now, of course.

It was a lovely surprise and the Sherpa staff members arose very (Very!) early in the morning to pull this off with such efficiency.




I think Megan was very pleased by this surprise. The rocks were still in place when we came back this way about a week later.

L to R: Megan, Jon and Sonam.






Megan with our Sherpa staff. Actually this was a subset of our Sherpas. Tendi, our lead trail Sherpa, learned a couple of days prior that his brother had died up at Everest advance base camp. His brother was advance base camp cook for the Mountain Tribes-supported expedition. Tendi and half a dozen other Sherpas from his village left to quickly fetch the body to take it to Tengboche monastery. We were all very saddened by this news, but the Sherpas look at death very differently than do we. Death is just a part of the wheel of life and the most important thing Tendi could do for his brother was to make sure he was assisted to the next life by the Lama at Tengboche monastery. The group returned to us just a few days later.

The really sad thing about Tendi's brother's death is that it could have been avoided. There was a batch of illegal liquor up on the mountain that was tainted with methanol. His brother died of alcohol poisoning - very, very sad, but, unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence in the region.



The walk over to Lobuche follows a glacial valley flanked by tall mountains. We hiked a ridge on the north side of the valley.

L to R: John Fera, Sonam Sherpa, and Steve Wolfe there in the background.




We were truly in the alpine zone here - small cushion plants and thin air. It was cold, and everyone put on extra layers. We also walked right into the clouds, which gave us some drizzly sleet and then snow.

You can see that some of us, including me, were really feeling the altitude at this point. That plus the various illnesses can take a toll on one's endurance and energy levels.




The slope was generally gentle, but we gained 1,650 ft (500 m) of elevation during the day. You have to remember that 500 m is the total gain for the day, we also did a lot of up/down/up/down/up as part of the day's walk.







I've seen pictures from the web of what this scenery looks like with blue skies. We were somewhat cheated in terms of mountain views, but I found the landscape to have a mysterious beauty with the foggy ambiance we experienced.








The one tea house along our track was not open. It would have been nice to warm up next to a yak dung stove.










Ahhhhh - this little primrose gave me an energy spurt. I was so excited to find it in a melting snow field.







Coming off the ridge toward the river, we spotted some porters carrying very awkward loads of plywood. The wind was blowing and they kept getting thrown off balance and losing their load. Our Sherpas stopped to help them reload and balance.

Construction materials are moved between villages by porters or yaks. It's a huge amount of work.


The last bridge before reaching the Khumbu glacier - just a couple of rails with boards nailed across. The river is full of glacial milk - microscopically ground rock - and it's flowing fast and furious at this spot.

It's a bit intimidating to walk across a small bridge like that with the sound of water roaring down a boulder-strewn river. It's also very fun.

Just up the hill from this crossing is Dughla - a collection of tea houses. Our group was gathered in the courtyard of one and it was windy and cold. I was already chilled, coughing my lungs out, and was totally, totally miserable. Our sidhar took pity and organized for our group to go into the tea house where it was warm and dry, but very crowded. That was a huge relief. The toilets were also clean in the tea house, compared to the small, freezing and drafty outhouse we would have had to use otherwise.

I was so cold that I decided to put on my down pants in addition to my other layers. I had to peel off my rain pants and trekking pants to get down to the wool thermal underwear. I was so cold that I just did it in the tea room - in front of everyone. Hey, I had my woollies on - it's not like I did a floor show or anything. It was definitely a big improvement in my comfort level. I finally warmed up during lunch.

Dughla sits at the base of the terminal moraine for the Khumbu glacier. You have to climb up 150-200 or so meters to get to the top of the moraine. Once you arrive, a vista opens up of cairns and stupas sprinkled across from one side of the moraine to the other. This is a memorial park for climbers and climbing Sherpas who have lost their life on Everest or other mountains that flank the Khumbu glacier.

The only color in this landscape are the myriad piles of prayer flags draping each memorial cairn. The mountain framed by prayer flags in this photo is Taboche Peak.




This is Cholatse.








Most of my trekking friends went for an explore around the park, searching out the names of climbers who've they've read about, or in the case of Jon Miller, they've known. I wasn't feeling well, so I took advantage of the rest break and sat near the main trail, which gave me an opportunity to capture the dramatic sky above the cairns.

For some reason, the "zone system" finally clicked for me on this day and my digital photography skills really improved. I think it might also have to do with the fact that I was so focused on the moment - each and every moment - throughout the day. I was so ill that I had to think constantly to myself about each step, and to remind myself that even baby steps will get you there eventually. Thus, every time I took a photo, I thought about exactly what I was doing at that moment.




Another view of Taboche Peak.












And, off we go - hiking the moraine of the Khumbu glacier. Our destination for this day was Lobuche - at 16, 210 feet (4910 m).





It seems like such a desolate landscape, but I assure you it is one of the most stunning places I've ever seen in my life. You don't have views of the mountains when the clouds close in, but when the sun is brilliant in a clear blue sky, you see the top of the world. I do have pictures to post from later in this week to give you an example.

In the interim - here is a classic glacial moraine. There is ice below those boulders to the right - we're at the very tip of the Khumbu glacier here.

I scarcely remember the rest of this day, I was feeling so ill. I remember walking into the tea house at Lobuche, seeing that Steve was in an inaccessible corner and I wanted to be next to him, but couldn't get there. Room was made for me on the bench near the door. Every time the door opened, cold air flooded into the room, and I was not very happy about that. Jeff became the door monitor - very nice of him to help me out. I started to feel better after a few cups of hot tea and chocolate. At this point in the trek, food was totally unappealing to me. I think I had popcorn for dinner. Popcorn, hot chocolate and sugared tea - what more can a person want at 16,000 feet?

Additional pictures here: Dingboche to Lobuche album

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 11-12, Dingboche

After that walk in the snow from the previous day of trekking, it was nice to bundle up and fall asleep in my down sleeping bag. Steve and I had -40°F down bags from North Face. Very, very comfortable.

We were at around 14,000 feet elevation in Dingboche so the nights were cold. Having snow each day kept the temps low along with the overcast skies. I slept with my fleece layers over my wool base layer, plus a fleece hat at night. I also zipped up my bag so that my face was mostly covered - an attempt to keep from breathing the cold, dry air at night.

My upper respiratory infection was in full bloom, beginning May 12th. Stuffed up head, bronchitis, and the start of the Khumbu crud. I finally got over this infection - about a month after returning home and a round of heavy-duty antibiotics.




May 12th is John Fera's birthday. The Sherpas went to extra efforts to make his celebration memorable. First there was the birthday greeting melted into the morning snow.








Ahem - don't let your kids look at this too closely. The Sherpas made an anatomically "correct" snowman - an effigy of John for his birthday.

Jon Miller, our podcaster from "The Rest of Everest" recorded everything for posterity ;-)






Another festive touch was the decorating of our tents with heart-shaped balloons. We're camped along one side of the guest house.







We spent quite a lot of time inside the tea house. We didn't know it on the 12th, but we ended up spending an extra day and night in Dingboche due to being snowed in.

Sonam Sherpa gave each of us some paper to write a birthday note to John. You can see all the sheets posted on the wall behind John. the decorations were another nice touch.

I thought this was a cool way to spend a birthday.





One of the amazing things to a westerner's eyes was the lack of "proper" footwear for our Sherpa staff in this inclement weather. It was common to see Sherpas wearing sandles or Crocs in the snow - sans socks. I asked Karma Sherpa about this and he said the weather wasn't cold enough for shoes on this day.









A snow gnome, built by our Sherpas.















Dingboche was a scheduled acclimatization stop - meaning we were to spend two nights there. We did an acclimatization hike up to the top of the ridge above Dingboche to visit one of the stupas that line the valley. We gained about 900 feet of elevation, putting us higher than any spot in the continental USA.

Most of the snow melted off by noon time, so the path was a bit muddy, but not too bad for walking.









Trekking poles came in handy, though.















From the ridge above Dingboche there is a beautiful view of the valley. Stone walls surrounding farms make a crazy patchwork quilt of enclosed fields.








You might be able to see the line of green tents of our campsite in this image.











Once we reached the stupa, it was time to take in the scenery of the prayer flags against the valley below. I really enjoyed the sight and sound of prayer flags flapping in the wind.










As the flags weather, they become translucent.














Megan - getting that "perfect" frame.



























The rocks are covered with various species of lichen and moss.












Prayer flags are left in place to decay from exposure to the elements. I don't know how long they last, but they seem to be replenished regularly. The brightly colored flags are younger than the faded, ragged ones.





We came down from the ridge on a gentle trajectory that put us a bit of a walk from our campsite. That gave us a chance to explore Dingboche a bit. I saw this woman and her family clearing rocks from the path leading to their home. I asked if I could look at the hoe they were using and she gave it to me to examine. It's made from hand-forged steel - very sturdy - and the shaft is hand carved.

She also allowed me to photograph her in action.






Along the trail near tea houses one can always find porter's packs. These probably weigh somewhere between 100 and 150 lbs, perhaps more.









Right along the path through the village is a drainage stream. It ws pretty full from melting snow.












Near our campsite I found this little gem just coming into bloom. The small shrub looked ericaceous to me, but the flower doesn't seem quite right.






The next day and a half were spent inside the tea house for the most part. Fortunately, for our entertainment value, Megan had brought along a fun card game (Phase 10). I wasn't feeling very well so I didn't play cards very much, but I did enjoy watching the action.

Please note the Pringles can there in the foreground. That was a luxury treat some of our trekkers just couldn't do without. I think some of us were already starting to lose appetites at this elevation, but most everyone had challenges eating after this point.


Woohoo! The Sherpas baked a birthday cake for John. Most of our "dessert" choices involved hot canned fruit cocktail. I think everyone was interested in having something different for dessert.

This was kind of like a cross between a biscuit and a scone. It tasted pretty good, though.








Ah yes, the other featured event of the day was the filling of the stove with yak dung. The stove was lit only from tea time onwards unless we really were cold, and then it was sparingly lit earlier in the day.







After the dried dung is added to the stove kerosene is poured over it and a match lit to ignite the mixture. Sometimes, if the stove is already hot, the flame added to the mix causes a huge flare (POOOOOOF!). After the first time, everyone was keen to see it again and so the audience for this event was attending to every move the tea house hostess made. There was a collective sigh of disappointment if the stove lit without a flare-up.







Our kitchen boys were assigned the task of lighting the stove if we needed more than one load of dung per day.












I think they enjoyed this ritual just as much as us snow-bound trekkers did.







Speaking of snow bound - this is why we ended up staying in Dingboche the extra day. On the morning we were scheduled to trek to Lobuche, we awoke to about six inches of snow. The decision was made to wait out the bad weather in Dingboche rather than risk the trail on the ridge that leads to Lobuche.

I actually was secretly grateful for the extra rest day. My respiratory infection was just getting worse and worse and I felt miserable that last day in Dingboche. I spent a significant portion of the day in my tent and skipped the hike and workshop the rest of the group did. I think Steve was also not feeling well on this particular day - mostly with digestive track issues.

It seemed as if much of our group conversation revolved around everyone's lower GI status. Chris Marquardt even coined a scale for describing outhouse adventures. A good day was a 1.7, a bad day was a 1.0. You figure it out. I had enough of that conversation during the trek. The last time my life focused on such matters, my kids were in diapers.

You can read my post from Dingboche by clicking on my link to "Stuck in the snow in Dingboche."

Additional pictures from this day are in my Dingboche album.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 10, Tengboche to Dingboche

The morning dawned with beautiful clear skies - a perfect day for trekking. I remember it was cool and calm, so the layers were reasonable - wool underlayer, trekking shirt, and a fleece jacket.

Before getting on the trail, we did a short tour of the monastery at Tengboche. This is one of the oldest monasteries (maybe the oldest) in the region.


The inside of the monastery is very colorful. All of the color schemes and symbolism tell some significant story. I wish I knew more about Tibetan Buddhism so that I could understand more about what I was seeing here, but it was enough that it grabbed my attention and filled me with a sense of wonder.

BTW - I think this is the last time during the trek that I could be seen without my hat ;-), and it's one of the few pics Steve and I have of us together.




Ceiling panels with mandalas. The shape of the mandala matches the view from above of the monastery or temple. I don't know if these represent Tengboche or other sites, or both.












One of the buddhas inside the monastery.

















These wraps are used by the monks during their prayer sessions. It's rather cold inside, so I think these must be very welcome during the hours of prayer and meditation.











I've no clue as to the use of this item, but it is a beautiful object.
















Another shrine within the main building.
















Butter candles line the walls of the main room.
















A view of the mountains surrounding Tenboche.











Gathering together for the beginning of the day's trek.











Tengboche sits atop a ridge, so the first part of the day was downhil through a grove of trees that line the path. The canopy was just starting to fill in.







There were a lot of birch trees with interesting bark.










The path was also lined with birds singing in the morning sun. I finally got a picture of this one - I marked it in my Birds of Nepal book, but I don't have that close at hand as I'm typing this entry.











Ditto for this one.













Some of my favorite lichens were found in this valley past Tengboche.










My all time favorite lichen - how cool is that?

BTW - lichens are symbiotic organisms, consisting of a fungus and algae.












Breakfast time?










I loved the petite irises lining the path. These were less than six inches tall, but the flowers were about three inches across - pretty spectacular.












Another of the four dozen or so species of primrose in the region.








As usual, downhill sections end in a river crossing. This bridge looked pretty sturdy, but I didn't happen to notice the bridge beneath this bridge - a rickety suspension one. I think I got a photo of it on the return trip, though, so I'll try to post a reminder for that day's narrative.

Porters are the unsung heroes of trekking - hard working people who make it all possible for tourists.





Ama Dablam dominated the vistas on this day of trekking.










I found this rock fold to be very interesting. It's a good indicator of the tectonic forces at work in the region to push the Himalayan range so high into the sky.









The stupas along this section of trail look like they've seen better days.








As we climbed toward 14,000 feet, the biome changed from rhododendron/pine forest to juniper/barberry scrub. We lost the tree line during this day of trekking, and entered the alpine zone.








An entry gate into the next valley system.










This was the day when I really started to notice the dominance of glacial scarring and the amazing amount of material that is moved by glaciers.








For example, the patchwork of stone-enclosed fields in this valley are atop a terminal glacial moraine. You can see where the moraine ends at the right hand side of this image.










The afternoon skies filled with ominous clouds. I figured we were in for some snow, given how cold it was and how high up we were in the mountains. We were still a couple or more hours away from Dingboche at this point, too.













The path isn't nearly so wide as what we had on the trail leading to Tengboche, so getting out of the way of yak caravans was always a bit tricky. You scramble up slope to give them room to pass.











Time for a rest break.













We didn't seem to pass through many villages up here. Stone is a resource that is put to good use in these settlements.











The alpine biome is dominated by juniper and barberry up here.








I would have enjoyed spending some time on the slope checking on the juniper diversity. I recognized some of our ornamental ones that are put to use as groundcover in American gardens.

I always find it interesting to see the native habitat of some of our most popular ornamental plants.







That's someone's tent, and perhaps a dining tent.











Ah, another river crossing. It had started to snow in earnest by the time Steve and I reached this bridge.






Ummmm, it was slippery, and a bit intimidating. However, it was pretty short in length and I just made sure my footing was secure. This and the next three pics are ones that Steve took. I put my camera away with the snow coming down so heavily.







Another ridge to climb and traverse, this time in the snow. I actually enjoyed walking in the snow since it wasn't very windy and the snow wasn't getting deep. However, this was a sign of what we were in for during the next few days.








We're pretty close to Dingboche here, near the top of the ridge that borders the village.








And there it is - our campsite for this night and two additional ones (one more than planned due to being snowed in).

I have other pictures of May 11th posted here: Tengboche to Dingboche

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 9, Namche Bazar to Tengboche

After two nights at Namche Bazar, it was time to move up to higher elevations. Breaking camp always involves a flurry of activities, mostly in reorganizing all the gear that gets scattered in and around the tent.

It's amazing how much stuff can get spread about in a small, enclosed space as things are taken out of the duffel bag for use, or as part of desperate searches for that one essential item that is needed right now (e.g., TP!).


Our photo assignment for the day was to use one focal length. That's a hard decision to make because there is so much to see and photograph.

Chris Marquardt was using a lens baby. I don't recall if he used that for the entire day, but he was using it around camp. I chose 24 mm for my Canon Rebel XTi. I used my Panasonic Lumix for my macro plant shots and for my Woodcentral sightings pics.



The scenery really started to become interesting on this day of the trek. We were still in the pine forest/rhododendron biome, but I could see where the alpine zone was on the slope of the mountains.








Most of the religious shrines along the path were Bhuddist, but this one was Hindu, I think.










As you look back toward Lukla, the slopes are bedecked in evergreen forest.










Looking up trail one sees Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) flanked by Nuptse (front left) and Lhotse (just to the right of Everest). Everest is that triangle shaped peak just to the left of center.









The largest stupa on the trail was situated at the most scenic overlook of the trip.









This view of Everest through the prayer flags was one of my favorite photos. You can also see the trail layout pretty well here.










A nice Woodcentral sighting.













Pretty awesome view, eh? The jagged mountain on the right is Ama Dablang.









Another nice Woodcentral photo op.















Sonam and Karma having a fun time. The rock is shaped like Everest.














Ama Dablang, center stage. You can also see how this trail is a major track through the Solukhumbu region.







Another of my favorite pictures. The trail is about 10 feet wide here. This section of trail was the best maintained of all. It's only about a 5 mile length. There's a donation collection station at each end of the section - well worth the rupees put into the can.

L to R: Kyle, Megan, Sonam




I really enjoyed the scenery along this track. If you'll note the ridge that is in the center of this picture - the top of that is the destination for the day.

If you click on the image, you might be able to barely see some of the buildings at Tengboche. You can also see the trail snaking up the slope. Each day we gained 1000-3000 ft of elevation, but what you don't know ahead of time is that you're going to be going down 1000 ft, and then back up 2000 ft, etc. Every time you cross the river you're doing a down, then up trajectory.



This was the first day of the trek where I really wanted to spend a lot of time botanizing. Walking through a rhododendron forest is magical and there were a lot of understory plants in bloom, too.








Rhododendrons of various shades of red, pink, magenta and white were in bloom. I'm afraid I dawdled a bit too long for our sherpas' comfort, but I needed to take as many pictures as possible for my own comfort.









I was totally blown away by the diversity of primrose species. I think I had mentioned in a previous post that there are about 48 species of primrose in the area. I've no idea how many I saw, but it's probably close to a dozen.










I don't know this plant, so if anyone out there can give me a hint, it would be very much appreciated. Just leave a comment - thanks!











Wild strawberry














Oh good, I've not yet lost my way from being so far behind the rest of the group.

(I'll note here that there are many variations on English spellings of place names. The maps say "Tengboche." Namche Bazar is also listed as Namche Bazaar.)




Actually, it would have been impossible to get lost. This is Pasang Sherpa - he's the one who hangs back with the slowest person of our group - that was me on this day (and several others).

I really enjoyed walking with Pasang, too. You can probably tell from his smile that he is a gentle soul and he seemed eager to learn about the plants and birds I was photographing.






Rhododendron forest












Rhododendron/pine forest. Wow - that's incredible scenery.










Yep, that's amazing scenery. I want to go back!












Tengboche monastery. I arrived at the village at dusk, about an hour before sunset.








It's a beautiful monastery. I have some pictures of the inside to post for my May 11th entry to the blog. I saw the young monks running up and down these stairs - not something I could do at this point.

I also heard some interesting music wafting from the windows of the monastery. The place was empty when we toured it, but I can imagine where the monks were sitting while playing their unusual musical instruments.





Here's the stupa in the fading light of sunset.















You can probably tell from the faces of my trekking friends, that we're tired. L to R: Thilo, Steve, and Chris.

We're starting to feel the elevation at this point. I think we're somewhere around 12,500-13,000 feet here, but I'll have to look that up. All I know is that the outhouse was up this small slope, and it seemed like a chore.




We didn't have a tea house for our meals at Tengboche, so our staff set up a dining tent. It was COLD!!!!! Time for down jackets and lots of layers.