On the night of the 28th, we stayed in the village of Phakding, nursing the colds we had all picked up, and the next morning slept in until 7:00 a.m. (We only had a three-hour walk into Lukla, so we figured we deserved a break.) Walking down into Lukla (2840 meters altitude ) where we had begun our trek, we marveled again at the variety of loads th

The Himalayas are young mountains, as mountains go, and they have the sharp and dramatic profiles of young megafauna (tigers, leopards, etc.)--and the same charisma. When we left Deboche today on a beautiful morning, perhaps. the most dramatic of the Everest Group, Ama Dablam ("Mother and Child") looked down on us as we wound our way through a stun

We are now in a high tundra landscape: no trees or shrubs, just rock, scruffy grass and a few flowers, with the snow-capped Himalayas in the background. We set off from Pheriche early--another beautiful day--and after skirting a mountain stream, we began climbing and eventually reached The Dhghla Pass (4830 meters altitude), home to a number of mem

Today was a gorgeous morning--a gosling day, as they say in PEI. We walked out of the Pheriche valley ; trees (mainly juniper) began to appear, as well as flowers and shrubs and tilled plots of land, separated by the stone fences you see everywhere here. We went through the village of Syomare, where one of our group, Wendy, gave a toothbrush to a l

"The tops of mountains are the unfinished parts of the globe," wrote Henry David Thoreau over a hundred and fifty years ago. "[They} are sacred and mysterious tracts..." After breakfast (Tibetan bread, omelets, porridge) we set out under a early morning half-moon to journey deeper into these tracts. The landscape got more even dramatic: gorges, wat

Today--an acclimatization day--we took a four-hour hike up the spur of a mountain that overlooks Pheriche, pausing first to look at the memorial to all those who have been killed on Everest--a large cone that has been bisected into two halves, and which bears hundreds of names. As Liesha, one of our trekkers,wryly pointed out, there is space for mo

This was a major hiking day--starting at 7:30 from Lobuche, we walked along the massive Khumbu Glacier. The mountains seemed incredibly close, so clear is the air here. We started the hard climbing at about 8:30 or so, and as always, we walked in slow motion, putting one foot in front of the other--as you have to do at this altitude. ( With reduced

We left Namche Bazar in a light drizzle which soon turned to snow, but we soldiered on cheerfully, across a mountainside and past the stupa (memorial) to Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas who helped Sir Edmund Hillary. Even in the mist and light snow, the landscape was as vast and compelling as ever. After lunch we climbed to the Tengboche Monastery 3

(L>R Front sitting: Liesha, Tanya, Gopal; Middle: Manda, Nynke, Wendy, Judy, Jamie,Jen, Denis, Arlene, Barry, Lisa; Behind: Bala, Anda, Pem Dorje) It is with great pleasure, pride and heart felt thanks that I can give you the final tally of our tremendous fund raising effort. The gross amount we raised was $26,253! I believe our success far exceede

What a day! We got up at 4:00 a.m. to climb up to Kala Patthar lookout (about 200 meters above the Everest Base Camp) in order to see the sun rise over the Everest group of mountains. The sky was resonant with Himalayan stars, gazing down dispassionately on us as we laboured up the slope in minus 15 degrees cold. We all agreed that it was one of th