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Dispatch
6: Lots of Yaks August 24, 2001 Everest
Basecamp
Just
before dusk yesterday the first yak showed up at our
camp on the bank of the Rongbuk River. The Tibetan yak
driver wore a black blazer, grey wool vest, a grey
fedora and camouflage sneakers. Down in the valley we
could see the main herd of 33 beasts. Thick, shaggy
tails, hairy bellies and very sharp, curved horns made
them look quite different from a regular cow.
These
animals spend their whole lives living at really high
altitudes and they seem to be very tough. A dozen
Tibetans had been walking for three days with their
yaks to get to our camp so they could carry our gear
12 miles up the east fork of the Rongbuk
Glacier.
We
have a 3000 pound load of gear made up of food, fuel,
O2 bottles, tents, ropes and warm clothes for our
team. Everything has to be carried up 21,000 feet to
Advance Basecamp (ABC). It took two large trucks to
bring everything here to BC from Kathmandu.
The
Tibetans made their camp downstream from us. Yaks
wandered by our tents throughout the night. These
animals are very gentle. Some of them wore bell
collars and had prayer flags tied to the hair on their
necks.
--Brian
McCullough
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