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April
22
- From Tunc at Camp 2 - After the past two rest
days, a short day of action - we packed up in
the morning and took a two hour walk up to the
Lhotse Face. At 7,300m (23,944ft), our Camp 3 is
located! The walk up to the Lhotse Face is
beautiful - much of the route follows blue ice
and includes spectacular views of Lhotse and
Nuptse. Jetstream winds hit the mountains with
incredible force; the noise can only be compared
to that of a jet constantly zooming overhead! At
night, everyone has their sleep disturbed due to
the altitude, but this is normal. We are after
all below the huge face of Everest! The Sherpas
left C2 this morning for EBC, so today our camp
will be silent without their constant laughter
and smiles! By now, Johnny Cash is the standard
music of the camp and Gary has dubbed me the
"Man in Black" because all of my
climbing gear is of the same color! So long from
Camp 2 ... Tunc
April
23 -
A very cold night here at C2. We barely make it
through the night... not really, but it was
perhaps one of the coldest since we have been on
the mountain. Quite windy first thing in the
morning, so none of us were in a huge hurry to
get out of our sleeping bags and tents. I have
developed a sore on my shin courtesy of my new
Millet boots; perhaps they're a little bit
tight. At the moment, it is more of a hindrance
than a problem, but I would at least like to
keep it clean. Today, I'll rest and acclimatize
further and try to heal my shin a little bit.
Our
acclimatizing schedule is still going according
to plan - perhaps 5-6 more nights at C2 with a
day hike up to C3, straight up the Lhotse Face!
I thought the Khumbu Icefall was my hardest day,
but I'm starting to think for sure that the
Icefall was just the beginning. Only Jit, Karma,
myself and the rest of the climbers here at Camp
2 now. All the other Sherpas have descended to
EBC and are getting a well-deserved rest. Our
appetites are generally okay, but we often talk
about the best of the food back home... ribs,
steaks, burgers, lobster, french fries, pizza,
cold beer (!), fast food, long food, tall food,
etc., etc. I dream of walking into Ruby's BBQ in
Austin, TX with my wife Joni and eating for
days! A great rest day - feeling a little drowsy
here at 6,400m (~21,000ft), so I will sign
off... Gary
From
EBC... beautiful day hike in from Lobuche -
starting to get used to this altitude and made
it in half the time that it took me just a few
weeks ago! Getting oxygen, food and medicine
loads (for Tunc's perpetual heartburn!) sorted
out and up to the guys at Camp 2... Janis
April
24
- From Gary at C2 - Acclimatization, hike, rest
day. Awoke to beautiful blue skies, little wind
and a small headache! We're still acclimatizing
to this altitude and will be day hiking for a
few hours towards the Lhotse Face again today.
Everyone is well. The jetstream still makes
incredible noises as it clips the top of
Everest; it truly sounds like a jumbo jet in the
sky. Our oxygen should be arriving at EBC today
and our Sherpas will begin transporting it up to
Camp 2 in the next few days. Tunc, Karma Sherpa
and myself took it real easy descending to camp,
admiring the ice sculptures caused by the wind
and the movement of the glacier... very
beautiful. I hear that some eggs and bread (and
possibly some dried buffalo meat!) might be
arriving today! Yes! I've now been sleeping at
21,000 feet for 6 nights. I'm getting psyched to
climb up the Lhotse Face to Camp 3. When Kipa
and Nima Dawa return here in a few days, I'll
then visit C3 before returning to EBC. Tunc and
I are sharing a tent right now and at altitude,
we both sleep for about the first three hours
and then spend the rest of the night tossing and
turning. So nice to have the company to talk
about our lives, wives and countries since it is
tough to sleep! Over and out from Camp 2... Gary
April
25
- Camp 2 - Resting completely today. Very cold
last night, but we all thawed very quickly after
the sun hit our tents! It can go from -10°C to
+30°C (15°F to 85°F) in a matter of minutes.
Becomes like a sauna almost. The oxygen arrived
at EBC today and everything is looking good.
I've had a rather uneventful day, but Tunc and I
have handcrafted our own dice so we can play
Yahtzee here at C2! Our good doc Janis will be
proud of our craftsmanship as he brought the
original Yahtzee set with him to EBC from the
U.S. We made the dice from the highest quality
Nepali sticks, all of different varieties. We
dyed them using red Kool Aid and then blackened
the numbers in with permanent ink! We figured
that since the sticks were found in the depths
of the Western Cwm, we could auction them off
after the expedition. We'll start the bidding at
$100,000 per piece or $400,000 for the complete
set of 5 dice!!! This was the highlight of the
day. Sorry folks, but not very exciting. Perhaps
Janis will add good EBC reading... Gary
From
Janis at EBC... today's highlight was me
teaching Buddhi, our cook, how to make pasta
primavera with our limited Italian cooking
supplies. We mixed tomatoes, peas, carrots,
onions and garlic with a little tomato puree and
water - topped with a little grated cheese and
voila! Italian at 18,000 feet! Tomorrow, I
promised to teach him french toast and
omelets... I'm hoping my mother's Latvian piragi
recipe is not next! Janis
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