Into thin air

It seems like just yesterday that I was exclaming, "Only three more months!" And now, Pascal and I are only twelve days from flying from the West Coast -- Pascal from San Francisco and I from Seattle -- and converging at Seoul, whence we fly together to Bangkok. A short night's sleep in an airport hotel in Bangkok, and then a morning flight to Kathmandu.

Total flight time of 20½ hours, with a one-hour layover in Seoul and about twelve hours overnight in Bangkok. We'll step off the plane in Nepal with dazed and weary grins on our faces, eager to meet our five fellow hikers.

I've done enough of these treks that you'd think I'd have all the equipment I'd ever need. But the equipment lists we're provided always come up with new items, and stuff I already own gets worn out, out-dated, or -- most often -- misplaced. I found myself wandering around REI yesterday with a shopping list in one hand and a shopping basket in the other, busily increasing the size of the co-op rebate I'll receive next spring. (Pollyanna me, always focused on the silver lining!)

I'm now pretty well set to go. It's just a matter of squeezing everything into my duffel, and making sure I don't exceed the maximum allowed weight.

The itinerary has changed slightly since we first signed up for the trip. We now plan to trek the same route that Denny and I followed in 1995 as far as Tengboche monastery (12,867 ft.), instead of branching off at Namche Bazaar (11,286 ft.). From Tengboche, we'll diverge from the Everest base camp trail and head northwest toward the Gokyo valley.

I would have preferred the original route, because it would have eliminated one day of duplication with my earlier trek, but the trail to Tengboche is very scenic, and it does give Pascal a chance to see the rather impressive monastery. We camped in a tent on the monastery grounds in 1995, and it was awe-inspiring to be awakened at sunrise by the blowing of extremely deep horns, the pounding of drums, and the eerie chanting of the monks. I'd never known my teenaged nephew to jump out of bed and get dressed so fast -- without being ordered or urged to do so! We rushed over to the monastery to see what we could see.

The weather forecast for Kathmandu for the next ten days calls for daily thundershowers. We'll be arriving in Nepal at the tail-end of the summer monsoon. I'm hoping for dry weather by the time we're on the trail. Pascal and I ran into one day of heavy rain at exactly this same time of year -- two years ago on the Annapurna trail -- when the monsoon was abnormally prolonged. But even on that trip, most days were dry and sunny.

As usual, at this point before a trip departure, I'm excited and trying to keep myself from obsessing over various things that might go wrong. I've been trying to keep well exercised, without somehow spraining an ankle. I remember a bike trip I was on once. We were missing one poor guy, a dedicated soul who had religiously maintained his daily bicycling regimen as long as possible. He crashed and broke his hip the week before he was due to fly out of Seattle.

And on that happy note, I'll say a small prayer for my own safety! Readers of this blog will hear all they ever wanted to know -- and more! -- about my experiences after my return in late October.
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Photo: Tengboche monastery (stock photo). Click on the photo for an impressive close-up view.