30 Oct, 09 - 17:57  


(left to right) Ang Dawa Sherpa, Phill Michael, Caroline Ang     and Dana Engler with Mera La (6476m/21241ft) in the background

Mmmmmm...Milky Way. It reminds me that I get to eat my weight in chocolate this Halloween weekend. Oh...yes...I...will. =^P

In case you are wondering...that's about 250lbs of chocolate. Ha ha...hee hee...hmmmmm...%^P

Further reflection on last year's Secret Spot Tilman Trek takes my brain back to Halloween 2008. Caroline, Dana, Dawa and I dressed up as high altitude climbers and summited on Mera La (6476m/21241ft)...while our North American friends and family were carving pumpkins in the comfort of their homes. If you are regularly checking out these Tilman Trek Reloaded dispatches, you can virtually get high with us by enjoying unreleased images and video from Mera La. I'll have those posted sometime next week.

If you subscribe to this Secret Spot Seven Summits blog (www.phillmichael.com) then the goods will come to you via email. Join us and virtually explore the Centre of the Universe (Nepal)! I invite you! B^)

Let's get back to the Milky Way...

**********

October 21st, 2008

Take a paint gun full of white paint...and paint a mosquito screen...you know...the kind you use over the windows at the lake in the summer. Wait! Put a black canvas behind it. Once you are done...remove that screen...and check out the black canvas. That's what our Sunday night sky looks like.


Custom Campfire in Heaven

The Milky Way we are all riding on is bright above our heads...as are the stars that are even closer to us. Planets wander around the sky like drunken porters while we enjoy a small fire. Heavenly!


Himalayan Alpenglow

We find ourselves at 11500ft (approx. 3500m) again...after a '3700 vertical foot gain' kind of day.


Campo Spectacular

We walked past ancient stupas, mani and many friendly locals. We are at roughly the same elevation as Namche Bazaar...but their ain't no internet café...or any other modern conveniences. Heaven squared. B^)


The 11500ft Pass we crossed is indicated by the big black arrow


A majestic, old stupa


The 11500ft Pass we crossed is indicated by the big black arrow

A couple of our porters are feeling the altitude (we have already lost two of them to headache and general sickness)...and they are scared of being up high. We'll be meeting up with some new high altitude porters in a few days. They will be carrying our climbing gear from Lukla to Mera Base Camp. We had that gear flown to Lukla...as we won't need it until we are resting in the shadow of Mera.


Rai porters

Now it's Monday morning...

I'm watching folks make their way up the trail. It's an 'above the treeline...up...up...up' kind of day. We'll be just below 14000 ft (approx 4200m or so) by the end of it.

In his book 'Nepal Himalaya'(circa 1950), Tilman describes the next two days:

'...we followed a rough track lying 3000ft above the Dudh Kosi, across two spurs of distressing height, until we dropped slowly to the large village...'

Sounds reasonable. =^]

We are on day 10 of our Tilman Trek...and there are still 25 days to go! It feels like we've been rolling for weeks...glorious weeks of goodness. B^)


Tasty raspberries are all over the trail!


Mr Smiley of the Raspberry Patch


My ancient ice axe is a curiosity...indeed. =^]

I'm starting to get into the headspace of lucid dreaming again...and the dreams have been goooood. It's like living another life when I sleep...and it becomes difficult to discern dream recollections from conscious recollections. Most excellent. =^)

The crazy heat of the valleys is behind us...for now...and we'll spend almost no time below 10000ft for the rest of this adventure.

As per usual, I'm the last to leave camp...as making sweet love to these communication devices takes time. =^]

I'd best get rolling...

Until Soon
Phill =^)

PHILL MICHAEL
Expedition Leader and Summit Climber
Everest Freestyle Expedition/Secret Spot Seven Summits
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