my summit!!

FINALLY!!!!! after 6 days of hard climbing, i fi-i-i-i-nally made it to renjo-la (la is pass in nepali)...i misspeak in the video half out of delirium, and call it langden pass, but langden is where we went to try and stay that night...on the other side, a few hours down the mountain. up until a few years ago, this pass was closed by the chinese because tibetans were fleeing via this route and there was 'illegal' trade happening, according to the chinese. i think they were just trying to stay alive when the chinese cut off supplies to tibet... but, in any case, only a year ago, the path leading down the mountain was literally a scramble; there were no steps. according to a guide book, you should attempt it only if you were adventurous in spirit and sure footed! even today, it's challenging, but thankfully we did it in the summer time and there was minimal snow...and people had prepared the trail very well. i can't imagine attempting this in the winter...   this trek was the most difficult physical challenge i've ever had. i mean, to be up at over 17,000 feet may not seem like that big of a deal, but the oxygen is so thin, your legs feel like cement. the most unbelievable thing to think about though is, even as high up as i was...everest is over 29,000 feet, or over 8,800 meters. crazy to think i was only, barely, half way there. and i flew into lukla and started at over 2,000 meters...it gave me a whole new perspective of the whacked people who even attempt to climb everest. nuts. those mountains don't mess around! and the symptoms i had from altitude were minor, but still very uncomfortable. i had a piercing headache in the second video, but as i descended, it got worse and my stomach started to get upset. the wind had picked up considerably and choesang is convinced this directly impacted my sudden and drastic change. by the time i had reached the furthest point of the trail on the video, an hour later, i felt horrible and it was all i could do to keep going. i knew i just needed to get doooowwwn. after a couple hours of nothing but descending, i was exhausted and hurting. i told choesang i needed to stop and try to eat something, but felt nauseated; it had already been over 4 hours since my meagre toast and that's all i had eaten. feeling defeated, i sat right on the edge of the trail in some mossy grass and chewed on a small fruit snack, hating every second of it. the view was amazing at that point; we were right in front of another set of glacier lakes, the sun was shining, and there was no one around. after swallowing the snack, i told choesang i had to lay down! he just looked at me, but sat quietly on the trail next to me keeping watch. i put my head down, closed my eyes and dozed for about 10-15 minutes. when i sat back up, i was feeling much better and could resume trekking. we still had a couple hours to go, but i knew i could make it, whereas before that moment, i had some doubts! once again, we didn't see anyone else on the trail for our over 7 hours out that day and actually had to descend further than langden as the all lodges were closed there. if you can tell in the photo, i am kinda puffy in my face. that was another symptom of altitude; i had been retaining water for days. despite it, i was trying to keep well hydrated--3 liters, at least, a day. but, when we started descending, my body started releasing it all and i had to stop and pee about 10 times those last few hours. it was kind of funny, actually...i would yell ahead to choesang that i had to go again and he would amble down the trail a bit, out of view. since absolutely no one was around, i just squatted right next to the trail...it couldn't have been any easier for me! : ) finally though, after a looooong, day, we wound up at the rinky dink, dirt floored, 3 roomed namaste lodge at 4,200 meters....we had dropped nearly 1,000 meters. i was so happy to arrive at this place! we sat in the kitchen and the woman owner prepared dal bhat and tea. it was dirty, buggy, ratty and drafty, but i had my best night sleep there of the whole trip and enjoyed myself immensely...i had made it! whew.