Trekking Family Style

Our Captain Pemba led us on a wonderful adventure. We met an international group of people who joined us and left us during our trek. We reached Kala Patar which overlooks the Everest base camp at 18,000'. That was a 5:30 am summit bid which gave us a short view of Everest without clouds. There were two glacier crossings and two high passes. They can only be described as short and difficult, long and hard, long and dangerous and long and difficult. Ah life in the mountains.
The accomadations along the way were very hospitable. We had a hot meal, lots of tea and our own room every night. The water supplies were good. Rebecca's filter worked great and we almost finished all the power bars. The last two days we gave out candy to every porter and child we met. They were grateful. Our bags got lighter and our pants a little looser. The views and the clouds contributed to outstanding vistas in every directions, every day.
We got tired but we never ran out of steam. We got goofy but never lost our sense of humor. We have had camera mishaps and computer viruses but we not stopped taking pictures. There were days where we could not recharge our camera batteries but our bodies kept on going. We feel so fortunate to have had such a successful trip.
Returning to Namche Bazaar and the Khumbu Lodge is like returning home. We have laundry to do and postings to make, people to visit and a dentist visit tomorrow for our porter Chandan. Life goes at a very fast pace here in Namche Bazaar. We are amazed at how many more trekkers there are only 9 days later. This morning I could hardly step out the door of the lodge because there were so many porters, yaks and trekkers filling the paths. By 9am they were gone and we have our l0vely village for ourselves for a few hours.
Pictures will follow in a few hours. You are sleeping now anyway.