Nepal 2012 (Mera Peak)

Hello readers, the tired trekker here again with more tales of one foot in front of the other. October (2012) heralded a challenge, not only of altitude but of claustrophobic accommodation for a period previously unknown. All this was made bearable by the magnificent Sherpa / Porter / Kitchen crew, without whom I would have turned back after the first day. My chum Martin Sleath (ultra distance runner, marathons are too short for me and general crazy person) suggested a trip to Nepal which involved climbing Mera Peak at 6,461 metres (21,247 ft) and a lot of wandering around in the mountains, of course said yes. As a child I was distinctly namby pamby (for the US readers a wimp), I have spent some of my adult life trying to make up for it, so anything that involves mountains has to be on the list. Not mountains that involve what real mountaineers call technical, which means tying knots, understanding what all the equipment does and most important very little exposure. Like so many sports mountaineering has to have its own vocabulary, so those in the know can exclude those out of the know. Exposure is a good example, to you and I it means the danger of getting too cold, but to real mountaineers it means being able to look down and see where your body will land several hundred meters below. I digress, so I find myself in late middle age trying to make up for my wimpy earlier years, which was why I agreed to spend 15 nights sharing a cramped tent and 15 days trudging towards the elusive goal of climbing (walking very slowly) higher than I have ever done before. Of course we always rationalise these decisions by telling ourselves that we will learn about another culture and see fantastic things in faraway places. (You can also do that by reading National Geographic.) Our tour company was Mountain Kingdoms a UK based operation with good credentials. The adventure started with their kit list. The kit list (I have learned by costly mistake) is a very useful form of preparation, I have a kit list for all sorts of excursions, it not only ensures that you take everything you need and (very important) not the things you dont need, but it also helps with the mental preparation. Putting all that stuff in a neat little pile and checking the box next to each item, makes you realise just how uncomfortable you are going to be.

One item on the kit list jumped out; PLASTIC CLIMBING BOOTS. I have climbed Mont Blanc with sturdy leather boots (with plenty of waterproofing) and flexible crampons, not only are these very comfortable (being 10 years old) but they can be used for travelling, trekking, going to the disco, and a host of other activities. Plastic boots are heavy, uncomfortable and useful for only one thing, glacier travel. I contacted Mountain Kingdoms about this requirement to see what all the fuss was about and they were very insistent. Nothing short of real mountaineering boots would be suitable because it was so cold! They suggest plastic boots because they are cheaper than other alternatives and they consist of two layers, a foam liner and a rigid plastic outer, much like a ski boot. Of course the plastic outer is completely waterproof and the liner can be left on like a pair of gigantic slippers to keep feet warm around camp and in sleeping bags. However comfort and weight concerns are not part of the specification. We were of course backed up by an army of porters (about whom, more later) but we still had to limit our weight to 15Kg (33lbs) in our special porter bag plus, however much we felt comfortable carrying in our own backpack. My self imposed limit on the latter was going to be 8Kg (18lbs). This meant that the climbing boots which would be used for 3 days of the trek would constitute 20% of the porter bag weight, leaving little room for hand cream and baby wipes!. Anyway enough of the kit problems they were resolved once I had come to terms with the boots. I travelled to the UK to spend a couple of nights with Martin, Sue and their entourage of pooches. Martin and I would drive to Heathrow on Saturday the 6th to catch the flight to New Delhi then on to Kathmandu. In true Martin Sleath style he had left most of his packing up to Sue other than a last minute rush to check the essentials seconds before we left for the airport. I dont know how he remained so calm, I was terrified that I had forgotten something despite having checked and rechecked the kit list. I later found out that some of this was due to the fact that Martin had been to Nepal before and knew that it is possible to buy/ rent / borrow all things mountaineering in Kathmandu and at a considerable discount over western prices. New Delhi airport is very civilised not at all like the ones I remembered from a previous visit to India a few years ago. We had a short layover here to wait for our flight to Kathmandu. During the layover our UK Guide Andrew Jenkins recognised us from the file photos and joined us for the flight to Kathmandu. Kathmandu airport is somewhat less inviting that Delhi but the officials were welcoming and the visa process mercifully short. We were quickly met by our local minder and whisked away to the hotel by minibus. From the protective air conditioned cocoon of the bus Kathmandus filth and squalor flashed before our eyes. Most of the city looked like a demolition site where nothing gets rebuilt By mid afternoon we were at the hotel which was an oasis in the desert of dust and deprivation; here we met up with Mark and Kathryn (more super fit long distance runners from the UK). They had travelled via Abu Dhabi and arrived earlier. Martin, Mark and Kathryn had to go into the city to rent sleeping bags and crampons. I decided to stay put in the oasis.

I used the time unpack everything (again) and lay all the kit on the bed. The hotel would keep a bag of things we didnt need on the trek, but what to leave behind? After some serious decision making I still had more than 15Kg in my porter bag, that means more weight in my pack. I later found out that everyone had more than 15Kg in there porter bag! Dinner was a pleasant buffet inside the walled gardens of the hotel, where we met Jo and Jonathan a young Scottish couple who would also be joining us on the trek. Other party members were arriving later that evening. We had to leave for the airport at 6:30am so off to bed by 9:00 and up early at 5:00 to worry about the kit list again. I had almost forgotten what Kathmandu was like having been cosseted in the (relative) luxury of the hotel. At 6:30 in the morning it looked just as bad as yesterday afternoon. The trip to the airport was short and uneventful. The internal flights building is separate from the international terminal and hasnt changed since the Wright brothers invented the aeroplane and it looked like everyone in Kathmandu wanted to go to Lukla. There were strong winds in Lukla and no one was flying, our 8:00 departure was in serious doubt. We had plenty of time to get to know the three other members of the team, brothers Tom and Tony from the West Midlands and Steve from Scotland. Around 1:00pm the wind has dropped and all hell breaks loose as everyone is scrambling to clear the flight backlog. You may have heard about the flights from Kathmandu to Lulka, they crash quite regularly at both ends of the trip. A couple of months earlier a flight had crashed just after takeoff, with plenty of press coverage in the west. We were all strangely quite as the Twin Otter bumped along the runway and white knuckles gripped the seats in front. After takeoff following a suitable delay we deemed it safe to speak and laugh nervously at our own jokes. The views from the plane are spectacular. The foothills of the Himalayas are unlike any mountains I have seen. Towering peaks with lush greenery to the very summit, the slopes dotted with the blue roofs of the farms. Terraced fields cut into the hills were so numerous that they looked like contour lines on a map. Fortunately the enchanting view was a distraction from the landing approach; the runway is only 450mts (1,500ft) long on a serious incline. The pilot belly flops onto the tarmac at terrifying speed then jams on the brakes. Its amazing the undercarriage survives. Lukla is as shambolic as Kathmandu but there are no motor vehicles so it is relatively calm between aircraft landings. Each landing provides entertainment for locals and tourists alike with a crowd of spectators lining the fence around the runway, betting on the next crash. We were supposed to start walking on the day of arrival but it was late afternoon on arrival so Head Sherpa Trijan decides to stay in Lukla and start walking tomorrow. Our tea house accommodation is pretty basic, double room with camp beds two toilets on each floor serving about 20 people. After settling in to our rooms we congregate in one of the dining rooms for a briefing. Here we meet more of our backup team and the cook (Ratan) whose job it will be to keep us fuelled with plenty of well cooked carbohydrates for the next 15 days. The tea houses let the cooks who accompany trekkers use their kitchen, which surprises me. It certainly means that if you get ill you know who to blame.

We meet some of our backup team during the evening. The team consists of . One Head Sherpa (Trijan), Three Sherpas, One Head Cook (Ratan), Five Kitchen crew. Eleven Porters. Thats 21 back up crew for 10 pampered westerners. After an early dinner there is time to wander round town which is full shops providing everything a mountaineer could wish for. Bed time is early ready for 6:30am wake up call. The Kitchen crew got off to a good start by bringing hot tea and a bowl of hot water for washing to everyones bedroom. A routine that we were pleased lasted all trip. Before breakfast the porters bags had to be packed so they could arrange their luggage. Each porter carried two bags thats at least 30Kg (66lbs) plus other kit like tents etc. At least 40Kg (88 lbs) each! After oatmeal toast and eggs we were ready to start our adventure. Our route to Mera Peak was quite circuitous setting off due south away from the mountain looping round a high ridge before heading back north towards the peak. There is a faster route but it involves heading straight over a 4,600m. pass which would be pushing our acclimatisation limits. Having said that Lukla is nearly 3,000m so with a couple of days of acclimatisation it should be possible. I suspect that the tour company wants to take to longer route to make more of an expedition out of the trek. We took the first day very gently only covering 7Km, to Paqtok. On this route we were sharing the well worn trails with pack mules and yaks and quickly realised that we didnt have the right of way.

Poor Kathryn is horrified by the beatings that the pack animals were getting from their minders; they did seem to need a lot of encouragement, all stick and no carrots it would seem.

We arrived at Paqtok about 3pm, tonights stop is a tea house with quaint chalet rooms but our tents are being erected so I see we wont be indoors. The bathroom facilities are quite revolting consisting of a hole in the ground with a stinking pit below it. You wouldnt want drop your car keys down there. Bathroom trips were going to be a challenge. It was here that Jo developed her rating system for the toilets, this consisted of a roll count which had nothing to do with the number of toilet rolls which was always zero. I think there was a total of 10 rolls for the best (say the bathrooms in a 5 star hotel). Jo was generous awarding these facilities 2 rolls.

Again despite being in a tea house with a kitchen our cooks prepared dinner and we ate in the dining room. In addition to the tent pitch fee the tea rooms get sales of chocolate bars Coca Cola etc. but Im still surprised that they allow our cooks to use the facilities. Our first night under canvas and it is pretty cramped. Martin and I are in what would be a suitable tent for about 2 nights, 2 weeks is pushing it a bit. After much squirming and rearrangement of kit we manage to find room for everything and try to sleep. However the village dogs seem determined to prevent that. The ear plugs (on the kit list) were not much help. The first nigh provides a chance to test the pee bottle! The packing list had not only been insistent on proper mountain boots but also a pee bottle (plastic screw cap 1 litre). As a regular nightly peer I was pleased about this innovation which enables you to pee during the night without leaving the tent. Of course there may need to be some emptying outside depending on how much you pee. Breakfast entertainment of course consisted of a debate about the merits of the pee bottle; the girls seemed to find it more difficult than the guys.

Left Water bottle Right Pee bottle. Not to be confused!

Of course it had to rain during our fist night under canvas but it was dry in the morning and quite chilly. In addition to peeing the breakfast conversation involves leeches! Brothers Tom and Tony had made this trip before about 2 years ago and they were unfortunate to be there during the end of the monsoon. It rained nonstop for several days. (I think I would have been on the next flight back to Kathmandu). It seems that the local leeches are quite mobile in these conditions. I thought they only lived in water courses or lakes but here they wait at the side of the trail on rainy days and hitch a lift and a meal on unwary trekkers. Tom & Tony revelled in seeing us squirm at tales of leech infested sleeping bags and leeches hiding in your socks. After a good breakfast of oatmeal, eggs and toast we set off treading carefully on the damp trail. Looking back towards Lukla we had great views of the mountains and the early flights arriving from Kathmandu.

We soon left the main yak route turning east and heading for a pass. This trail was so steep and rocky that we encountered no yaks or mules only human porters carrying huge loads from one village to another. Over the pass and down to pleasant tea shop for lunch, where our hearty kitchen crew cook up a warm meal, there is not going to be any weight loss on this trip! After the pass we follow the contour to our evening resting place, Panggom where there is another tea house and camp site. During the night one dog insisted on nonstop barking, I was all for strangling it with the rope it was tied up with, but Martin insisted on going to talk to it. I heard soft words of calm drifting through the night and to my amazement the dog stopped barking, the dog whisperer was born. The next morning things were a bit chilly until the sun hit our tents, little did we know that sunrise on the tent was going to become a morning ritual of near religious proportions. Still the view from our flap made it worthwhile.

The young son of the tea shop owner who I guess was about 6 or 7 was charged with looking after his baby brother (or sister not sure which). During our breakfast and departure he played held and comforted the baby for 2 hours, can you imagine any of the 6 year olds you know doing that?

Todays route has little altitude gain but tortuous ups and downs which appear to be there just for fun the surface is treacherous to, in five and a half hours we only cover 10km. Lunch is in a beautiful spot near a rushing stream, the sight of our first leech starts Tom and Tony off on a story of their last trip. Ive been uncomfortable enough in this perfect weather; I cant imagine how I could have tolerated permanent rain. It turns out that this route is relatively new (last 5 years) and takes a day or two off the trek, which explains the rough surface and the fact that some sections are experimental. Today should have been a 7 hour day but a new section had been built only last year to cut off a couple of hours. Unfortunately this had some questionable engineering in parts.

And some exciting bridges.

Our evening campsite had no name or teahouse but the kitchen team managed the usual slap up dinner, which consumed in the dining tent The next days trail was not much improved with plenty of up and down along boulder strewn terrain. The porters (carrying 40Kg) made it all look easy, much to my dismay. The first glimpses of Mera Peak boosted our spirits as we neared lunch and a trail intersection with a nice tea house. (the toilets only got 2 rolls though). One of our porters was feeling pretty ill the decision was made that he should return to Lukla over the high pass using the trail we had just intersected. Another member of our team would accompany him and jog back to meet us, what had taken us 5 days to walk would probably take him about 12 hours. We were again reminded of our cosseted western existence where we could have found a host of different ways of avoiding walking 30 Km and crossing mountains to get to the hospital. Rather than being depressing the obvious hardship of living in this environment seems to keep the locals pretty cheery.

Later that day we entered Makalu Barun National Park and headed for our campsite at Kote. By this stage in the trek your mind starts to wander in a hypnotic state, so to get back in focus we played a few games of Limericks, heres one of the clean ones. There was a large mountain called Mera, Which threatened the team getting nearer, They plucked up their courage, And supped up their porridge, But then they felt even queerer.

Kote is the nearest thing to a holiday village in these parts, at over 4,000mts its not occupied year round, just in the trekking season, but it is quite a substantial settlement. Here there were all sorts of luxuries to be had, satellite phone calls to distant lands, and hot showers, only 100 Nepal Rupees ($1) per bucket. Per bucket? I had to check this out, so I splashed out on 2 buckets. The shower room was a wooden shack with slippery wood slats for a floor, pity I didnt bring the athletes foot powder. As advertised the shower consisted of a bucket of warm water with a small tap at the bottom, above head height there was a shelf for the bucket and one hook to hang your clothes, and towel. Despite the conditions it was one of the best showers I have ever had and the second bucket was bliss. Next morning we rose to our usual routine, 6am tea in bed, 7am breakfast, 8am start, despite our altitude we were still in the shadow of Mera towering above us to the east and the tent sunrise had not arrived before our departure, frost was crackling and popping as the tents were dismantled. Id been in shorts until now, time for the long pants I think. We pushed on up the river Inkhu Khola which runs off the Mera Glacier, towards Tangnag. I must have been feeling a bit hungry today my diary is mostly full of food related items, heres an extract. Our Chef treks with us but his chef status means that he doesnt have to carry anything. He makes a great job of limited resources, both food and utensil resources. Breakfast: Oatmeal with honey, Eggs different way each day, sometimes (if we are good) a chocolate bar for later. Lunch: Hot fruit juice (sounds strange but it grows on you) Chips (French fries) or rice, vegetables and meat or fish. Dinner: Soup, Papadoms, Meat or fish, potato, beans, vegetables, tinned fruit. And heres the freezer!

The riverside trail is well trodden and much more pleasant than the previous few days, as soon as we get in the sun the temperature shoots up from below freezing to almost hot. Despite a one and a half hour lunch we make good progress and are in camp by 2:30pm. Time for a snooze and a photo shoot. We had chance to assemble most of our back up team so here they are

L to R standing. Sonam (Sherpa), Treson (Head Sherpa), Arjun, Raj, Indra, Bigraj, Kumar, L to R kneeling, Janbu (Sherpa), Ratan (Chef), Binod (Sherpa), Lakpa, Thhongba. Our thanks to all of them. Our camp in Tangnag served as a low base camp for acclimatisation, we stayed here two nights and used the day to climb one of the peaks to our west at about 5000mts. As we descend from we see climbers coming down from the peak towards our camp, they look pretty glum. We soon learn why, the summer monsoon (which falls as snow on Mera) was late and heavy. No climbing teams have made it to the summit yet this season. Forging a trail in deep snow at that altitude is hard work and even experienced teams would only make a little progress per day. Not much we can do other than keep crossed fingers. The acclimatisation climb only occupied the morning so we had plenty of time for relaxation and even some clothes washing and drying in the afternoon sun. Amazingly things didnt seem to smell too bad even after 7days of trekking with no washing, or perhaps we had grown accustomed to the stench.

We also had time for a group photo of our team so here are the tourists.

L to R; Jo, Tom, Martin, Me, Kathryn, Mark, Tony, Jonathan, Steve, Andrew. After a cold start we push higher into the sun where we can peel off layers of clothing. Our target today is Khare at 5000 mts. another climbing village at the base of the Khare Glacier. The walk is beautiful ascending a classic alpine valley on a good well worn surface surrounded by towering peaks. We pass more tough looking mountaineering types all confirming yesterdays news, no one has reached the summit this year! Everyone is coping well with the altitude, as we climb above the height of Mont Blanc. The Khare camp is relatively comfortable; we are going to use this as a two night stay for another acclimatisation hike tomorrow, followed by some practice on our rope skills. Although most of Mera is a trekking mountain, meaning no technical mountain skills are needed. The peak has a snow dome about 20m (65ft.) high that has to be roped and climbed using a jumar followed by an abseiling (rappelling) descent. The jumar is a cam device that hooks onto a rope, sliding up but not down. This provides a climbing aid almost like a banister on stairs and security if you come adrift. Later that day in camp I am approached by a grizzled old Italian chap who had just come off the mountain. He asked if we had a doctor in our party, I said no but our guide Andy had an extensive medical kit and first aid skills. I wasnt sure what the problem was until he removed his gloves to reveal the classic blackened skin of frostbite midway down most of his fingers. I tried without much success to hide the look of horror on my face and quickly tracked down Andy. There wasnt much we could do to help and without treatment he would lose his fingers.

The frost bite was so serious that he was helicoptered out to Kathmandu later that afternoon. We all learned a lesson from that incident, dont take your gloves off for long. Fortunately there was some good news later that afternoon, another team had reached the peak so a route had been bashed, we didnt meet the team who cleared the route but our thanks go to them. Dinner time was animated with the adventures of the day to relive, at this altitude the dining rooms are freezing cold and there are no trees to provide fire wood. All the wood is carried up to camp so the tea house owners charge about 100NR per person to light the stove. Once the wimpy westerners have paid for the fire word gets round quickly and we were soon joined by our porters sharing the heat. Next day we set off onto the glacier for base camp at Mera La, a slightly later start than normal enabled us to drink our tea in the sun. We have not seen much in the way of wildlife so far but up here the alpine chuffs are everywhere and large ptarmigan like birds wiz noisily across the valley. We work our way up the boulder strewn glacial moraine and find a pleasant sunny spot for lunch. Here our backup team bring our famous mountaineering boots, crampons, harness and ice axe so we can prepare for the glacier. We say goodbye to our comfortable walking boots. After a couple of hours on the glacier we could see our evening campsite a depression in the lee of the glacier with no snow and a relativley flat area. Our tents were already being set up.

Dinner was early at 5:30pm followed by and early sleepless night. We are at 5,300m (17,400ft.) where the available oxygen levels are half that of sea level. You would think that would make you sleepy but quite the reverse. Fortunately we are pitched on an east facing slope to the sun is already on the tents when tea arrives at 7:30am. Off at 9:30 up the rocky slope then crampons on and rope up in two teams. Glaciers often have crevasses which can be hidden by snow layers so being roped to other team members hopefully means you dont disappear all the way down the hole if you are unfortunate enough to step on a thin snow bridge. The route is not too steep but very hard work at this altitude. We are at high camp (5,900m (19,400ft.)) by 1:30 in the afternoon, were the cooks have hot juice ready for us. I made a diary entry but its difficult to read it now, the first line says High Camp is high! Difficult to concentrate Once again we are on a rock outcrop in the lee of the mountain with a pretty scary drop off on one side.

We manage a nap before a major kit check; the summit attempt at is set for 3:00am. I sleep in most of the kit I will wear for the summit; amazingly I manage to sleep and am dreaming of tropical beaches when the cooks bring tea at 1:30am. Its colder than anything I have experienced. Andy gives up a pep talk at breakfast and we learn that four of the team are not feeling up to a summit attempt the altitude has taken its toll. We have two teams of 3 plus Sherpas Janbo and Sonam and we are please to get moving hoping to warm up, its a good 3 hours until dawn brings the warmth of the sun.

We set quite a fast pace in an attempt to warm up. Martin has to stop a couple of times which is not like him; hes usually out front delivering a mixture of abuse and encouragement. He had been ill with some mystery virus before the trip but I thought he was fully recovered. After a brief rest we pushed on, the next thing I knew Martin was on the deck looking pretty rough. Andy was worried that it could be pulmonary oedema, (leakage from the cells filling the lungs with fluid and reduces oxygen absorption even further) which can be very dangerous. The only treatment is to get to a lower level quickly. Andy would take Martin back to high camp. We were rather ruthless about pushing on quickly not much room for compassion at this altitude and was still dark and very cold. The trudge to the summit was pretty gruelling but we only had to negotiate one crevasse which we were able to jump across.

Shortly after that the sun rose and lifted our sprits along with it.

We were at the base of Mera Central summit at 7:00am and our Sherpas hoped we wouldnt want to climb the final dome to the summit, I was reticent because the exposure on the east side of the dome was pretty scary, Jonathan and Tony were up for it so Sonam was despatched to rope up the climb. We had heard that the team that had made the route to the summit a few days earlier had left a fixed rope in place. This turned out not to be the case so we had 20 minutes of cold windy wait while Sonam fixed the rope. During the wait Tony started to feel the effects of the cold and altitude; he opted out of the summit, Jonathan was up there alone, well of course I couldnt have that so I finally overcame my fears and jumared up to the top. Jonathan and I were briefly on the top of the world.

Now we had to get down again! The descent was almost pleasant with the sun rising and growing warmer every minute, we were the only team on the summit that morning which was lucky given that the route had just opened. On the way down we were looking north straight towards Everest. At this altitude and over 20Km away it didnt look that high.

Back at high camp the rest of our team had recovered and awaited our return, Martin was looking fine and not too despondent about missing the trip to the top. Our excellent cooks had prepared lunch and we managed a bite to eat before we started our descent towards Khare. On the way down we met several teams heading for high camp, we had been very lucky with our deserted summit. As soon as we were off the glacier the back up team met us with comfortable boots for the final few kilometres to the camp. We certainly slept well that night! The next day we plan to go all the way back to Khote, 12Km but downhill and we know the trail is good. Lunch at Tangnag in beautiful sunshine so we take a long break, during the afternoon Martin starts to collect wood along the route, remembering the enormous $1.00 charge for the fire at night, soon we all joined in, by the time we reached the village we had enough wood a long warm evening with still enough left to light the stove for breakfast. Our route back to Lukla is over the high pass at Zatrwa La I mentioned earlier so we still have some serious walking ahead of us. The next evening teahouse at Thuli Kharka is quite luxurious compared to previous accommodation, but the toilets only get a three roll rating from Jo. The next day is our 15th trekking day and we are all ready to get back to Lukla and some semblance of civilisation. We are welcomed at the pass by the brightly coloured prayer flags.

. The prayer flags had been a feature of all the summits and passes on our trip, Sonam explained that the wind blows prayers and mantras from the flags covering the countryside with goodwill. Each colour represents an element, Blue-Sky, White-Air and Wind, Red-Fire, Green-Water, Yellow-Earth. Health and Harmony are produced when all the elements are in balance. Obviously some of my elements were a bit out of kilter.

Tired but happy we arrive in Lukla which seems like a city after our days in the wilderness. That evening our backup team are our guests and we present the traditional gifts of thanks. This consists of an envelope of money followed by a curious lottery. We were encouraged to leave behind anything we didnt need no matter how old or smelly. Items ranged from sunglasses to down jackets. These were arranged in plies, one per member of our team. Each pile was lettered and a duplicate letter dropped in a hat. Each team member drew a letter and won the corresponding pile. I hope they had access to a washing machine. Our flight back to Kathmandu was uneventful and we were pleased to get to a shower and a real bed. We had a couple of days in Kathmandu to see the sites and do some shopping. The old Royal palace is worth a visit but I wouldnt make a special trip. Once again special thanks to our Sherpa Porter Cook back up team without whom we wouldnt have got much further than the first tea house. Thanks also to Andrew Jenkins our UK guide for making sure we were safe, and to the Mountain Kingdoms team for the organisation (and the kit list, specially the Pee bottle) I know this blog focused mainly on the practical aspects of our trip; there was of course a rich parallel universe of emotions swirling along at the same time. Being emotionally challenged on two counts; British and male, I invite the two brave girls on our trip to cover those aspects. Kathryn and Jo over to you. Happy Hiking Martin.