Sunrise on Kalapatar

Sunrise over Everest. Everest is the dark peak (behind) in the center. From this point of view it certainly doesn't look the highest, and it's not the prettiest, but it IS Everest!

Me, Subba (our guide), and Gary on the top of Kalapatar (5555m) at about 6:00am. Me in my Big Bird jacket and Gary with his ridiculous Chinese hat. We look professional don't we? haha.

Ah. Beauty.


This morning we woke up at 4:00am and starting hiking in the dark. It was cool because the stars and the moon were so bright they lit up the mountains and everything looked quite eerie. We hiked up Kalapatar (5555m) to see the sunrise over Everest.

I had about 1 hour sleep the night before (it’s hard to sleep in altitude!) and I had a terrible cold. I was hacking and my nose was dripping with snot… it was awesome! I felt like one of the forever snotty-nosed sherpa kids… poor things!

It was freezing and my water partially froze on the way up. About half way there Evan and John turned around. They were feeling terrible and looked it too. However Gary and I kept going to see the sunrise with our guide Subba. Gary will never let the boys live that one down now, but I certainly can’t say much!

The sunrise was beautiful. We got back to Gorak Shep around 6:45am. We enjoyed breakfast and some time to warm up before we were on our way down the mountain. It was strange b/c almost immediately going down I felt ill. My head was thumping (or tumping as the lads would say) and I felt nauseous (like I was having another AMS bout, but we were going down?) Gary stayed back with me (bless him) and when we stopped for lunch I had to concentrate to keep anything down. I even cried a little. These poor boys had no idea what they were in for when I joined them. I had no idea either!

After Evan gave me some Tylenol at lunch I started to improve. Gary said he can always tell when I start to feel better b/c I start to talk. (I was completely silent for about 3 hours there)

The rest of the day was quite enjoyable talking to Gary and hiking at a leisurely pace. Subba carried my bag, while I carried his VERY light bag. Yes, I am “that camper” on this trip (I can hardly believe it; I can only laugh about it…)