I am 66 years old and have done a lot of hiking in the USA as well as climbing Mt. Fuji, Orizaba and Iztaacchuatl volcanoes in Mexico. We have hiked to the bottom and back of the Grand Canyon at least 25 times on most of the various trails to the bottom. For me, the crowning trek was to hike in the Himalayan range. We contacted Jagat Lama in Kathmandu, Nepal and signed up for our adventure to hike for two weeks with porters and guides. Our group of friends included three men and three women aged from 60 to 75. I’m sure this would be a daunting task for Jagat and his guides.
We all hiked from Lukla to Namche which was Bill’s goal (he’s the 75-year-old). One of the guides stayed with Bill, and we continued with the two outstanding guides, Chet and Chandra. These two guides did everything for us; got all of our bags from the porters and put in our rooms, took our menu selections to the cooks, and discussed the plans for the following day.
The guides made allowances for some who were having some altitude adjustment issues and gave positive feedback to everyone. They were very patient with all of us and really tried hard to ensure we stayed healthy and happy. I can honestly say that these were two of the best guides weÃve ever had. On our hikes, the guides had to work around some of us who liked to take pictures but needed to do some additional acclimation at higher altitude. As a result three of us were able to hike all the way to Mt. Everest base camp. It was like a moonscape. We met the Korean team that was going to climb Everest as soon as the weather looked better. The base camp is awesome with tents all over the place with prayer flags, and ice towers and rocks everywhere.
At 5:00 am we were going to climb Kalapathar (5545m.) When we went out it was snowing and foggy. The weather in the valley is usually clear in the morning, foggy in the afternoon, and big clouds in the later afternoon. Chandra said we should start for Kalapathar as he felt it would clear up – and sure enough, the snow stopped and the sun came out. We made it to the summit in snow and ice.
From this mountain, we took fantastic views of Mt. Everest and Lhotse. We saw an avalanche and heard the cracking sounds coming from the Khumbu glacier. The valley we hiked was very interesting. It surpassed my expectations. I had no idea how many memorials there would be erected for the Everest climbers. It’s a sight to see. There were many stupas and monasteries. There are many rock faces that have a Buddha painted or adorned with prayer flags and the rows of prayer wheels to spin. The landscape goes from lush vegetation to flower trees, to pine trees and then the tree line to tundra and almost a moonscape. The children were fun to play with and photograph.
As we headed down the valley to Lukla, my wife became sick and we saw that she couldn’t hike all the way down. Our great guides arranged for a horse for her to ride so we wouldn’t miss our plane. At Lukla, I took my wife to a new, wonderful hospital where she was treated and given medicine. When we reached Kathmandu, there was a strike by the Maoist Communist Party that closed all of the businesses. Jagat again came to our rescue by getting a van and getting us to the airport.
He, Chet and Chandra babysat us to make sure we got through the security hassle and on to the right plane. I can’t imagine anyone doing anything more or better that Jagat, Chet, and Chandra could have done to make this a wonderful experience that exceeded our expectations. I recommend his services to you if you’re planning to go anywhere in Nepal or Tibet. It was my dream trip come true.
