The trail

Yaks and their herders, Nepalese Sherpa guides, Rai porters carrying over a hundred pounds on their backs share this well traveled, dusty trail to Everest. I must watch out for the sharply pointed horns of packed yaks moving swiftly down the trail. I walk through many villages and catch a glimpse of a unique Sherpa way of life and culture far different from the West. The extraordinary faces I see could be appearing on the pages of Natural Geographic. Here, poverty prevails, in a harsh environment in the astonishing Himalayan mountain range.

The days are warm and the night freezing cold and crisp. I go to sleep wearing my clothes and a hat. At higher attitudes people report being sleepless because of the cold. Many people walk around coughing constantly and with serious chest colds that prevent them from finishing their trek. I now wear a mask to shield me from the dust because of my cough. My heart is pumping hard constantly as I slowly adjust to the attitude in this land with the highest peaks in the world. The key to trekking uphill is to go slow and take deep filling breathes. Hopefully, yoga has prepared me.

I'm here at one of the best times of year with clear views of the towering snow filled mountains and deep glacial river cut gorges. I woke up at daybreak today to catch the morning sun light on Everest. A luminous whiteness shines on the snow. Glaciers appear and the mountains shine their snowy peaks like natural church spires.

It's awesome!