Chopper In Lukla

Geo Says Goodby to Pat

Remaining Team @ Last Dinner

Final Report / Katmandu
12 Nov, 05 - 16:59    
We were ready to go at 6:30 on a very frigid (it was 28 degrees in our room) morning.

We were ready to go at 7:00.

We were ready to go at 7:30.

We ran a pool as to when the chopper would arrive (I don't think anyone was pessimistic enough to win). We wandered & took "last-minute" pictures, we had rock throwing contests. MG bench pressed a duffel. We read.

A helicopter appeared and raised our hopes. But it was too small. It was here to bring down 2 trekkers who were ill.

We were ready to go at 9:30.

FINALLY at 10:19, our chopper arrived.

What a treat! Flying over the route we'd trekked in, getting a new & unique perspective on the land we'd walked weeks ago.

We stopped in Lukla, where we said goodbye to Pat who was met by his girl friend, Lisa. They will spend the next few days re-tracing our steps up to Namche Bazaar, and perhaps a bit farther.

The flight to Katmandu was a real treat. Definitely an "A" ride. Aside from the fact that the chopper ride is what made it possible to trek to Kala Pathar and take in its spectacular sights, the lower, slower chopper flight allowed us to see and savor far more of Nepal than the plane ride in did.

Tonight we dined one last time as a group. A special time for a special group of people who have become so close in what in the outside world would consider a very short period of time. But in the intense atmosphere of a climbing expedition, a month can easily be a lifetime.

We were only sorry Scott and Pat couldn't be with us.

This marks the end of my dispatches. I hope you've found them useful. The site itself will remain up indefinitely, and perhaps we'll find a way to allow other members to add photos and reflections in the coming months.

----- MARK