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Greetingss From Namche Bazar
21 Oct, 05 - 14:37
Great day of trekking. Definitely a workout, but all did great.
Rained pretty much all night, tapering to intermittent drizzle as we prepared to leave Phakding at 8:00, gradually improving to sunny and warm by the time we took our break at 10:00. Had a long break and a hot lunch between 11:00 and 12:45. During that time the skies again became overcast, but that was a blessing. The final 3-hour stretch to Namche Bazar is a steep climb of 2,000 vertical feet.
Brutal on a sunny day.
It's foggy and chilly now.
Tomorrow is a rest day. Not that we're too tired to trek another day, but our bodies need time to adjust to the elevation. One rule of thumb is to average about 1,000 vertical feet of elevation gain per day above 8,000' to avoid ill effects due to elevation gain. More experienced climbers (i.e. climbers who have experience on big mountains) can push that some, as they've demonstrated a tolerance and tend to acclimatize faster.
We've gone from Phakding (8,300') to Namche (11,300') - time to let our bodies catch up.
PS: For those following the saga of Pat's luggage, when last we heard, they were in Delhi, due into Kathmandu today.
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Dispatches)
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