Reaching Beyond the Clouds

Camp 4 (26,000 ft) holding CSUF banner and oxygen bottles behind me.

I will be home by Monday afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After being away for two months, I cannot describe what it is like to know that in 36 hours I will be home.

Thank you for all of your comments: They have helped me stay connected with home and friends.

I will try and get the event-outline completed while flying home but I have to say that my energy level is still unusually low. I have been told by other summiters that they feel the same: weak. I weighted myself and was not surprised to see that I have lost over 10% of my body weight. It is said that on summit day alone the average climber burns 10,000 to 15,000 calories which if you consider that it took us 18.5 hours (I am guessing there were close to 100 people trying to summit: very crowded) to climb from Camp 4 to the summit and back to Camp 4 (starting at 26,000 ft). On summit day you do not stop and rest. The only breaks you get are when your oxygen bottle is changed and then you have time to drink a little and eat a few bites. Anyway, more details to come.

So, I got up early went to the parade, in the afternoon we received our metals, and when to the dinner party in the evening.

The yaks are in Lukla with our bags. Now to see if the bags make it to Kathmandu today. What would be amazing because I could flight home TONIGHT!!!!! Otherwise I have to wait three more days to leave.

I will post the details of the climb with pictures as soon as I can, but my main focus is getting home to my family! I have been gone for two months.

We marched through town - it was very interesting.

We were awarded a certificate and metal from the Minister of Tourism

At the dinner party, Mr. Pradhan from the Nepali Weekly was very interested in our stories.

If you would like to hear, there is a link to a recorded satillite call I made to National Public Radio (NPR) on the In The News Page under About Me.

WOW is it great to be back in a city! You have no idea what it is to live at 17,500 ft for five weeks in a tent.

I am working on a event-outline but it will be delayed because we just found out that we are in a parade in the morning, get a metal in the afternoon, and then there is a summiters’ party in the evening!

Now is a good time to say that without our wonderful Sherpa Team, none of this would have been possible!

And also, I have attached a reminder of the serious nature of high-altitude climbing. This was the last thing we saw before leaving base camp.

Celebration after returning to base camp.

2009 climber's body recovered from Camp 2.