Gorak Shep
April 18, 2009

Namaste:

Bud and I spent one more day in Lobuche because Bud had a recurrence of the illness that plagued him in Namche Bazaar. The rest of the team moved up to Base Camp yesterday.  Bud feels much better today, so we are on our way to Base Camp.  We stopped in Gorak Shep for lunch, so I am posting this brief report.  We have about a 2-hour trek to reach Base Camp.

I feel great–better than I did in 2007.  But, then, Sharon will tell you that I would say that, thumbs up, as they carry me off the mountain in a stretcher.  In Namche Bazaar, I wrote Sharon, telling her that Bud had made a full recovery and we were moving up to Tengboche.  She wrote back: “Bill, sometimes I think your assessments are based more on wishful thinking than facts.”  Sure enough, the bugs that brought Bud down in Namche launched a counter-attack in Lobuche, and he was flat on his back again.  So, I guess you should listen to Sharon, not me, when it comes to assessing how I am doing.

Today is kind of a special day for me since I am being given the Homer Kripke Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers at a ceremony in Vancouver, Canada.  This is the second Lifetime Achievement Award I have been given, the first coming from the Business Law Section of the California State Bar Association.  I am especially happy to receive this award, since Homer Kripke, who passed away a decade ago, was a famous law professor and legal scholar, and a close friend.  I apologize for the immodesty in mentioning this award, and promise it won’t happen again.

My next report will come from Base Camp.

Bill