Machermo
September 27, 2017

Dear Family & Friends:

Yesterday was a tough and long day. We trekked from Namche Bazaar to Dole, a net elevation gain of 2,600 feet. The up and down trek took us a little over 9 hours.

Today, we trekked to Machermo. This was an easy day and, after 3 hours of trekking, we arrived in Machermo just in time for lunch. The altitude gain was 1,500 feet.

Everyone is doing really well on the trek. Richard decided to ride a horse for the second half of the trek to Dole. He had so much fun he plans to ride the horse all the way to Gokyo.

We were disappointed with the helicopter reconnaissance that was completed yesterday. The pilot refused to fly much above Camp 1 so we have no footage of the summit or the summit ridge headwall. We are considering a second recon on September 30 when the helicopters ferry us from Gokyo to Base Camp.

The good news is that the route looks climbable and conditions on the mountain are very good. In fact, the lines have already been fixed to C1. The Sherpas are sleeping at C1 tonight and will start to fix the lines to C2 tomorrow.  Noel is at Base Camp and will be climbing to C1 tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, we trek to Gokyo. We will take a rest day at Gokyo and then fly to Base Camp.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Bill

Phortse

Phortse

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trekking to Dole

Trekking to Dole

Trek to Dole

Trek to Dole

Bill trying to use a satellite phone

Bill trying to use a satellite phone

Trekking to Machermo

Trekking to Machermo

Trekking to Machermo

Trekking to Machermo

Arriving at Machermo

Arriving at Machermo

Richard on the way to Machermo

Richard on the way to Machermo

Richard riding a horse to Machermo

Richard riding a horse to Machermo

Richard, Bill & Micah with Everest in the background

Richard, Bill & Micah with Everest in the background

Playing the uke on the trail

Playing the uke on the trail

Mt. Everest

Mt. Everest

Trekking-5 Trekking-4 Trekking-3 Trekking-2 Trekking