Head in the clouds 6/3/2022 10:56:56 AM

Two stomachs, one throat and a knee are not doing so well at the moment. After some pills, our group is on the path again. Mornings are crisp and normally we would wear something warmer than a t-shirt and shorts, but we rely on the warmth of the rising sun. In addition, today’s ascend seems steep enough to keep good sweat on.

At the lunch time we heard really sad news from a Sherpa we met. Two Koreans were caught by a avalanche during their ascend towards Himchuli (6 441m) couple days ago and they have not been found. The group is staying in their camp next to ABC and continuing search, but possibilities to find the climbers are particularly non-existent. There has been avalanches on the mountains near ABC every day now.

The weather changed dramatically at 3500 m while we were reaching the clouds. The temperature dropped nearly 10 degrees and fog and breeze added the feeling of cool. Our target today was Machu Puchare camp (3 700 m), which we reached at 4 pm. We would have the energy to reach ABC today, but due to short acclimatization we spend the night at lower altitudes. After a meal at a Nepalese tea house, the non-electrified base camp and surrounding clouds cradle us to sleep at 8.30 pm, literally head in the clouds.

Mika Pitkämäki