Six Days and Counting

I can tell you after being with many members of the group that we are all very excited to begin our trip. It seemed so long ago we were starting our preparation with the thought of traveling to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest so far in the future. Time has passed quickly and it is surreal that in less in a week our trip truly begins.

To give you a glimpse of the main activity we have done in the past four months preparing for the trip, I’ll give a top level summary. The first items to take care of were making sure our passports were current, confirming our flight reservations, and getting the appropriate VISA's (India and Nepal) for the travel. Some of the other preparation included making sure we had the necessary equipment for the hike and camps (some of the camping will be in sub-zero temperature), getting updated immunizations, and exercising.

Out of all these preparations the equipment and exercise are crucial to keeping us happy and healthy on the trip and have been a large part of our planning activity. Our hike will span a wide variety of temperatures – morning and evenings will be cold but the day time can be warm at high altitude. Layering is the best approach to keep comfortable, warm, and dry. Whether there is sun or rain, all of this is taken into consideration when putting together the list of clothing articles and gear to bring.

Many of us have been exercising on our own but several members of the group have also been hiking stairs with full packs and hiking boots. This is a great relevant exercise that quickly gets the heart beating! We have also hiked outside on trails, but since many of us live in Houston, it is hard to find any elevation to challenge us.

Well, I’ll close this blog for now but hope we will have the opportunity to update it during our trip for those interesting in following our adventure.

Chris