Today we finally started walking. Fortunately our day is mostly down hill. Unfortunately that means we will have to reclaim that lost altitude tomorrow. That is the tough part of the trek to base camp. You generally follow the Dudi Kush (sp?) river higher and higher until it ends at the Khumbu glacier that flows from Everest. Through out the next 8 to 10 days we will be continually descending to cross the river and climbing the other side only to descend and cross again. Sixty percent of the time we ascend. Fourty percent of the time we are descending - the math always taking us ever higher. Phak Ding is a beautiful little village nestled on the banks of this fast flowing mountain river. We make quick work of the trek and have some time to do a little exploring before settling in for the night.

Phak Ding is also the location of the first foot bridge across the river. These things are scary. My wife is terrified of all foot bridges much less ones that sway and bounce as you walk over chasms hundreds of feet deep. In fact if I talk about it much I’ll have to turn around now and come home. Most are well built but there are some further up valley that have wooden planks and lots of places missing. To compound all of this they are very narrow. Two people can squeeze by each other but if you meet a yak train your only choice is to flee. She was a real trooper. “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” got her across and provide no small amusement to any number of Sherpas. She only acknowledged what every body else was thinking.

My $4 “North Farce” duffle I bought in KTM busted open before it had gone a mile. See why I wouldn’t buy any rope there. We put it in a big potato sack. I obviously am not a very discriminating shopper. I don’t care. My wife is okay. My family is fine. I am walking. With every day I walk farther from the cares at home and the office literally and figuratively. The process has already started. I can’t remember what day of the week it is. The only feeling that I can’t shake is guilt. My pursuing my dream is at a significant price to the people in my life. I thought about that when my wife was in the emergency room. The people who work with me in my company are taking on extra responsibilities so I can do this. I also know that there will be dozens of high altitude Sherpas who will risk their lives so a few climbers like me can make an attempt on the highest mountain in the world. I know all to well the price that can be paid having lost a team member in 2006. I content myself with the assurances that all who are climbing with me are climbing out of a shared love of climbing and not just the relatively big money they will make for a few months work. To those at home all I can offer is my gratitude for the sacrifice they are making to allow me to finish my goal of climbing the highest mountain on every continent. I know a lot of people are pulling for me. My church, Solid Rock Assembly, had special prayer for me the Sunday I left. I even felt like that was an imposition. I do have hopes that something more than a summit will come out of this