Nepal and Mt. Everest

NEPAL AND MT. EVEREST

Everest, the world’s highest mountain, has long held a fascination for me. I’ve been in the vicinity of Everest twice, and both times with climbers who have become woven into the history and lore of the peak – in 1993 with Scott Fischer and 2011 with Wally Berg. It is a fantastic journey, some of it captured here in a small handful of slides.

Boudhanath Buddhist Stupa – Kathmandu

Boudhanath Buddhist Stupa – Kathmandu

Thamel District – Kathmandu

Thamel District – Kathmandu

Dunbar Square – Kathmandu

Dunbar Square – Kathmandu

Musical instrument maker – Kathmandu

Musical instrument maker – Kathmandu

Rupa tries out a flute

Rupa tries out a flute

Garden of Dreams – Kathmandu

Garden of Dreams – Kathmandu

Bhaktapur – Kathmandu

Bhaktapur – Kathmandu

Hindu Sadhus – Pashupatinath

Hindu Sadhus – Pashupatinath

The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla

The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla

Lukla airstrip – 9,000 feet elevation, no room for pilot error

Lukla airstrip – 9,000 feet elevation, no room for pilot error

Lukla Street

Beginning of Everest Base Camp trek

Beginning of Everest Base Camp trek

Trailside boulder carved with Buddhist prayers

Trailside boulder carved with Buddhist prayers

Bridge over Dudh Kosi River to Phakding

Bridge over Dudh Kosi River to Phakding

Wally Berg visits with yak herder Nim Phuti Sherpa

Wally Berg visits with yak herder Nim Phuti Sherpa

Yaksters loading up for the day’s trek

Yaksters loading up for the day’s trek

Brilliant stone work on trails used only by people and yaks

Brilliant stone work on trails used only by people and yaks

Imja Khola suspension bridge with prayer flags

Imja Khola suspension bridge with prayer flags

Yaks on suspension bridge

Yaks on suspension bridge

Sherpa boys with trekking pole

Sherpa boys with trekking pole

Sherpa girls with homework

Sherpa girls with homework

Prayer wheels along the trail

Prayer wheels along the trail

Sherpa and granddaughter turn a prayer wheel

Sherpa and granddaughter turn a prayer wheel

Open air market in Namche Bazaar

Open air market in Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar, 11,000 feet elevation. Sherpa center of Khumbu region.

Namche Bazaar, 11,000 feet elevation. Sherpa center of Khumbu region.

Everest summit (center left) from above Namche Bazaar

Everest summit (center left) from above Namche Bazaar

Mani prayer stones

Mani prayer stones

Hiking the high trail to Thame

Hiking the high trail to Thame

Tangboche Monastery

Tangboche Monastery

Tangboche Monastery

Tangboche Monastery

Pot burning incense

Pot burning incense

Buddhist nuns folding cloth

Buddhist nuns folding cloth

Young monks playing

Young monks playing

Lama Geshe offers a blessing at Pangboche to an Everest trekker

Lama Geshe offers a blessing at Pangboche to an Everest trekker

Patties of yak dung dry on a rock, to be used later as fuel in Sherpa stoves

Patties of yak dung dry on a rock, to be used later as fuel in Sherpa stoves

Climbing above Pheriche at 14,000 feet

Climbing above Pheriche at 14,000 feet

Yaks coming down from the Khumbu Glacier

Yaks coming down from the Khumbu Glacier

Tukla, a waystation on the hike up the Khumbu.

Tukla, a waystation on the hike up the Khumbu.

The chorten honoring climber Scott Fischer, who died on Everest in 1996.

The chorten honoring climber Scott Fischer, who died on Everest in 1996.

Everest at sunset from Gorak Shep.

Everest at sunset from Gorak Shep.

A reading break on the way to Base Camp. With Jayta Rai and Mingma Sherpa.

A reading break on the way to Base Camp. With Jayta Rai and Mingma Sherpa.

High in the Khumbu, nearing the end of the trail.

High in the Khumbu, nearing the end of the trail.

Everest Base Camp. 17,500 feet elevation.

Everest Base Camp. 17,500 feet elevation.

Mt. Everest from Kala Pattar.

Mt. Everest from Kala Pattar.

Robert Birkby