Time for Games

To Loboche, Nepal -- 4910m (16,100ft)

Hi, it’s Kylie. Today was a very, very easy day.  A profile map of the trek would be up at the very beginning and the gently down the rest of the way. The whole day I stayed with Mom while Dex shot ahead. I heard afterwards that he met up with a Russian man who walked with him all the way to Loboche and gave him a couple stickers.  (Dad’s note: How cool. In the future, when Dex thinks of Russia, he may very well remember this fellow Himalayan hiker.)

Dex and the Khumbu glacier

Going up

Lots of time when I'm hiking, I will look down at the ground and see a particular footprint. Today I followed one that was filled with dots and that amused me for a little while.  While I was looking for footprints in the soft dirt, I was talking to Mom and enjoying the views. Believe it or not, we got to the lodge in only two and a half hours! We’re staying at the orange colored lodge that Kevin and Craig recommended.

The nice lodge owner, Pemba, gave us free French fries when we arrived and then gave Dex and me some games to play -- Shoots and Ladders and a game called IQ Twist. That game was lots of fun. There was a board with a grid of 32 holes, 5 colored pegs, and 8 different shaped colored pieces. The goal was to fit all the pieces on after the pegs were placed in different positions.

View from the sun room

Another game Dex, Pemba, Ugala (Pemba’s 3 ½ year old daughter), and I played was one we made up. We stuck different shaped pieces of paper in cracks in the floor.  You flicked dice at the paper and if you hit them or went through a tunnel or up a ramp, then you would get points from 5 to 50.

Ugala and Pemba

Dad went out for a hike while we were playing and came back right when Craig and Kevin got here from EBC. (Dad’s Note: it was a beautiful afternoon with barely a breeze. As I climbed the ridge, the hillside changed to large rocks and eventually, huge exposed slabs. Thankfully, I reached the end of this particular cliff with the sun still shining, providing ample time to scamper back down).

It was fun playing games today and also having everyone back together in the lodge. Dad says we will go slightly down again tomorrow but then it's up, up, up to the big pass.