Made it to Namche Bazzar (11,280 ft)...

Woke up this morning and had a great breakfast as we got ready for the big hike to Namche Bazzar. The team packed up and started out for our first all day trek. The trail took us through some very beautiful pine forests along the Dudh Koshi River. As we trekked along we crossed a number of suspension bridges, one of which was the famous Hillary Suspension Bridge. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are recognized as the first two men to reach the summit of mount Everest. This happened on the 29th of May, 1953. As we continued on we hit some very hard rain and some VERY large hail that actually hurt when it hit us. We kept going though as we had a goal to reach, Namche Bazzar. We saw glimpses of some amazing mountains such as glistening Mt. Thamserku (over 18000 ft.) We trekked through the settlements of Benkar, Cjhumoa, Monjo, and finally reached the check post at the enterance of Sagarmatha National Park. We past through the last village of Jorsale and then the hardest part of the trek to the finish of the trail.

The trail itself was extremely steep, muddy and mostly rocky, lots of traffic consisting of other trekkers, oxen, mules, and sherpas who we gave the right of way. We were all out of breath as we got higher and higher into the altitude. I'm telling you, this trail is TOUGH! One young man stopped me on the way up and said, "good luck, thats trail is HARD", just what we wanted to hear (haha)! We kept climbing through forests and bridges until we reached the confluence of the Dudh Koshi and Bhote Koshi rivers, They look like they would be great places to fish, however, no fish, the glacial water is extremely cold! After the final extremely steep ascent, about two hours, we had our first sight of Mt. Everest peering over the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. A few more miles to go!!!! Finally, a gold topped entry announced our arrival at Namche Bazzar, gateway to Mt. Everest and main trading center of the region.

We are staying over night tonight and have an acclimatization day as our bodies adjust to the high altitude. So far, no one has experienced altitude sickness! Another awe inspiring day in store tomorrow! I'm telling you Mt. Everest has a magic, you might call it a vibe! Its mysterious, beautiful, poetic and frightenting all at the same time and it grabs your heart, your mind and your soul!

Well, good night for now! Tomorrow is another awesome day! Check back for a report tomorrow! Believe it or not they have GREAT INTERNET up here!