More From Base Camp

I couldn't get enough of this place. To truly appreciate the grandeur, you have to be there. I did attempt a 360 degree panorama using an HDR approach. I took around 25 vertical shots taking five shots each with different exposure values. I will convert each of the 25 shots (composed of 5 shots) into HDR, and then try to stitch them all together to form one huge panorama photo. It will take some time to put it together, but let you know if and when it comes out...

Ruthmary Francis Everett 1910 - 2007

While sleeping at the Base Camp, my Grandmother (Grand Mommy Girl) passed away at the age of 98. She is now in a better place and with her beloved husband. She was a fantastic mother, grand mother, and great grand mother!! Not many people can claim to have a grand mother for 45 years...she had a long, happy life, and shared many stories that will live forever in our family. I will miss her very much!!

This is my grandmother in 1928...

...and this is her on her 90th birthday...

Our Final Climb to Base Camp

Today is the day we reach our goal...Annapurna Base Camp.

It was not an easy hike. Four hours of uphill, and it was tough to catch your breath in the high altitude. But man, was it worth it. The views of the mountains were unbelievable!! It is difficult to capture the pure size of these mountains on film. It was unreal walking between 8000 meter colossal giants. We were literally surrounded by huge peaks of glaciers, rock and snow.

This is the base camp for Machapuchre (fish tail)...

And here it is...our lodge for the night...Annapurna Base Camp

Leaving the Hills and Entering the BIG STUFF

We called the folks making the regular treks in the Annapurna region "The Poon Hill Crowd".

We now join "The Base Camp Crowd"...

That means we are now in another league...we leave the foot hills of the Himilayas and now enter the BIG mountains up close and personal. Difficult climbs and high altitude...well, not for the "real" climbers that actually summit these 8000 meter giants, but for us mere mortals, it is high altitude (4,100 meters at base camp).

So, below are the foothills that we climbed the past few days...

The trails are really well maintained...

And now, we enter the big stuff...

Trek To Chomrong

As usual, we were all up for sunrise at 6:45. Hot chocolate, coffee, tea, eggs, Tibetan bread, and oatmeal follows, and then another day of trekking.

The photo below is a cropped version of a panoramic photo I took during sunrise. Photoshop does a really nice job of stitching the 14 photos together, and then blending the skies to finish off the Pano.

About an hour into our trek, we came across this nice little field perched high in the mountains. The frisbee just had to come out...the only thing we had to be careful of is over-throwing as there were steep drop-offs on all sides of the field.

How would you like to work on this farm? Sure would keep you in shape...

Trek to Sinawa

After a brief stop in Chomrong, Mike decided to stay and not make the trek to the base camp. So Mike will have a relaxing four days in Chomrong while we struggle with the long hills and altitude to the base camp. He chose a great place to hang out for a few days. It was the best food and lodge we stayed in on our trek.

The rest of us made a long downhill walk to the stream, and then the long uphill walk to Sinawa. It was a tough climb, but a very pretty walk.

Climb to Poon Hill

Dave and I got up at 5:30 in the morning to climb a very difficult one-hour climb in extreme cold to see the sunrise at the famous Poon Hill where you can see most of the Annapurna range. It was very beautiful, but we both wondered if it was really worth the climb and the cold to see it...I guess it was worth it...but I am a real weakling when it comes to the cold...guess that is why I live in the tropics...

Trek to Totadapani

We had breakfast after the climb up to Poon Hill, and then the four of us continued up-hill again to about the same height as Poon Hill...only the view was better at this point, and Dave and I wondered why we just didn't get up early and hike to this point instead of going up Poon Hill. We would have been an hour closer to our destination, and the view was better. So if you ever go to Poon Hill, and you are going to go to Totadapani, we recommend you skip Poon Hill, and just hike towards Totadapani, and stop at the summit for photos...

Sure am glad I wasn't carrying a load like this...

Dave took this photo of me (thanks, Dave) at the summit of this mere hill, probably higher than any mountain on the east coast of America, but in the Himilayas, it is probably considered only a hill. At each summit there are tons of prayer flags...makes for nice photos...

Ah, beer time at our Tea House at Totadapani...what a view from our little eating spot...

Trek to Gorepani

Today's trek was ALL UPHILL...6 hours of uphill. We climbed 900 meters (almost 3000 feet).

This was our first view of Annapurna South...

I had to put the above photo in...we felt very accomplished after today's hike!!

On The Trail...Day ONE

It is the day after Christmas...we took a 2 hour jeep ride up into the mountains to start our Trek to the Annapurna Base Camp. Here we are below, all nice and clean with a little bit of stubble on our faces...that will soon change.

Our first view of "fish tail". We had three porters carry our backpacks...the only thing I had to carry was my camera and jacket...

Most don't have porters...

We got sheep....lots of sheep...

We had to check in with the Maoists. They were actually very nice. We had to pay 100 rupies for each day of our trek. (1100 Rupies)

Merry Christmas from the Lake in Pokhara

Merry Christmas!!

Today was just a relaxing day of sleeping, reading books, eating, and just hanging out by the lake. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we couldn't see the great view of the mountains. Hope you all are having a great day today!!

Christmas Eve - On the Road to Pokhara

We spent Christmas Eve on the road. It was not a very exciting photo day... in fact, I only took three photos the entire day. This one is of the "tire guy" at one of the road stops we took to fuel up the car. Gas in Nepal is hard to come by after the unrest with the Maoists. We were lucky to find gas at this stop. The trip to Pokhara took about 6 hours, but very little traffic.

Late Afternoon at Bhaktapur

In the late afternoon, when the lighting was just perfect, we shot over to the old capital of Nepal, Bhaktapur. It was like walking into medieval times. The buildings were all so old, and the people carrying on has they have for generations. What a cool place...

Mid-Day at Boudhanath

After a great morning at Pashupatinah, we took a taxi over to the famous Tibetan Stupa of Boudhanath. The Tibetans walk around the Stupa clock-wise. A pretty cool place...