Ama Dablam Base Camp

Yesterday, we hiked from our lodge in Pangboche, down to the river and then back up high to the Ama Dablam base camp. There were just a few expedition tents there, as this singular, beautiful mountain is generally climbed in the autumn and winter.

It was a milestone for us, as we reached a new high point of 15,000'. Previously, the highest we'd been was the summit of Mt. Elbert, the highpoint in Colorado at 14,433'. The past two nights we've also been sleeping at 13,000', which is the highest we've slept. We're feeling fit and strong, knowing that this is preparing us well for what's to come.

Yesterday we also got the first views of Lobuche East Peak, which we will attempting to climb on Saturday. It's a bit over 20,100'. The realities of that and the fact that 5 of our new friends will be attempting Everest in the coming weeks were brought a bit more to the forefront of our psyche as well, with our blessing ceremony by the Lama Geshe, which included the chant "Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hung Hri". Will try to internalize this for our climbs.

Here are some pictures of our trek to Ama base camp and the beautiful mountain.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AD51UmMVyZvvLiws7

The picture here is Dr. Rob Casserly explaining the route up Ama Dablam, which he has summited. He's also going for his 9th Everest summit and his 1st summit of Lhotse this season
Namaste