Author: jim earlam

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Nepal – Lobuche to Kala Patar

Lobuche 16,175ft – Gorek Shep 17,008ft – Kala Patar 18,192ft – Lobuche

I slept fitfully and not very well at Above the Cloud lodge, this was mainly due to the fact that all the rooms were booked solid and three of us ended up sleeping on the communal/dining room benches. It was at least warm though due to the heat from the Yak Dung burning stove, which lasted for a while into the night even when the stove was put out. The fifteen or so porters whose bed was the hard wooden floor of the room also added to the warmth, if not the quiet! At 5.30am we were up, the porters having vacated some time earlier. A breakfast of porridge and tea and we were out by 6.30am. Continue reading “Nepal – Lobuche to Kala Patar”

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Nepal – Pherice to Lobuche

Pherice 13,911ft to Lobuche 16,175ft

The aim of the day is to get to Lobuche all in one piece and without any acclimatisation problems. I Slept OK, one of the downsides of taking Diamox is it gets rid of the water in your body which means a couple of trips to the toilet in the night, not too bad at home but when you’ve got to get out of your warm sleeping bag into the freezing cold, pitch black night, put your boots and head torch on and wander off to the toilet it’s not so great.

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Nepal – Namche Bazaar to Tengboche

Namche 11,306ft to Tengboche 12,687ft

The walk from Namche Bazaar to Tynbouche (or Tengboche) is a pure delight every step of the way. The path is good, the views are incredible and there is a real sense at the end of the day that you are entering into the heart of the Khumbu. We set off at about 8am in bright, glorious sunshine and head up through the streets of Namche Bazaar. Leaving the shops and guest houses behind we climb up out of town and reach the trail that leads to Tengboche. Continue reading “Nepal – Namche Bazaar to Tengboche”

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Nepal – Khunde and Khumjung

Namche Bazaar walking to
Khunde 12,602ft and Khumjung 12,402ft

Namche Bazaar is known as the ‘Sherpa capital’. If you are walking in the Khumbu or doing the Everest Base Camp trek you are almost certain to be passing through this town and spending some time here. At 11,300ft it is the perfect place to spend a rest day or two to give your body some time to adjust to the rarified air. At this height, there is about a third less oxygen in the air than at sea level. Continue reading “Nepal – Khunde and Khumjung”

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Nepal – Phakding to Namche Bazaar

Phakding 8,701ft to Namche Bazaar 11,306ft
 
Up at 7.10am. A breakfast of porridge with honey, toast and jam does the trick and we leave Phakding at about 9.20am. The trail is very enjoyable. Pleasant walking on a good path through the forest all the way to Benkhar (or Benkar) a very attractive looking village nestled snugly amongst the trees with the sun casting shadows on the path and the smell of blossom rich in the air. We then cross over a couple of suspension bridges. These structures, depending on how you are with height are either exciting and exhilarating to cross or scary  and nerve wracking.
 

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Nepal – Lukla to Phakding

Lukla 9,283ft to Phakding 8,701ft

Up at 6.30am. A cup of tea was followed by finishing off packing the rucksack. The contents of my rucksack will be my sole personal possessions for the next four weeks, I find the simplicity of this quite liberating, like being freed from the trappings of materialism. Left my trainers and a spare fleece behind and reckon it weighs about 9kg which should be OK. Sarita, the smiley guest house owner blesses us with a Hindu blessing before we leave and places the traditional red mark, the Bindi, on our foreheads and a flower in our hair. Continue reading “Nepal – Lukla to Phakding”

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Coast to Coast Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay

Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay 19 Miles

Day fourteen, the last day, starts with a wholesome farmhouse breakfast after a good nights sleep. Over breakfast we chat to the farmer about the weather and we all agree that it has been rather wet for the time of year. It’s a dairy farm and the farmer tells us that ‘even the cows are miserable’. This makes me wonder how you can tell a miserable looking cow from a normal looking cow but I guess I’m not with these cows every day for months and years. Continue reading “Coast to Coast Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay”

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Coast to Coast Clay Bank Top to Glaisedale

Clay Bank Top to Glaisdale 18 Miles

The end of the walk, which for a couple of weeks has seemed so distant is now suddenly within touching distance and only two days walking away. They are long days though, seventeen to nineteen miles a piece depending on which book you read (I did this walk prior to possessing my very own GPS which no doubt would have given yet a different number!) We are dropped off at Clay Bank Top just after 9am and, like yesterday the day starts with an uphill leg and lung warmer, a steady six hundred feet of ascent from the road up onto Urra Moor.

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Coast to Coast Osmotherley to Clay Bank Top

The path stretching out along the Cleveland Crest

Osmotherley to Clay Bank Top 11 Miles

Having spent two days crossing the Vale of York we are now back in hill country and about to enter our third National Park, The Yorkshire Moors. We enter the Park just outside Ingleby Cross and the trail soon starts to head upwards at a steady incline through Arncliffe Wood. It is a still, silent morning and we are the only people around. As we climb through the wood, out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of a deer. It has its back to us and is munching away on some ferns about thirty feet away. Despite our best efforts all too soon it senses our presence and rapidly darts off into the undergrowth, it’s bouncing white bottom contrasting with the green foliage as it vanishes, magician like from view.

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