

Back at Base Camp (EVEREST)
Last Saturday we left Base Camp and headed off to camp 2. Everything went very smooth pretty much according to plan. We got through the Khumbu Ice falls without incident but by the time we got to camp one it started to really heat up. When we left in the morning it was probably 15 degrees. The temperatures probably reached 80+ between camp 1 & 2. The sun beating down on us was rough. Anyway we were pretty drained by the time we got to camp 2. About a 12 hour climb in all. Sun


Moving on to "Phase 3" (EVEREST)
Phase 3 of 4 . This is where the real work begins. Today is Friday the 21st. Tomorrow at 2:00 AM we set off for camp 2. This is the climb through the Khumbu Ice Falls. There is a Camp 1 at the top of the falls but it's only there in emergency if you can't make it to camp 2. Camp 1 is susceptible to avalanches. We will be gone from Base Camp for 6 days.
I didn't really explain the phases. Phase 1: getting to base camp. Phase 2: getting to top of Lobeche. Phase 3: camp 2, spen


This was an climb to help us acclimatize (EVEREST)
Mt. Lobeche is about 20,200 ft. . We climbed half way up at "rock camp" and spent the night. This was Friday the 14th (Good Friday) ; overnight it snowed about a foot and the winds started picking up. We went back down to Lobeche base camp Saturday and waited it out. The winds were constant (roughly 100mph) on Easter Sunday where we stayed in our tents most the day. Monday the winds subsided so we left camp at 5:00 AM. We climbed right through Rock Camp heading for the summit


The views were unbelievable (EVEREST)
Today we did a day hike to a high point above base camp about 19,000. The views were unbelievable. This is the first time I've been able to see most of the mountain. You can see the top of the South col. This is the saddled where the last camp 4 will be. Below is a good view of the Khumbu. 4/12/17, 1:18:48 AM: Joe Burke: Tomorrow we are heading back down to Lobeche. We will take a few days to summit that. That is about 20,200ft. We will spend 2 nights on top. We won't have


Difficult to sleep last night because of the elevation. (EVEREST)
Spent two days at Pheriche about 4200 meters or 13,860 ft (4200 X 3.3). Difficult to sleep last night because of the elevation. Since we had a rest day we took a day hike to a high point just over 5000 meters or 16,500 ft. That is some serious elevation. Felt a little light headed at the end but overall pretty strong. The photo with the flags is at that high point. Tomorrow we hike to Lobache Base Camp. About a 6 hour hike. This is where we we be at the tail of the Kumbu gl


Sorry for the lack of communication (EVEREST)
Between local cell service and wifi it's been difficult to figure out the best way of communicating. Anyway I believe I'm 5 or 6 days into my trek to base camp. We took a hour helicopter ride from Kathmandu to a village called Lukla about 9300 feet. We immediately started hiking towards our first lodging spot. The lodging is pretty simple and food is always pretty much the same. Rice, potatos, curry type sauces (yuk) some yak meet (yuk) tuna. Anyway I have a pretty simple die