Day #43

Location: Pangboche
Altitude: 3930m
Local Time: 10:15pm / May 9
Weather: Cool (40's) cloudy/windy

Today we continued "down valley" and ended up in Pangboche. Enroute we were interviewed by a Phillipino television crew that were doing a documentary, stopped and talked with a lot of fellow climbers who were enjoying the "thick air" and variety of foods in the valley, and most importantly we saw trees again for the first time in a month. I had my picture taken by a tree along the trail to commemorate this wonderful event! After snow and ice for the past month, this poor tree looked pretty good!

We checked into a guest house in Pangboche that we had visited over a month ago and was nice to have the familiarity of friendly faces hosting us. The panoramic view from this guest house is that of snow capped mountains and the comfortable cushioned seats along the windows made it hard to move away from the views!

Today I was interviewed by the State Newspaper in Columbia, SC as a follow up to a great article done before my departure, and was interviewed live on a radio station in South Dakota (my wife's state) as well as a selection of radio stations across South Carolina. Tomorrow morning I will be live on Rock 93.5 which is my favorite radio station in Columbia, SC and hope to convey to the listening audience the need to support the Summit Scholarship! This is National Nurses Week so have been excited to take advantage of media opportunities to talk about the nursing shortage, the Summit Scholarship ... and of course, this hill called Mt. Everest that we are climbing!

Tomorrow we will do some local hikes to keep conditioned and will continue to check with basecamp daily for updates. Once we get the call to return it will take us a few days to get back, at which point we will then be preparing for our summit bid. Weather is the crucial factor that dictates what we do and patience is a priority. MC, one of our bloggers, sent in this very appropriate quote: "Patience is seeing the big picture and knowing it is worth it."
We see the big picture and know it is worth it ... and will be patient!

Thanks to all that have contributed to the Summit Scholarship and have met the challenges thrown out to nurses, Canadians, and NASCAR fans! It looks like one of our bloggers, Liz, has made a contact at NASCAR and a NASCAR flag/banner is on it's way to me at basecamp! What a thrill it will be to fly it over the top of Mt. Everest!

Additionally, my good friend and climbing team mate, Mike Allsop, has thrown out a challenge to all New Zealanders (aka Kiwis) to contribute to the Summit Scholarship. Yes, this scholarship presently affects student nurses at the University of South Carolina, College of Nurses ... but I am hopeful that we can make something bigger of this scholarship and turn it into a national/international scholarship for student nurses! However, I can't do this alone and need the support of my international community to make this happen!

Your Messages:

Carol:
Hi sweetheart. Thanks for your help in obtaining phone numbers today ... glad we are back in contact! Will call you tonight and look forward to that call!

I love you and miss you terribly :>)

Pat :>)

AORN Friends:

Bonnie ... thanks so much for the general news updates! Wish I had brought a tiny radio which could give news/sports updates! Sorry to hear about the tornado deaths as well as the death of the climber in Boulder!
I can't wait to get home and see Spiderman #3 (he was always my comic book hero) and appreciate your tidbits of information ... very refreshing! Songs are always appreciated :>)

Rose ... looking forward to our get-together! It is nice to see that a lot of the medical personnel that are here do devote their time to the efforts to help other climbers! The HRA office that I visited dealt mostly with trekker issues, while the clinic at basecamp deals with climbers. On my return to basecamp I intend to visit the HRA clinic for a tour, and to make myself available should there be an urgent need for medical personnel.
Hope all is well there and appreciate you protecting the poster!

Jackie ... how wonderful to hear from you. Maybe you can encourage Patrick to log on at some point!! Glad that you are able to follow the adventure and appreciate the well wishes! Please try to encourage your colleagues to donate to the Summit Scholarship as I am trying to help student nurses as best I can!

Canadian Friends:

Dave ... glad that you are looking in to the possibility of a talk/phone call to Sean's school. Let me know what works on your end!
I have not heard any Sens reports lately so hope that all is well!

Columbia Friends:

Kristen & Danielle ... have not heard from you since I sent an email about our deal! Sorry to hear about the loss to Lexington!

Palmetto Health Friends:

Julie Marie ... great to hear from you and glad you can follow along! Please challenge your nurse colleagues to donate to the Summit Scholarship ... especially during this National Nurses Week! Hope all is well with your schooling!

Sandra ... thanks so much for contacting Carolyn, Levi and Kate! You sure have been a great help!
I don't know how far down valley is too far ... but do know that we have a long hike and climb ahead of us when we return to basecamp! Always conditioning ourselves! In the meantime we enjoy thick air and a bed at night!

USC Friends:

Judy ... great to hear from you and am excited to hear that you too are a NASCAR fan! I would definitely like to take you up on th offer of getting together for a race. Carol has not been to one yet, and is not a fan, but am sure that I can twist her arm to attend at least one race!
Enjoy your race at Darlington (I was there last year) and yes Jeff Gordon is my favorite!
I appreciate very much your donation to the Summit Scholarship in recognition of NASCAR's great wave of fan support and look forward to flying NASCAR's flag at the top of the world!
Say hi to Matt ... and who is his driver?

Kelsey ... great to hear from you and glad that you got job offers at both hospitals! Of course I remember you and it was my pleasure to have you as a student! I am glad that you are following the blog and hope you have a great summer!
See you in the fall!

Deb ... glad to hear the semester is nearly over. Hope you enjoy research camp and have a great summer!
Thanks for the prayers!

All The Others:

Wistie ... Mike has reviewed your messages and is appreciative of the posting! Mike sends his love and will be in contact on his return!

Gill ... Mike appreciates the posting and looks forward to contact on his return!

Jen ... in order to better utilize resources our team has been split and Bo/Ward/Rob will be the first of our two groups to head for the summit. They will be leaving much sooner than us and is why we are down valley and they are waiting in basecamp for the word to head for the summit! I have no dates to offer for their summit as weather is a major variable! We are in constant contact with basecamp should they need us to return earlier!
I'm looking forward to receiving the NASCAR flag ... and yes, others have received packages/mail here at basecamp!

MC ... patience is the name of the game here now and I have shared your quote with all my fellow climbers ... and all agree!

Ken ... we dropped down further in the valley today and still enjoying the recuperation process ... and awaiting the call!

Liz ... great news on the flag delivery process! I am confident that it will get here in plenty of time and do appreciate your efforts. Thanks so much for going above and beyond!

David (aka Demento) ... we have now dropped down valley as follows:

Basecamp(5364m) - Pheriche(4270m) for 2 nights
Pheriche(4270m) -Pangboche(3930m) for 2-3 night
Afterwards will slowly progress back to basecamp!

Will let you know how we feel here, and as we head back.

Al ... Mike appreciates your posting and wants you to know he has got lots of mileage out of the "crash story". Hopes he will have some other similar ones for you!

DLP ... thanks for the teasers! The two words took a little while to figure out ... but the mileage one we got right away!
Will test the other teasers at breakfast tomorrow and will check with the HRA clinic at basecamp regarding your medical questions!
Many thanks :>)