You’re looking down on our wonderful, comfy cozy base camp. My tent is the closest blue one you can see. Hugo and Dendi pioneered the use of bigger “tiny home” sized tents in 2012 and they are wonderful. They are roomy and you can stand-up in them. We can keep our wet climbing gear in the vestibule and the floor inside has insulation and carpet so it’s very posh living.

Today was R & R…rest, relaxation, and re-organization. Most of us went to bed with the items from our duffel bags strewn about our tents. Now I have my things into piles…stay/eat in base camp, go/eat on first rotation up the hill, go/eat on summit rotation, and items for the trek out.

I also enjoyed my first shower since Kathmandu. We have a blue shower tent where we hang a classic solar shower in. The kitchen folks heat water for the bag and you take a shower by kneeling below the bag. It felt great to clean up. You want to shower in the morning because it’s warmer because the afternoon clouds haven’t come up valley and shaded camp.

I also spent part of the day wondering through base camp trying to capture an Everest Extreme wireless link. I managed to climb high enough in the neighbour’s camp to get signed in. Through various machinations, I got yesterday’s written update to go. So-there may be some variability to when written/photo updates can get posted, when I can reply to questions and comments, etc. Right now, there isn’t NCell service in Gorak Shep or base camp but rumour on the street has it that there is a 3G tower coming and that would be awesome for both audio and data updates. As I was wandering about, I ran into Alan Arnette and his Sherpa climbing partner, Kami. It was great to meet to Kami after hearing so much about him.

I’m definitely feeling some better today. I was headachy off and on all night and some today. I’m able to move more easily around base camp and so hopefully my acclimatization proceeds quick enough to match the pace of our climb. I’ll get more feedback tomorrow as we hike to Pumori Advanced base camp around 5400 metres.

I also sized my crampons to my big mountain boots, checked out my new sock combinations, and revisited my ascender system…all good. So…a fine productive day here at BC filled with eating, drinking, and getting things ready.