TA Loeffler's Adventures that Move

Hey this is TA calling in from day 66 of the great big walk. At an elevation of 3230 or thereabouts, at a place called just below the tingsi la and the day was a little bit different than anticipated. We actually thought we would be stopping in Bigu Gompa. Which was about an 800 m gain from our riverside camp of last night but life sometimes doesn’t turn out the way you anticipate. So we packed up, figuring it might be our last day on the road. We were not sure if in Bigu we were going to get picked up by truck or stay the night. So we were thinking maybe this might be our last bit of walking and we sort of pounded out the 850 m in just over 2 hours 15. It was great fun at one point we got adopted by about 15 or 16 or 20 kids on their way to school at Bigu Gompa and Marian got quizzed about lots of different things. About what she likes to eat, what she likes to do, about her children, about her sisters and brothers by two of the brave young ones as we walked up and then we got to Bigu Gompa and Marian and I visited the nunnery there. It is I believe one of the biggest nunneries in Nepal. It is a very forward thinking place for people to women to study the Durma. Study Buddhism.  They teach the young women who are studying there not only the Durma but English and also Kung Fu for confidence and after we visited the shrine room, which was interesting. It felt a little different than when we visited a monastery to me. We were invited to have milk tea and I think we were joined by one of the head nuns. So that was a nice little mid day field trip from where we had stopped. Turns out the road over the tingsi la has had some washout. So we learned then after lunch that we weren’t done walking indeed but that we would need to walk up and over the tingsi la and down to a place where a vehicle can pick us up. Some time tomorrow, maybe in the afternoon.

So we actually broke a lot of records today, or we tied some records and broke some others. The record we absolutely blasted, so kind of amazing on what is turning out to be our second last day of the great big walk is our elevation gain record. It was our biggest elevation gain by almost double. 657 floors or just shy of 2000m. 6570 feet of elevation gained so you know we’re feeling pretty pooped out this evening. We also did 21.5 km. Marian had 30 958 steps. I had 32 136, shy of our daily record and Cam had 31 348 and we all clocked in at around 21.5km.

So the great big walk isn’t letting us off easy. We have to go up and over the pass tomorrow. According to the map, the pass is about 3-7 and then we go down to 1600m so our little legs and feet and ankles and knees are going to want to just fall off by the time we actually get to our vehicle that will take us to Kathmandu.

So an exciting end to the great big walk and so because I might not be able to call in an update tomorrow, I will definitely be doing a lot smaller reflective pieces from the great big walk over the next while and pictures and lots of things but in the meantime just in case I wanted to thank the Memorial University of Newfoundland office of engagement for their funding of these updates from the great big walk. I wanted to thank Brianne, Anthony and Earl for minding the home communications front and transcribing and making sure there was lots of great content on the Facebook page. I wanted to thank my school of human kinetics and recreation colleagues for covering for me while I am off having this amazing experience on the great big walk. I wanted to thank participating schools here. Messages of inspiration and knowing that you were off walking with us each and everyday and your questions were fabulous so thanks for participating along with us and I wanted to thank a few others who have also tuned in with us on the great big walk. It has been great to have you along.

Great to know you also have been walking, rolling, running, strolling, hiking, getting physically active in whatever way makes sense for you and so I will miss talking to you all each day and definitely do look at the website over the next little while for lots of pictures and reflections and those kinds of things as Marian and I transition home and get to share lots of the amazing photographs. I am sure we’ve got 5,000 pictures at least to get through and we will definitely drop you some kind of note from Kathmandu to let you know that we’ve arrived there safe. We start flying home on May 9th and we arrive there on May the 10th. If by chance you have nothing to do, and you want to come out to the airport, we’re coming on an Air Canada flight from London. I think it lands at about 3pm on the 10th that Saturday.

So come on out. Welcome us come. Celebrate the great big walk with us. So signing off from day 66 of the great big walk and catch you soon from either from Kathmandu and then also to let you know we got home safe and probably from some airports along the way. Big day here. Blew out our elevation today on our last big day, so it is a great way to end the great big walk with a great big walk. Take care. Bye!

Total Steps for TA: 32 136 steps, 657 floors

Total Steps for Marian:  30 958 steps, 657 floors

Total Distance for TA: 21.5 km

Total Distance for Marian: 21.5 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from Day 65 of the great big walk. We are located at 1659m above sea level at a place called Petti at the foot of a huge climb up to bigugampa which is where we will end our great big walk. Great walk today. It was up and down. Over 3 different ridges. Lots of different terrace fields. One of the kinds of terraces we saw today were rice terraces where water was flowing through. We also saw some terraces of cows. There were some fields I think were being laid fallow and they were letting the cows forage through the old terraces before they were planted again.

It was a hot day. We’re down low so it is definitely much much warmer down here. So we are making sure that we’re staying well hydrated because of the heat as well as because we are down low. We actually have not been this low since day 7 of the great big walk. We will climb back up to about 2500 m tomorrow. One of the things that we’ve been enjoying is coo-coo birds. I assume they are coo-coo birds. They say coo-coo. So they say their name and I am not sure what kind of coo-coo’s there are in Nepal. I will have to go home and research that but we’ve been hearing a lot of coo-coo’s.

As we came close, we’re camped near the confluence of two khola’s today and as we came close to our camp we actually were slowed down by a buffalo jam. As we’ve come down lower, we’ve come into the territory where families keep water buffalo’s and we think they are pretty darn cute. Sort of have a face a little bit like a moose, but have some big curly horns. If you cross a moose and a cow and give them, not curly horns but horns that curl back, you get the face that only a water buffalo mum could love. So we were walking behind some water buffalos who were walking quite slowly.

Also with today’s elevation gain, we have actually crossed the 90 000 feet of elevation gained so we’ve climbed the equivalent of Mt Everest 3 times from sea level so that is fun to celebrate that and we’re starting to look at the lap. You know our second to last afternoon washy washy with our cute little water bowls. Our second to last dinner with the crew here in the field and all those kinds of things as we count down to getting picked up probably on the morning of day 67. We actually have not been sort of led in on those kinds of details.

So for today, Marian had 26 694 steps and 177 floors, 18.5 km. I had 27 816 steps, 186 floors and just shy of 18.5 km and Cam had 26 463 steps and just shy of 18 km on her fitbit. If by some chance we get 24 000 steps we might actually make 1,100,000 steps tomorrow and we rounded 670 km today. So a wonderful day. Starting to feel a little bit sad. Entering into that little transition phase of getting ready to leave the great big walk but we do have indeed one more great big walk tomorrow. A great big climb up to a place called Bigu Gompa and we hope you will join us for that walk in anyway you can. By walking, strolling, running, moving, jumping, anything that makes you happy. Take great care. Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 27 816 steps, 186 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 26 694 steps, 177 floors

Total Distance for TA: 18.5 km

Total Distance for Marian: 18.5 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 64. Can you believe it is day 64? May 3rd from a community called Laduk at 2025 m of elevation. We had a great walk today. Mostly sort of contouring. Some up and some down and we were walking through many, many terraced fields and some are as narrow as 5 feet and some are as wide as 20 feet. As I said yesterday the wheat crop is ready for harvest. So we saw lots of folks out there harvesting wheat. The potatoes are coming along. Often with potatoes was planted corn and depending what elevation the corn was anywhere from 12 inches to 24 inches tall and it was very beautiful. Different colors of sort of amber and golden wheat and then the green of the potatoes. The millet and the barley are lower than us at the moment.

We ended the day walking through a huge pine forest and first question that I wondered about and maybe someone can text us the answer, fairly quickly actually or maybe we will have to look it up when we get home but the difference between the forest and a jungle? So sometimes here they will refer to us travelling the jungle and sometimes through the forest. So I do not know if it is a question of elevation, a question of moisture and humidity, a question of the type of plant matter, presence or absence of certain kinds of trees but I know in some parts of the world they have jungle and some parts they have forest and here in Nepal I think they have both forest and jungle. So I am curious.

We saw some huge bamboo today. Not only the little bamboo forest but in one of the communities we had lunch in which was belung, we saw bamboo which was a good 8 inches in diameter so it was a huge, huge, huge bamboo. When we got into our little camping spot, there was a beautiful young cat who decided that I was a portable salt lick so I got lufered and all cleaned up by the cat. So that was kind of a fun way to end the day and actually the end of the great big walk is in sight. We actually could see our takeout as we call it in white water sports. We can see off in the distance where we will stop walking in the next couple of days. So it is both literally and visibly within sight. So if you happen to have any questions for us, get them to us.

Thanks Aidy for the text, all is very well and we get home Saturday. We know Eric’s birthday is Friday. So hold the birthday cake for us. We will be ready to chow down on Saturday night or Sunday or whenever it is it gets scheduled. So that is it here. Day 64. Enjoying life at the 2000m elevation mark where appetites are fabulous, the sleep is terrific and we are feeling super strong because we are acclimatized.

Marian had 23 016 steps today. 216 floors and 16 km. I had 24 373 steps, 229 floors, 16 km and I was the winner once again and Cam had 23 494 steps and just shy of 16 km. We are all doing fabulous. We passed the 650 km mark today and depending on how it goes, maybe, maybe, maybe just maybe we will hit a million, one hundred thousand steps. Either that or we will have to go touring round Kathmandu to make sure we do that. So that’s day 64 from the great big walk. Thanks for tuning in and make sure you get out there for a great big walk, great big roll, great big stroll. Whatever it is that makes you happy and helps you find your fit. Take good care. Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 24 373 steps, 229 floors

Total Steps for Marian:  23 016 steps, 216 floors

Total Distance for TA: 16 km

Total Distance for Marian: 16 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 63 of the great big walk. We are at an elevation of 1895m in a location called Karing, or at least thats what we think it is. We’ve had a day of heading down from Simi, about 800m walking along a road. An actual road with actual large vehicles that could try to kill us, that heard horns and things, unlike the cows that we’ve been seeing (inaudible) and then we headed back up those same 800 m on the far side. That river that we walked down to was the Tamakoshi natti and we walked by ganja which is the site of a very large hydro project being built by Sin Hydro, a Chinese company we believe and we’re hoping that that hydro, the electricity will actually stay in Nepal and not necessarily all be exported. So that is a city construction site there.

We are staying at the Lamabagar women’s camp site. So that is pretty cool. They built that camp site and it has got beautiful stone work as a way to raise funds for their community. So it is great to support a local development project. We saw water buffalo for the first time today. Two young waterbuffalo. We have come out of a sherpa area and we are now in a tetri and tamung cultural group area. We walked today through many, we climbed up through many wheat and potato terraces and lots of the terraces had goats and cows as a way to provide fertilizer to the crops. The winter wheat crop or the crop of wheat here is just about ready to be harvested and we got to try some interesting yellow berries that were a lot like raspberries that came off a tree

It was a pretty good walking day. I had 21 197 steps. Cam had 21 152 steps and Marian had 20 681. We are crossing in at about 14 km and just to show that we actually went up hill, 254 floors for me, 248 floors for Marian. I realized in yesterday’s excitement to talk about reaching our million step goal that I hadn’t  given you our totals for yesterday. Yesterday Marian had 16 960, 88 floors. I had 16 962 steps and 90 floors and Cam had 16 849 steps and we were all in at around 11 km.

It is Friday which means it is find your fit Friday and we definitely found our fit today, walking our 14 km and I decided to go back to some of our hint for doing the great big walk for I think what is our final find your fit Friday of our great big walk. One is to start slowly and build strength and endurance over time and we have definitely done that over the last 63 days. Today coming up those 800m felt much easier than they did 60 days ago for sure. Walking is an excellent way to find your fit. We walk anywhere between 3 and 7 hours everyday and basically for health reasons it is recommended that people try to get 10 000 steps per day and so you don’t have to walk it all at once. You can build it up through the day and you can build it up over time. Definitely comfortable shoes and boots make it more comfy to walk and hike and we’ve been taking very good care of our feet. Giving them a good bath everyday and I like to put lotion on my feet at least every second day to keep them all supple at night but not during the day time.

If you can find your fit outdoors research shows actually that you will work harder but you will not notice and there’s lots of other benefits like making vitamin d and enjoying fresh air and things and find a fit that fits. There is lots of different ways to be physically active. What works for you may not work for your neighbour and what works for your neighbor may not work for you. So try lots of different ways to being physically active. You can visit the recreation of Newfoundland site for more ideas on how to find your fit and it has been great being the ambassador for the recreation of Newfoundland and Labrador find your fit here along with the great big walk.

So we’re here on day 63. We’ve got about 3 more days of walking and it is interesting to be in a new area. Definitely much lower so the walking is easier for us. We have a little bit of view still of some snow covered peaks but we’re missing a little bit of that mountain time but we are enjoying each and every step and as our leader Judah used to say, we are not taking any tension as we can.

So that is the report from day 63 of the great big walk. Hope you had a great Friday or hope you’re about to have a great Friday. Make sure you get out there. Have a great big walk. Roll stroll or anything that makes you find your fit. So that is it from here. We will catch you from tomorrow. Take care! Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 21 197 steps, 254 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 20 681 steps, 248 floors

Total Distance for TA: 14 km

Total Distance for Marian: 14 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.\

Hey this is TA calling in from day 62 of the great big walk. May 1st. We are in a little village called simi or simigong depending which sign you look at at an elevation of 2000 m above sea level and this is a big celebratory day on the great big walk because we’ve reached our goal of 1 million steps. That was just a tea call but I am going to keep going now with our handy dandy update because we are celebrating 1 million steps today so that is pretty exciting. Also 622 km. It is raining at the moment. We are going to have to get dressed up and run off to tea to stay nicely hydrated since we’ve come down. We’ve made so much haemoglobin in our blood. It is important that we stay very well hydrated because we don’t want to have any problems from having so much hemoglobin.

Kind of fun here. We arrived this morning just before the thunder showers struck so that was excellent timing and now we will venture out a little bit. We don’t have to go too far to go for tea. We’re staying at a little guest house. We are camped in their yard as per usual. But of the things that is fun is that they have a log book and we are able to see other GHT’ers other great himalayan trail hikers in the log book so it feels a little bit like acknowledging the small short lineage that we’re being a part of.

You can definitely tell we’ve been going downhill. I know for me, I’ve got a little bit of a sore knee and a sore ankle on the go. We’ve lost almost 4000m in the past 5 days and I think tomorrow we drop another 700 or 800 m. So just try to do that thoughtfully and carefully as we go down and we saw a road today. That is the first road that we have seen in 58 days. Tomorrow we will actually be by that road and see cars and I think that will be a little bit jarring but we will then head back up and go around one more dhonda. Dhonda is a Nepali word for hill. So we will be making our way towards Bigu Gompa over the next few days and our ending spot for the great big walk.

I heard from Bishop Abraham, that elementary school in St. John’s that they walked around the gym 30 times with us the other day to celebrate our 600 km and so congrats to you all that is a great number of times around the gym and again just a very exciting day for us here having reached our 1 million steps mark as a collective and I am sure over the next few days, each one of us individually we will also hit the million step mark.

So that is it for us here. It is raining. It is May 1st and on day 62 we are celebrating over 600 km and over a million steps for the great big walk. So please celebrate with us, get out there, go for a walk, go for a roll, go for a stroll take a friend, take a pet and get out there and be active with us on our last few days here on the great big walk. Thanks and have a great day. Bye!

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 61. We are at 2823 m, this is the lowest we have been in a looooonnnnggggg long long long long time. We had to look back to see how long it has actually been. So we are enjoying very very very thick air and also very warm air. Actually I think as I look back in my little log, the last time we were this low was actually, forest camp on day 32. We were at 2920 m and we were at honggong on day 28 at 2323m. We we dropped close to, a little over 1300 m today. We actually had a big day. We are celebrating here on the great big walk. We are celebrating 600 km today. We are at 611 and counting so that is pretty exciting. There was also a record number of steps for me today and a record number of kilometers at 21.5. Marian had 30 827 steps and 77 floors and just shy of 21.5 km. I had 32 682 steps, 76 floors and just over 21.5 km. Cam had 30 387 and just over 20 km. She has been dethroned as the step queen because my little scampery legs now get to make lots and lots and lots of steps just trying to keep up.

It was a beautiful amazing walk today. We spent a lot of time, well basically the entire day, we are a little higher now than the Roaling khola so the beautiful teal water was our walking companion today so we heard the rushing water and if we get quiet we can actually still hear it now on our little post. There are lots and lots of birds now so we heard lots of bird songs and we saw many many waterfalls. The Roaling valley is very famous for its water falls. Many of them weren’t flowing this morning when we went by, still frozen but as the day went on we say more and more of them flowing and I wanted to send Chris Williamson’s waterfall song out to my friend Karen. She will know exactly the song I am talking about and I thought a lot about you Karen today as all those waterfalls. It is very warm right now, which is pretty amazing. We’re in barefeet. We have no long underwear on and no jackets, so we couldn’t have come in some ways further from where we were last night when we were in the rocks and snow.

We saw Gaurishankar today, you may remember we are in the Gaurishankar conservation area. Gauri Shankar is a 7 135m peak. We saw it today, it is gorgeous. It is a sacred mountain that has never been climbed and so it is what this area is named for. Our camp tonight is at the Kelji lodge. We are camped out on the grass here and we had quite fun meeting some goat kids when we first arrived and watching them play so it is feeling,life is feeling very easy at the moment. No jackets, no long underwear and as you can see, I didn’t even have to pause to breathe during this entire update. So it is going well. Depending on how far we are going tomorrow we may actually hit our big goal, our other big goal for the great big walk tomorrow, so please tune in. Thanks for all of your support. We love hearing from your and indeed it has been 61 days without a shower so go Joshy go and I will talk to you all tomorrow. Thanks so much being there with us on the great big walk and remember to get out there for a big walk, a little walk, medium walk, any kind of walk. Get out there and walk with us and record your number of steps or kilometers on our great big walk site. Drop us a line. Send us a text and we are on the countdown to Kathmandu so if you’ve got any kind of questions for us. Zoom into us so we can find the answers. Thanks and have a great day. Happy last day of April and we will catch you from tomorrow from May. Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 32 682 steps, 76 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 30 827 steps, 77 floors

Total Distance for TA: 21.5 km

Total Distance for Marian: 21.5 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 60, can you believe it? Day 60 of the great big walk. We are located at an elevation of 4180 m above sea level, in the village of Nah and today might actually be the musical update. As we walked towards nah, we were singing of course, nananana, nananana, heellooo, yeaahh. So were singing hello rather than goodbye to (inaudible). We’ve come down back to the land where we get to see green and some yellow and some red. We also have seen yaks, lots and lots of yaks even some sheep and we’re sharing a little pasture with what looks like a little piggy goat whose talking to us nowadays and as we roll out our front vestibule door, we can watch yak TV and there are out there grazing across the river and that river is Rowali khola.

Today as we came down, we walked the moraine beside the Ropatso, that is the big lake, the big glacial lake that I’ve been telling you about and at the bottom of that lake, the Rowali glacier also joins in and so the name of the river coming from that glacier is that Rowali khola and we will walk along it for quite a number of days over the next week or so. We did come down and get to see the very end of the Ropatso and there is a dam of sorts there. I think to allow for controlled release for the water. Try to prevent catastrophic release. There was also a micro-hydro project there and I took out pictures so I can show folks what they are doing there.

As I walked today, when it is a little bit chilly I could put up the hood of my base layer, I had a Darth Vader shadow. I didn’t have much about capturing a picture of it but that was our second sort of musical interlude for today. The imperial march from Star Wars. As I came down the hill I was sort of humming, da-da-da-dan-da-da-dan. Since we’ve been walking from the East to the West we have morning sun and the sun is almost always at our back so we have a shadow quite a lot and go da-da-da-dan-da-da-dan.

So we had a nice half day walk today which was great. A little bit of giving us a chance to catch up on some paths and some rest. Marian had 16 292 steps, 60 floors and 11.5 km or so. I had 17 334 steps, 58 floors and a little over 11.5 km and Cam was 16 297 and just shy of 11 km so I was the big step winner, Marian was the floor winner. So you’re probably right, that I think you’re explanation on why Cam has more steps is probably a good one.

So we’re having a great day. It is raining now, raining/snowing. So we’re sort of tucked in after a great lunch and we are going to be slowly making our way downhill over the (inaudible) and that was very enjoyable today having spent the previous many days working pretty hard. So that is the update here from the great big walk day 60. Hope you will get out there, go for a walk, go for a roll, go for a run. Whatever makes you happy and gets you physically active. Take care and we will catch you from tomorrow. Bye!

Total Steps for TA: 17 334 steps, 58 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 16 292 steps, 60 floors

Total Distance for TA: 11.5 km

Total Distance for Marian: 11.5 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling from day 59 of the great big walk. We are located at a place that we think might be Tabug. Isn’t that a great name? At an elevation of 4710m. We’ve had our third big day in a row, completing our crossing of the Tashi Laptsa today. We came down from what we learned is called Eagle’s nest camp. It was a pretty exciting night. Windy and snowy for much of the night. I know our tent was perched on the edge and it was like okay hopefully it doesn’t blow that hard, it’ll blow us off. So it was 15 or 16 hours in the tent as we were waiting for that to pass through and this morning we ended up on a bit of a delayed start because the sun didn’t actually hit where we were on the Eagle’s nest because of the high icefall in the background until about 8 am. So we had a little bit of a technical descent off the Eagle’s nest and then we were on the Tarkati glacier and at first we thought we might be cooked by the death star. It was quite warm because of the new snowfall at first and and then gradually that snow all melted off and we were walking over rock. So it was a dunga walking day. Lot’s of concentration and balance needed as we did nearly 11 km on a rock covered glacier. So tonight we’re definitely a little bit pooped from paying that close attention. But in a pretty cool spot above the glacial lake. We can’t see it from where we are camped but we’re actually on sand and there is grass so that is pretty exciting and getting ready to have a nice big dinner because we worked up a pretty fine appetite.

We are celebrating leaving our 3rd map and we’re now on our 4th and final map of the great big walk and also our last log sheet. So changes in the air. So schools out there, if you have any questions for us or if you want to jump on board and do a little bit more walking with us. This is our last full week of Monday to Friday. We know this is good happy Monday morning in North America so text in those questions for us. We’re happy to try and find the answers and today I had around 14 918 steps, Marian had 14 850. Both had about 30 floors, about 11 km. Cam was the big winner again today, 17 978. Just shy of 12 km and yesterday she had 13 149 steps. So we’re making way. We’re just passing the 936 000 mark for steps and we’re honing in our 600 km mark. Only about 22 km to go. So stay tuned to find out what day we break the 600 km mark and what day we break the million step mark.

So we’re all tired. Definitely can tell that we’ve been on the go for 26 or 27, I’ve already lost count, days without a rest day. So legs are tired, minds are tired, but pretty excited, tomorrow we might actually get to see a tree. Pretty amazing to be walking on this glacier all day. Glaciers are amazing forces with the way they push rock. (inaudible) both on the falling glacier today as well as from the side of the, sorry that was Lhakpa Yetti going around and I am hearing the clinking of climbing gear which we are now putting away because at least for us we are done with the technical sections and we have a long amazing walk downhill through the Rawali valley. So that is the report from Day 59 of the great big walk. Thanks for walking with us and do contribute your steps to the great big walk website and text in your questions if you got some. Thanks a lot. Take care. Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 14 918 steps, 30 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 14 850 steps, 30 floors

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 58, April 27th from an elevation of 5149 m at a place that we think may be called noisey (inaudible). It is kind of like a penthouse actually. We were coming down off the one glacier and the (inaudible) is pretty bad so we didn’t quite get to totally take in the view but we’re definitely elevated and we hope it doesn’t get too windy tonight or our tent could take flight. We’re probably near the edge.

We’re tucked in all nice and delightfully. We just had coco and oreos after a big day crossing the Tashi Labtsa. It was a great day, we had weather that ranged from anything to beautiful sunshine to a thunderstorm that was delivering snow when we got here in camp. We left camp fairly early this morning, about 7:30 and had some deep ground over talus to gain and then a snowy little ramp that was protected with a little bit of a handline and then a long gentle Nepali, almost sort of flat, kind of really not really up to the pass. Now we didn’t spend much time on the pass. It was pretty windy but we had big abseil down and then we were following Lhakpa Yetti. He was helping out some of the kavasa’s and when he came to us. He actually went into a kavass about midway so then we looked at some other options and then finally they stuck out their handline out and off we all went down and then another maybe an hour, hour and a half of coming down the through first glacier which is called the drolampao glacier.

We’ve left Sagamartha national park and we’ve now entered the Garoshanka conservation area and we’re now officially in the Raowali valley and tomorrow we will probably pass the actual Raowali glacier. We will also pass the Solapa and that is one of the glacial lakes I know in Nepal that there is some concern about, that it may at some point overflow its banks and flood the valley. Some of you may remember last year when we went to the Mara peak, we passed the Sabataso and it was one in 1999 that blew its Moraine banks and flooded that valley. Fortunately there was no loss of life. We will probably walk by, we can see the lake in the distance and I am not sure if we will walk, I think we will walk to the one end of it tomorrow.

So we were out about 7 hours today. I had 11 626 steps, Marian had 10 524 steps. Cam’s tent isn’t near ours so we can’t quite get the data at the moment and there is about 8km and about 100 floors of elevation gained. So we’re out of breathe, a little hypoxia you get after the big day crossing the pass but great day crossing the pass and it is pretty exciting to be in a valley that I’ve been wanting to be in for over a decade. So we will tell you more about it tomorrow when we can see it because right now we’re in the middle of a whiteout in snow. Alright. Take care! Bye!

Total Steps for TA: 11 626 steps, 100 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 10 524 steps, 100 floors

Total Distance for TA: 8 km

Total Distance for Marian: 8 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 57 of the great big walk. We are camped here at around 5400m. About 250m below the Apashi Labsa pass which we hope to cross tomorrow. We had a big climbing day, probably our biggest elevation gain day of the entire great big walk. The fitbit registered around 300 floors but when we do the GPS measurements it actually comes out to 369 floors. Over 1100m of elevation gained so we are definitely earning our supper tonight.

It was a good climb, I actually thought it was one of my best since Dingboche. We had varied weather conditions today. Sometimes sunny, sometimes windy, sometimes some snow. The weather did clear a little bit when we first got here so we could see at least some portion of the pass. Lhakpa says we’ve got about 2.5 more hours of climbing to get to the pass tomorrow and if we actually indeed, if the weather allows us to cross the pass tomorrow, this will be our last high camp of the great big walk. We will be camped on the glacier around 5000 m tomorrow so we’ve got a little bit of a climb and then a big drop.

Wanted to send out a great happy birthday greeting to Marian’s brother Hans and just so you know Hans in Nepali Hans means duck. So happy birthday ducky and hope you had fun celebrating.

In terms of our steps, Marian had 17 161, 299 by fitbit, 369 floors by GPS measurements, about 12 km. I had 17 223, again 298 floors, 369 by measurement and almost 12km and Cam was the big step winner today with 18 451, and a little over 12 km on her fitbit.

We have a new milestone to celebrate today in terms of the great big walk in number steps. We’ve passed the 900 000 mark and indeed just shy of 910 000 steps. So we’re getting closer to that elusive goal of ours and the kilometers look like they are coming in well as well. So give us some great thoughts and prayers for tomorrow in our pass crossing and hope you had a great Saturday and hope you got out for a great big walk yourself. Take care! Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 17 223 steps, 298 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 17 161 steps, 299 floors

Total Distance for TA: 12 km

Total Distance for Marian: 12 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 56 from a small yak kharka/ tea house called Sangbo at an elevation of 4230 m above sea level. We said goodbye to our stage 2 folks this morning. Paul and Bill and Ed headed down towards Namche with Judah the Buddha as we call him and Balorung and we’re settling into our new routine with our new leader and a couple of new staff folks and we had a nice sort of half day once again. Originally I think we were going to go a little bit higher but just because loads were heavy etc etc, that we find ourselves here in a beautiful yak kharka with yaks all around us and the stone walls that are just amazing in terms of the amount of labor that we think went to go creating them over the ages.

One piece that I thought was interesting is I look out of my tent I can see many of the elements and so before leaving I had written down the Sherpa words for some of the different elements. So wood is shing, tire is ming, soil is sa, iron is cha and water is choo and I think other than iron I can see all from the doorway of my tent at the moment. As we left Tame today, we paid a visit to the Tame monastery. I took a picture of me standing in front of it because 7 year ago I had done the same and so I will be curious put the pictures (inaudible) to see what the last 7 years has done to what I look like. We yesterday had seen some of the monks getting picked up by helicopter so that was pretty exciting times in Tame to watch that happen. The monastery is above town.

The other piece that it is today is find your fit Friday and so I asked Cam for a couple of her hints for find your fit Friday and she says to get outside and appreciate the natural beauty around you won’t even notice you are being active and also she said that you can find a cause to motivate you and so Slyv, we’re all very proud of you, taking on the big bike ride. That is fabulous and there is lots of physical activity, cause related races and events that can motivate us to become physically active. So that is another way to find your fit on a Friday. If you’re looking for more resources on how to find your fit on a Friday. If you’re looking for more resources on how to find your fit, you can visit the recreation of Newfoundland and Labrador website, there’s lots of ideas there.

In terms of steps, Marian today had 11 826 and 165 floors and just over 8 km. I had 12 204 steps, 174 floors and 8 km and Cam had 12 073 steps so the day was a little bit shorter. We didn’t quite crack the 900 000 step mark today but that is something to look forward to tomorrow. We should hit two milestones so make sure to tune in tomorrow to hear about our milestones and finally there is a wonderful young man here that we’ve had a few conversations with and I don’t know if we’ve told you about Gobar, Gobar is animal dung and actually I have told you because they do amazing with yak dung. It is used to fertilize fields, it is used to burn for heating and for cooking and so the young man here had collected some yak dung and some other little dung items and made a, what I called, a Gobar pizza and he thought this was pretty hilarious and he promptly told us that Gobar pizza wasn’t for us to eat, we need to eat (inaudible) Russian pizza but gobar pizza was for the fire. So I got a pizza of that and I look forward to showing that to grade 4 classes because it is always exciting to talk about excrement when I am delivering those classes.

So that is our report here from day 56 of the great big walk. Hope you get out there. Go for a walk, go for a stroll, go for a bike ride, go for anything on this particular find your fit Friday. That get you out, get you active and get you moving and we’re all well here and sending our regards. Especially the (inaudible). Okay, bye!

Total Steps for TA: 12 204 steps, 174 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 11 826 steps, 165 floors

Total Distance for TA: 8 km

Total Distance for Marian: 8 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from day 55. We’re at an elevation of 3820 in a village called Tame and it was a wonderful, delightful easy walk downhill today. Marian had 12 376 steps, 38 floors, 8.5 km. I had 14 563 steps, 38 floors and almost 10 km and Cam had 13 757 steps and a little over 9 km. As we walked down the Bodakosi, we were walking along a historic and current trading route to Tibet. The valley that we were walking down leads to, if you go up, leads to the Yangpo La which is a pass that is 5716 m and it is a trade route historically with Tibet. Still today good’s come over from Tibet and other goods go to Tibet and it is a pass that many folks have (inaudible) from Tibet into Nepal and the pass is located near Choyu which is the 6th highest peak in the world.

In Tame and another village down towards the Namche tama we heard they have been deeply affected by the recent avalanche tragedy on Everest. This area has a long history of supporting mountaineering expeditions. So our thoughts go to all of the families here that lost loved ones. From our beautiful grassy camping spot, we’re not having snow or rock tonight, we have a beautiful view of Tamseku and Tantega and those folks that have been to Namche will be familiar with both of those peaks.

We walked beside the Bodakosi this morning and it will join the Dudh Khosi below Namche. Dudh as you may recall means milk so Dudh kosi means milk. So Dudh Khosi means milk river and it is called that because of the glacial silt that is present in the water. It gives it a bit of a milky appearance sort of a tealy blue grey kind of an appearance.

Here in Tame there is a micro-hydro project that provides electricity to Tame and neighbouring villages so lots of folks, our staff and things have been trying to get phones charged up and things like that. We’ve been using our solar panels today to get our camera batteries all recharged for our last section. Tonight is our last night with our section 2 mates. Bill and Paul and Ed will be returning with Judah and Balrum to Namche tomorrow and then down valley towards Lukla and myself and Cam and Marian and Ray will be heading towards the Tashi Lapsa and over that into the Raoling Valley and I look forward to that because I have been thinking and trying to get to the Raoling Valley for about a decade now. So that will be pretty exciting.

We’ve just come down almost 1500 m and over the next two days, two to three days will gain 2000 m back up so we’re definitely feeling a little bit like Yo Yo’s, but last night’s sleep at 4200 m was fabulous and this little visit to low, relatively low, altitude will give all of us a chance to recharge, to eat well and to sleep well.

So that is the report here from day 55 on the great big walk. Hopefully we’ve gotten out for a walk, a roll, a run. Anything that makes you happy and gets you active and we will catch you from tomorrow. It will be a find your fit Friday tomorrow so stay tuned and actually I think we may have a milestone for you tomorrow.Alright. Thanks. Take care. Bye bye!

Total Steps for TA: 14 563 steps, 38 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 12 376 steps, 38 floors

Total Distance for TA: 10 km

Total Distance for Marian: 8.5 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.

Hey this is TA calling in from Day 54 of the great big walk. We are here at a fun elevation 4210. Same as my winter class, for some 210 m above sea level. At a village called Maralung. We’ve had a great day here. The weather was spectacular for the crossing of the Renjo La. We headed out from our Everest view camp, they called it yesterday. Within about an hour and a half we reached the pass. The top of Everest was a little bit clouded in but we enjoyed one last view before we started dropping in the far side. The far side was amazing. I am not sure when or how the staircase was built but there is a big square stone case leading down from the Renjo La on that side. Absolutely phenomenal amount of labour. This was a pass and maybe still is on occasion where you have to go over, so definitely on the side that we crossed to, that side seems much more conducive to that than the side that we crossed from.

That was our fifth pass in 12 days and for those of us that went up Gokyo ri that means we had 5 passes and one peak in 12 days and we spent, when we get to Tame tomorrow it will mark the 20 day mark above 3800 meters. I had 22 500 steps today, 84 floors, 15 km. Marian had 21 154 steps, 74 floors, 14.68 km and Cam had 20 942 and 14 km. So we will call today 15 km which is a nice little boost to our total and things are looking good that we will be set up to meet our goals for the great big walk.

We are staying in the yard of a very lovely lodge and we met Mingma here and you will remember in a previous podcast or previous update I talked about Sherpa’s naming traditions and Mingma’s are born on Tuesday and so Mingma is actually a grade 4 student who lives in a village called Tamo when school is in season and she walks to Namche which is where our section 2 folks will be heading to after they leave us and that is a distance of 4km so she walks 8km a day to go to and from school. So she’s getting in her great big walk for sure and her English is excellent and looking around the lodge here, her families lodge, they definitely have a strong connection to the climbing industry here in Nepal and someone in her family, I am not sure if it is her father or her Uncle has summited Everest 8 times and so I will be checking out more of those photographs during supper time. There is also quite a fun little treat in our yard and that is we’re sharing the space with some cows and one cow in particular has a very fresh calf and that calf is very fond of our tent line. So chewing and sucking on those when it is not having a snack from its mom and I actually convinced it to actually suck a little bit on my fingers so that was the highlight of my day, getting to a have an up close and personal with a very fresh calf.

So that is all there is to report here from day 54 of the great big walk and hope that you’ve found it today to go out of a walk and we will catch you tomorrow from Tame and the official end of section 2. Take care! Thanks! Bye!

Total Steps for TA: 22 500 steps, 84 floors

Total Steps for Marian: 21 154 steps, 74 floors

Total Distance for TA: 15 km

Total Distance for Marian: 14.68 km

Great Big Walk acknowledges the support of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Quick Start Fund for Public Engagement in making these updates from the field possible.