With a Little Help from my Friends!! God Bless Wendy Graham, the Chocolate Gu and the Maritimers who helped me through the 7 Suspension Bridges today

We have already entered the Sagarmatha National Park and are still seeing trees and huge rhododendron bushes . The mountains are just coming in to view. We are now at 11,300 feet. I have increased my dose of Diamox to help with the altitude.

It was Wendy's care package that got me through the afternoon! I was really feeling the altitude and we couldn't look up, it just made it worse. We just kept going slow!! This was one of the first Nepalese words I learnt....Bistare, Bistare. Please Sherpa, go slowly!! I needed the energy from the Gu she gave me and finally we saw the signs of the trading center of the Sherpas, Namche Bazaar. The toll of this day would mean some in our group would not carry on....we would not know this until the next morning. After today, I always carried some extra carb energy in my backpack. It helped our group get through the tough climbs.

A glimpse of Namche Bazaar. This was a blessing after a brutal 6.5 hour climb. When the Sherpas tell you it's going to be a hard climb, they are not kidding. I hadn't realized yet but they would tell us approximately how long it would take us to Trek to a certain destination. I was quickly learning that 2 hours for them meant 4 hours for me!! When you look at the map, we did not Trek that many kilometers but we did climb over 3, 000 feet this day. It was the most difficult climb of the Trip. It went on and on and on. Everytime we turned a corner, there was another hill to climb. It was very hot today and would be the last time I would be warm until we descended down the mountain.

I'm not smiling , I'm very scared as this picture does not do justice to the height of this bridge and the swift current of the Bhote Koshi and Dudh Koshi Rivers converging below. The Maritimers helped me cross my first suspension bridge. Apparently my screams are still being echoed in the mountains. To cross this one, I had to hold on to Ten Gruk's backpack. Lesley took my picture crossing it. I'll have to wait to see her share her pictures with the group from the GTA in November.

Suspension Bridge Tips: Don't look down. Don't stop. Let the Yaks have the bridge to themselves, wait for them to pass. Make sure you have gone to the washroom before you pass on the bridge!!

With one of the Sherpas, PaSan and one of the beautiful waterfalls which are so abdundant, we have almost become complacent about them. I keep pinching myself to realize that it's not a dream. every corner is a beautiful scene which pictures don't really do justice. All Sherpas are Buddhists. They don't harm any living creature. They are vegetarian and are very kind, compassionate human beings.

Leaving Phakding. Still rolling hills and "Canada like" conditions with the trees and paths. Are we still in the Georgian Trails??? The afternoon would prove us differently.

These are not Yaks. The real Yaks are at higher altitudes. The real Yaks are huge beasts who command the rough stones and pathways as you climb to higher heights. These are a halfbreed called Dzo. Loading them up with our bags was a daily routine. This along with human porters are the only means of transportation in the monutains. The animals are well taken care of and along the way we passed a Yak Sanctuary. I'm not sure the criteria of how a Yak qualifies for the Sanctuary but they are respected and it is so important to give them respect when you are trekking. Never allow the Yak to walk close to the mountain. Let the Yak walk close to the edge and always give way to the Yaks. They will not fall off the edge....you will and it has tragically happened in the Sagarmatha National Park.