the hillbilly-hollar

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Tallest point at BC 1

Once you hike the 5 miles from Rhongpuk to BC 1 you are greeted by all the people living up there to provide services to hikers and climbers. At the top of the valley, beyond which you must be permitted to climb the whole mountain, there is this hill... the tallest point you can hike to without a permit. At the top you are close to 19,000 ft.

Hiking to BC 1 at Everest

Behind us, actually behind the wall of storm clouds, lies Qomalongma herself .... that's Mt. Everest to us.

Rhongpuk Monastery

5 miles below Base Camp 1 the road comes to an end at Rhongpuk, the highest monastery in the world. Here we rented a room for the night, threw our gear down and hit the 5 mile trail to BC 1. We had high hopes for even a fleeting glimpse of the mountain we had come so far to see.... but an ominous storm front had other plans for us.

Back to Tibet.... On our way up to Everest

A small Tibetan village in the high plains of the Himalayas on the road to Everest.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Another season at The Bird.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Burning Man 2008... Sunset and billiards

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Lamp lighters on the move!

The four main avenues and the interconnecting Esplanade are ringed with 15 foot tall wooden lamp posts. Each evening a crew of people carry and hang kerosene lanterns from the lamp posts, lining the entire city by the time their job is done.

Neighborhood burn platform

At the head of every major street there is a large metal receptacle of some sort. Ours happened to be a giant wheel barrow. These are for all burnable garbage... Burning Man is the largest leave no trace event in the world, which means everyone who comes plays with a "pack it in, pack it out" mentality. Used to be folks just burned it all, right there, down to couches, tires etc... Common sense, and the right to breathe, finally won out.... now you can only burn wood, paper, and compost... I bet some people miss the smell of smoldering plastic though...

Ready to ride!

David and I, geared up and ready for a sunset ride around the city. As always, never leave camp without a dust mask and your goggles. Dust storms, literal whiteouts, can overtake you in a matter of a few minutes.

Burning Man 2008... He falls!

... and the crowd rushes in to revel in the burning remains... the fire burns throughout the night, slowly putting itself out. But people stay around it well into the next day, ravaging through the charred remnants for momentos, pieces of The Man, and the elusive, perhaps even mythical, Golden Spike.....