Ready for Everest

I am finally packed and ready to go. Today, I did my gear-check on the bed, laid everything out and my wife was amazed at what a mess I could make out of our room in such a short period of time. I try to pack as light as possible, but there are some things that I didn't want to be without, and considering the difficulty of planning and packing for weather from between 90 degrees in Kathmandu and freezing at Base Camp, and preparing for rain and everything in between, for three weeks, and keeping the total weight under 30 pounds, I think I did a pretty good job.

the gear splayed across my bed

I am sure I will forget something, and this is not an exhaustive list of everything in the pack, but a few of the more memorable things I am bringing to the Himalayas are:

• hiking shoes
• trail running shoes
• big down jacket
• pack of wet-wipes in lieu of a shower for three weeks which means I will hopefully get my own row on the flight home
• my 3 water bottles (one of which is a big Obama 08 bottle that I will use to pee in at night; my conservative friends will be very happy)
• a bunch of tech t's
• hiking pants
• wool socks
• soap that you can wash body, hair, dishes and clothes with
• first aid kit with anti-diarrhea medicine and moleskin
• DIAMOX
• my trusty Timex running hat
• The Original Buff
• gaiters
• a light jacket
• 2 pairs of gloves
• High Adventure paperback
• a couple of magazines
• my wife's neon-pink ipod shuffle (to ensure that I am not hit on...by women)
• Cliff bars, Honey Stinger gels, Rev-3 energy powder, Enlyten electrolyte strips, Via powdered coffee, beef jerky
• Canon point and shoot
• Cell phone
• passport
• bunch of singles for the strippers sherpas

I packed it all up and weighed my pack, coming in at a svelte 27.8 pounds, not too bad, seems like I could even carry that around (at sea level).

my Obama 08 pee bottle

fully packed

I wanted to get in a last hike before I left, so I took my hiking buddy up to my favorite trail on Double Peak.  It was a beautiful day, the wind was blowing and the air was clear and we played name that cloud for about an hour, then finished up with some Subway sandwiches which always taste good after a long hike.

just getting warmed up

that one looks like a fish

clear and windy day

the kid's a natural on the downhills

That's it, a thirteen hour flight to Hong Kong, a twelve hour layover in Hong Kong, a six hour flight to Kathmandu, and then the Himalayas.