The Madison Mountaineering Himalayan expedition teams continued on today, trekking up to Namche Bazaar and crossing the famous Hillary Bridge along the way. Blue skies and pleasant temperatures fueled the team as we walked, step by step up the trail taking in excellent views of the mountains above and river below. With a day of active rest to come, we’re excited to enjoy the comforts of Namche before venturing further into the Himalayas. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with this dispatch from Nepal:
Hello! This is Terray calling in for the autumn Madison Mountaineering programs here in the Everest region of Nepal – today is October 23rd. Today we walked from Phakding (2610m/8,562ft) up to Namche Bazaar (3440m/11,290ft). Some of the highlights of today’s trek included entering Sagarmatha National Park and crossing the famous Hillary suspension bridge on our way up the hill to Namche. It was another beautiful day here in the Khumbu Valley! We had excellent views of Kusum Kanguru (6367m/20,889ft) – a really nice, snowy, craggy peak high above the Dudh Koshi River. And now from Namche Bazaar, we’re looking over at Kongde Ri (6187m/20,299ft) which is another very majestic peak here in this part of the valley.
We’ve settled into our lodge and our guests are relaxing at Sherpa Barista Cafe, which is a great restaurant here in Namche, and we’re looking forward to a great dinner later tonight! Also, many of our guests have signed up for sports massages with a local charity called Lehara, which provides economic opportunities to local women here in the valley. So, those massages are a nice benefit of being in Namche!
Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to an active rest day! We’ll hike up to the Everest View Hotel where if the weather is as clear as it was today, we’ll have excellent views of Everest (8848m/29,032ft), and Nuptse (7861m/25,791ft), and Ama Dablam (6812m/22,349ft), and other peaks in the upper Khumbu Valley.
So, all is well here in Nepal and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!
The team enjoying lunch in Jorsale on the way to Namche. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)
Our guests Mel and Tom on the scenic trails en route to Namche. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)
Morning light in the Khumbu Valley. (Photo by Terray Sylvester)
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
- Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“
– Instagram:
