"I am proud to be an American"

Never thought I would be humming the words to that song as I trekked up and down Himalayan mountains on my way to the base of Mt. Everest. But if there is one thing this trip has taught me, it is that I am proud to be an American. I might not always be proud of how our government acts, but I am proud of how our people act. I have seen the way Americans treat others on their travels. We are among the most courteous, most caring, most thoughtful, most generous, and most genuine people in the world.

I have been in Nepal for nearly three weeks and have loved every minute of it. As I wrote previously, Nepal is easily the most beautiful place I've ever visited. I spent two weeks climbing to the base of Mt. Everest and back: first flying to a 9,000 foot-high, mountainside landing strip (I don't recommend it for the weak-kneed crowd); then hiking 40 miles over 9 days up to 18,000 feet; then 40 miles back down to the same mountainside airstrip. I was at first a little nervous about spending two weeks alone with my guide. I knew it was going to be difficult to meet people because there are only 15-20 tourists per day on the Everest trek during low-season. But I got really lucky. On the first day of my trek, I met a group of 14 people from the Mesa State College (Grand Junction, Colorado) Outdoor Program. We had an absolute blast over our two weeks to Everest and back.

Everest is more beautiful than any photograph can reveal. Its more enticing than Mona Lisa's smile, even more perfect than Michealangelo's David, and more invigorating than a case of Red Bull. People instinctively have the urge to climb Everest as soon as they see it. (I was lucky enough to meet, and speak at length with, an American who summitted Everest at the end of May. Normal people--like me--only go to Base Camp, which is located at 18,000 feet. The Everest summit is another 11,000 feet above Base Camp.)

A normal treking day consisted of waking up at 5:30AM, having breakfast, and being on the trail by 6:00AM. We would normally hike/gasp/sweat/limp for 4-5 hours a day with lots of rice and lentils ("dal bhat" in Nepalese) for sustenance. At night, we would stay in Sherpas' tea houses, which were little more than stone cottages in small mountain communities for 75 cents a night. Good times.