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HADT - DIARY UPDATE FOR: Day 8 Tuesday 30 March 2004 |
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| Camp Location: | Thuli Kharka 4200m | |||||||
| Weather Summary: | Sunny with clear skies but cool in the morning. Overcast and cooling with snow by late afternoon. | |||||||
| Objective: | To continue to acclimatisation trek. | |||||||
| Major Occurrences: | Nil | |||||||
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SUMMARY OF ACTIVITY BY TEAM |
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| The day began with an al fresco breakfast in the morning
sunshine as the mess tent had already been struck. Initially we
continued up the Zattara Danda (ridge) leaving the trees behind
to be replaced with stunted thorn and juniper bushes and slabby
granite not dissimilar to parts of Scotland. After an initial steep
climb we left the ridge to contour the west flank of the mountain.
The track was surprisingly good and our Sirdar, Nima, informed us
that it was used by the locals to reach their summer pastures. As
the hillside warmed up, the juniper filled the air with a heady
fragrance. We crossed some small snowfields which although no problem
for us, were quite challenging to the porters carrying their heavy
loads - a few of them in flip flops! Lunch was taken early in a
peaceful suntrap following which we climbed back to the ridge (4350m)
and crossed to the east side. Thereafter, the weather steadily deteriorated
as we descended towards the small Sherpa hamlet of Thuli Kharka
(4220m) where it started to snow lightly. Following discussions on the satphone late this afternoon we were informed that although Sam is feeling a little better he has not improved enough to continue climbing and they intend to return to Lukla where Sam will fly back to Kathmandu. Sean, now well acclimatised, will follow a shorter route to catch us up. Sam will hopefully be able to rejoin the group at a later date. His options will become clearer over the next few days.
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