Kala Patthar: The coldest we’ve ever been
- Aperture: f/10
- ISO: 500
- Shutter Speed: 1/200 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Day 9 – April 6, 2013 – Gorak Shep to Kala Patthar to Pheriche Climbing Kala Patthar, by Him: “Lakpa?” I called into the dark room of bunk beds where several Sherpa guides were sleeping in what seemed to be a giant pile — completely understandable given the below 0 temperatures. The hour was nightmarish, just…
An avalanche at Everest Base Camp
- Aperture: f/13
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/1000 s
- Focal Length: 75mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Day 8 – April 5, 2013 – Lobuche to Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp “Hotel” is a generous word to describe Sagarmatha National Park Hotel, a ramshackle collection of plywood boards resembling a child’s self-constructed tree house. The ceiling of our room sagged like the cloth ceiling of a decades-old minivan taxi, and the…
From extreme ironing to blow-up dolls
- Aperture: f/14
- ISO: 200
- Shutter Speed: 1/320 s
- Focal Length: 12mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Day 7 – April 4, 2013 – Dingboche to Lobuche After spending two nights making multiple trips to a bathroom exposed to the frigid night air of Dingboche, we packed our backpacks once more to move on. We left Hotel Family about 8:15 a.m., heading west over the hill we climbed the day before to…
Operation Clean Underwear
- Aperture: f/18
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/125 s
- Focal Length: 15mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Day 5 – April 2, 2013 – Pangboche to Dingboche In case you couldn’t tell from the video documenting our terrifying landing at Tenzing-Hillary Airport, I had some trouble understanding our Everest Base Camp trek guide. In addition to his strong Nepalese accent, Lakpa had a tendency to speak much too quickly, blending each sentence…
When the “yaksit” hits the fan
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/60 s
- Focal Length: 20mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
“IS THIS NORMAL?!” Her shouted to our guide, Lakpa Sherpa, as the plane bounced violently in an updraft. In fact, it was very normal. We had just crossed a mountain ridge (only a couple hundred feet separated us from the trees below), and the windy updraft on the far side of the mountain ridge jostled…
Your Everest Base Camp trek packing list
- Aperture: f/2.4
- ISO: 50
- Shutter Speed: 1/123 s
- Focal Length: 4.28mm
- Camera: iPhone 4S
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but let me repeat: I have NEVER been as cold as I was on the Everest Base Camp trek — not even during that Disney half-marathon when we ran with Him’s parents through the rain, hail, sleet and snow in shorts, and his dad defrosted with a hair dryer…
Some pros and cons of hiring a tour company for your Everest Base Camp trek
- Aperture: f/11
- ISO: 250
- Shutter Speed: 1/250 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Planning an Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek through Sagarmatha National Park can be intimidating, and like many travelers setting out to complete the 62-kilometer hike from Lukla, Him and I were torn between hiring a tour company and going at it on our own. We ultimately decided to play it safe and hired the Amazing…
Some Kathman-do’s and don’t’s when planning your Everest Base Camp trek
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/80 s
- Focal Length: 16mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
I peered around the corner. The band of marauders seemed to be turning away from me, so I crept out from my hiding spot and walked flat against the wall to stay out of view of the snipers on the rooftops. In this fashion, I crept closer to my destination — an ATM deep in…
A wedding anniversary shrouded by death
- Aperture: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/500 s
- Focal Length: 85mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
I don’t imagine many American couples celebrate their first wedding anniversary in Varanasi, India. We certainly didn’t plan to, but we honestly didn’t spare much thought to the occasion because we had a single objective on our minds: exiting India as quickly as possible. After just two weeks, we were physically and mentally exhausted by…
Tiger! Tiger!
- Aperture: f/6.3
- ISO: 800
- Shutter Speed: 1/400 s
- Focal Length: 135mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Sweat beaded on my forehead as we sat silently in the back seat of our safari vehicle, an Isuzu Gypsy with no roof and two rows of bench seats in the back for passengers to play lookout. We had been parked, engine off, for several minutes now waiting, watching…listening. The penetrating silence was interrupted only…
