Merry Xmas and Trekking New Year

I hope everybody had a great Xmas, I know i did, Now have some new Smartwool Mountain Socks and a Northface Fleece amongst others to add to my Trekking draw. I hope you got everything you wanted and that 2017 will find you outdoors enjoying new trails as well as visiting some old ones,
I thought that i would change the blog slightly this time and see if i can get some guest bloggers who have been to Mera Peak and get them to write of their experiences and what they would and would not recommend, Its always good to get different experiences.
I have been ploughing through the internet gleaming any info that i can get, You tube is always a good place to start and there are many videos on climbing Mera Peak, It shows that its not easy in any way and that not all that try will make it which is what appeals to me, If it easy then everybody would do it and whats the point in that,
I will be going with Ian Taylor trekking as i did with the Everest Base Camp trek, I know Ian only uses the best guides and those that i met were not just great guides but also extremely friendly as are most Nepalese people, It really adds to your trek that the guides get to know you and are fun to be around,
I have made a list of things that i will need to buy and am sure that over the next 12 months this will chop and change until i am happy to buy or a sale comes up and its normally the latter, Boots, Jackets and camera gear will no doubt be the things that take the most research and money, I have a Nikon D800E that i took to base camp and will probably take again as its an incredible camera and gives the most wonderfully detailed images, My walls are covered with large prints taken with it, One of friends pointed me to an English company called PHDesigns who make excellent mountaineering clothing, Not cheap but excellent, A great website as well, You can go to their 'planning a trip' link and using the drop down click on the mountain or range you will climb and it will recommend what to take, The problem with living stateside is that you get 30% import duty added, You do get the 20% UK tax taken off but it still makes things very expensive, A great site and a good read

Click on images to enlarge

Ian Taylor of Ian Taylor Trekking (back) at Namche Bazaar

Image taken with Nikon D800E that is now printed big and up on my wall, Pumori taken from Everest Base Camp on a very cold but extremely clear night

Until the next time have a wonderful New Years-see you next year

Dave

A new adventure

Hi Everybody and welcome to my ramblings as i head for new heights, It seems a long time until the adventure starts but time whizzes by (especially at my age) and it wont be long until 2018 is hear and the excitement really starts, My treks on the Camino De Santiago and more recently on the way to Mount Everest base camp and up to the summit of Kala Pattar have shown me that you can never be too early in researching and training for a big trip, I am lucky in that i have a lot of equipment already but there will always be something that needs to be purchased, In this case the main or expensive items will be a pair of mountaineering boots and a 800+ fill down jacket, I know that at the summit on Mera temperatures can drop to -30 so you cannot skimp on certain things
Follow me on my adventure where i will go higher than i have ever been and help raise funds for The Cancer Research Institute

Everest and Lthose behind me on the way up Kala Pattar at 18500 feet

Dave