Decision Time

There comes a time when the leader of any group must make difficult decisions. Today it was time for Russ to make a difficult call.

The injury a week or so ago was painful and slowed him down but he has been a trooper, keeping up a good attitude and encouraging us toward each day's goal.

His hip had improved but last night he developed a strong pain in his chest wall or diaphragm, causing breathing problems, especially with his left lung. Needless to say, at this elevation it is essential to have lungs that are working well.

Despite his strong feeling that he was abandoning the group and deserting his post, he made the difficult decision to be air evacuated out to the international hospital in Kathmandu.

The chopper that was originally booked had to be diverted to make an emergency evacuation from Everest base camp, but another picked him up at 1400 and took him to Lukla awaiting further transportation to Kathmandu. 

This incident reinforces the importance of having a knowledgeable and experienced guide.  The proprietor of the Nest Hotel in Lukla is an old friend so Ramesh called and made arrangements for him to meet Russ at the airport, transport him and baggage to the hotel and arrange further transport to Kathmandu. In Kathmandu, Ramesh will have his brother meet Russ and make all arrangements for hospital, hotel, etc.

This efficient operation takes a big load off Jeff's mind, allowing him to help the rest of us continue our trek knowing his father-in-law is in good hands. 

We all wish Russ the best, with a speedy trip to the hospital and a quick recovery. 

With Russ on his way to help, Ramesh decided it was too late in the day to make a start for our next stop so we're staying here again tonight and will make an early start tomorrow. 

Meanwhile, we have a good view of Everest, when the clouds allow. 

Thus is the view out our bedroom window. 

This is the same shoot with telephoto.  The peak in the center with the condensation cloud blowing off to the right is our mountain. 

A walk around the grounds yielded some shots of different rhodies.  At this elevation theY tend to be smaller bushes instead of the trees we saw at lower elevations. 

It'll be a long day tomorrow with another two thousand foot net elevation gain so I'm going to post this entry and then get a good night's sleep.