August 28, 2015
Kathmandu, Nepal

I'm sitting at the pool at the Hyatt Regency.  The air to me smells like brown sugar and flowers, and all around me are lush green manicured shrubs.  It's still technically the monsoon season so the sun is fighting to break through the clouds and everything is sticky and damp.

Outside the ornate gates of the Hyatt Regency is a completely different world, full of honking cars spewing black exhaust fumes and motorbikes stacked with people.  A few steps fron the Hyatt remains a refugee camp filled with tidy rows of tents and tarps, home to families who lost their homes in May's earthquake.  Some locals say that 75% of the inhabitants don't need to be in the camp, but have gotten greedy from the regular meals that are provided.  The only similarity between this world and the one inside the Hyatt's walls is the thick, damp smog.

Earlied today I traveled by taxi to the neigborhood of Thamel.  Because so many climbers and hikers travel through Kathmandu on their journeys, the narrow streets of Thamel are home to more gear shops than Seattle.  Most of the dark, dusty shops sell knock-off equipment, which shop owners are completely transparent about.  But, there are also bright, shiny Mountain Hardwear and North Face stores.  Some climbers have difficulty buying quality gear in their home countries due to local regulations, and purchase everything when they get to Kathmandu.  The thought of climbing a Himalayan peak with entirely new, untested gear stresses me out.  I'm happy that I have easy access to quality gear and that I've had the opportunity to earn the scratches and dings on my equipment.

August 29, 2015 
Kathmandu, Nepal

It's 4:30 in the morning, and I'm still suffering from jet lag, I'm happy to have slept for 5 hours, but the pigeons cooing and flapping their wings outside of my open window distracted me from sleeping longer.  I'm also anxious to leave Kathmandu and travel to the mountains.  The helicopter leaves at 6am!

August 9, 2015
Training was a little light this week, thanks to travel and meetings in Philadelphia.  I endured several treadmill runs plus one muscular endurance workout and one high intensity AeT run.  

I rounded out the week with back-to-back double hikes up the cable line trail on Tiger mountain with a 33 pound pack.   The cable line trail is steep, rocky, but thankfully short, gaining 2,022 feet in 1.5 miles.  It's one of those trails visited mostly by people training for something.  We're all heaving and sweating under heavy packs, carefully manuvering in heavy montaineering boots on loose rock.  Those of us completing the hike multiple times just nod and grunt at one another with as our ear buds blast motivational tunes. 

Tiger mountain cable line trail
Photo:  Lisa White

In May - actually five months ago to the day - I hiked up the cable line trail without any weight in 53 minutes, this weekend my fastest time was 1:06.  Even though it was tough, I feel like my aerobic fitness has definitely improved!

I've also spent some quality time this weekend with the Hypoxico tent.  I feel like I haven't spent as much time sleeping in the hypocic tent or doing hypoxic training.  So, twice this weekend, I turned the tent into my office.  Murray, of course joined me.  He just can't stay out of that thing!

Murray and me getting some work done in the tent
Photo:  Darrin White

August 2, 2015
It's hard to believe that I'll be leaving for Nepal in just 24 days!  I feel like it's crunch time  ... for the past two weeks I've planned my schedule  in order to maximize my time to train while not compromising recovery or - my favorite - sleep!  Although, sleep isn't quite as enjoyable in the hypoxic tent.

My training for the past two weeks has consisted of one hard run for an hour, two recovery runs, one muscular endurance session, two or three hypoxic training sessions, and climbing or hiking on the weekend.  Whew!

Yesterday I headed south to Mt. Rainier and hiked to camp Muir with a 25 pound pack ... twice.  In order to finish my double header before the heat of the day, I started in the early morning.  There was still a warm breeze blowing as I started out on the familiar asphalt path and made my way up the rocks to Pebble Creek.  Under the full moon, I didn't even need a headlamp.  I hadn't been on Rainier in a few weeks, and I was surprised that there was exposed rock almost up to 8,500 feet.  As I was trudging along in the moonlight, I heard running water on the Muir snowfield and looked up to see a waterfall exposed in the snow, something I've never seen before at that location.  It's hard to believe how much snow and ice has melted on Rainier this summer, it feels like a completely different place.  Things were quiet at camp Muir during my first visit since all of the climbers were on their way to the summit, I watched the horizon start to lighten for a few minutes, then started down.

Sunrise on Mt. Rainier

I began my second trip to camp Muir at 6:30 am, there were just a few other hearty people on the trail, and I was so thankful to be able to witness the mountain waking up.  The moths that had fluttered by me during the night were gone, replaced by grasshoppers and birds.  I watched a bear rambling through blueberry bushes on a slope below me, looking for breakfast, and saw a spotted fawn test her courage by jumping after its mother across a gurgling creek.  I felt more connected with the mountain because I had experienced this transition from night to day.  

I made it to camp Muir in 3:03, took a break to rest, eat and drink, and then headed back down and enjoyed perfect snow for book skiing.  I was back at Pebble Creek in 1:10.  Along the way I noticed delicate moth wings in the snow.  I thought about the moths that had escorted me last night and wondered why the had lost their wings.

Waterfall on the Muir snowfield
Photo:  Lisa White

 I also thought about the snow below my boots, how long ago had it fallen, 5 years, 50 years?  How much of it would be left when fresh snow fell this winter?  Mt. Rainier is a wondrous place! 

July 18, 2015
This weekend marked the end of the quick training hikes with light packs that I have been enjoying.  On Saturday I hiked 3,000 feet up Granite Mountain with Roxy and 20 pounds in my pack.  Roxy spent most of the time looking for shade, and I spent most of the time wishing that my pack was 10 pounds lighter.

Roxy on Granite Mountain, Rainier in the Distance
Photo:  Lisa White

Today I decided to discover a new trail near Darrington.  The Neiderprum trail  steep, solitary and perfect!  I hiked up 2,400 feet in 1.8 miles with 25 pounds in my pack.  Best of all, I discovered Whitehorse Mountain, which I will definitely return to climb.

Whitehorse Mountain
Photo:  Lisa White

Roxy joined me again today, even though she would have preferred to stay home and sleep.  We were both rewarded for our efforts with ripe raspberries and blueberries in the warm sun.

The crazy thing about the Neiderprum trail is that it leads the way to the site of a former mining cabin.  I can't imagine Mr. Neiderprum coaxing a team of horses up there to build his cabin.  Must have been one hell of a mine!  I searched around the "flat" area near lone pine pass, but unfortunately couldn't find any remnants.  


It was a beautiful, peaceful day in the woods, thanks Mr. Neiderprum! 

July 17, 2015

It's hypoxic time!!  For several years Darrin and I have included hypoxic training in our preparations for big climbs.  The idea is that by sleeping or exercising in a hypoxic environment, you build more red blood cells, which carry more oxygen, effectively starting the altitude acclimatization process before even starting to climb.  Brilliant!  I met some of the Hypoxico crew while climbing several years ago and was really impressed by their technology.  Since then I've worked with them to prepare for each big climb.  

For Manaslu, I started sleeping at the equivalent of 4,000 feet last weekend.   I'm slowly working my way up to 9,000 feet, monitoring my SpO2 each morning when I wake up to be sure that it's not less than 90%.  If I increase the elevation too quickly, my sleep quality, and in turn my workouts, will suffer.  So, I'm walking a fine line to be sure that I gain the benefits of acclimatization without compromising performance.  Plus, getting a crappy night's sleep sucks and leaves me feeling hung over and cranky in the morning.  No one likes that.  Once I'm comfortable at 9,000 feet, I will follow the mountaineering principle of "climb high, sleep low" and alternate between 9,000 feet and increasingly higher elevations. 

Ideally I would have started this whole process a few weeks ago, but since I have been traveling for work, it would have been hard to make much progress.

One weird thing about the tent, which fits over our mattress, is that our cat, Murray loves to sleep in it.  By loves, I mean he throws a fit and paws at the walls until we let him inside.  And once he's in the tent, he stays there all night.  Cats live at high elevations, so I don't think it's bad for him, I think he's just weird.

Hypoxic tent

Our tickets are booked!  

Now we just need permits, vaccinations, Sherpa, trip insurance, food, and good weather! 

July 2, 2015
"It's ok, I'll sleep in the trunk."  I found myself saying illogically as Darrin, our friend Jeff, and I were making plans for a one-day ascent of Mt. Rainier.  The plan was to "sleep" in the car for a few hours at Paradise, then start climbing an midnight and be home for dinner.  Making the climb  in one day would afford us the luxury of carrying light packs and moving quickly.  

We started off on the familiar trail which seemed completely different without a parking lot full of cars and people.  It felt peaceful to move in the warm night air.  Moths flew in patterns in the light of my headlamp and everything felt still and quiet.  Under the full moon we made good time to Pebble Creek and stopped to top off our water bottles before pushing to Camp Muir.  With the exception of a glissading cowboy - which I still think may have been a mirage - we were alone on the Muir snowfield.

This is where things went awry.  Remnants of greasy yakisoba started to torment Darrin's stomach and our pace slowed.  We weren't able to make it to Camp Muir by our three hour time limit, and Darrin didn't feel strong enough to push on.  Frustrating for us all, but it's a team sport and it just wasn't coming together for us.  I'm already planning my next Rainier-in-a-day trip.  Hopefully I won't have to sleep in the trunk.

Oh, and I kicked cancer's ass 3 months ago :)

July 4, 2015
Since I didn't achieve my objective on Rainier, I needed to gain some vertical.  I opted for a quick hike up familiar Mailbox Peak, making it to the top in just 1:47, which I think is a new record for me.  Jeff's time is still 10 minutes better, so I have some work to do!  In order to keep my heart rate above 130 bpm, I jogged down the new trail.  4,000 feet of vertical gained and lost in 3 hours and 11 minutes.

July 5, 2015
I leave for Nepal is 7 weeks!!!  It's time to transition my training regimen from max strength - low reps with high weights - to muscular endurance.  The muscular endurance phase is designed to reach muscular "burn" in about a minute without raising my heart rate above my aerobic threshold (which is now 160 bpm).  Achieving muscular burn in this way will increase the endurance of the affected muscles.  For my first muscular endurance workout, I started by warming up with a few core exercises (hanging leg raises, L-sits, kayakers, and sit-ups) and did two sets of weighted pull-ups (18#) and step-ups (60#).  When I was warmed up, I did one minute each of squats, step-ups, and lunges with a 22.5# weight vest.  I'm embracing the burn!