Tyengboche Monastery, 3860m/12600'

Rain...rain...rain. All day, from Namche nearly all the way to Tyengboche, up 3300' feet of steep trail, we were encased in multiple layers of Goretex, almost as wet from sweat on the inside as from the rain on the outside.

But... just as we arrived, at 14:30 and after 6 hours of soggy trekking, the clouds cleared and blessed us with our first view of Mt. Everest, hiding behind her 8000m modesty skirt, the Lohtse Wall.

To her right stands her 8500m sister, Lohtse; on her left and hidden almost entirely by The Wall, stands little 7800m Nuptse.

A few miles off to the southeast rises the mother mountain, beautiful Ama Dablam. And nestled between this sisterhood of giants, almost too small to be noticed, is our diminutive objective, tiny Imja Tse at 6200m, hiding like a child in a roomful of adults.

This, then, is the panorama that greeted us, like a gift from Buddha himself, as we arrived at Tyengboche monastery.

Namaste,
Jim Ronning