Windy

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The wind blew hard last night and I was worried that the DRASH shelters might take a hammering, particularly the large 6S model that sits high on a rocky outcrop, exposed to whatever the Himalayan weather wants to throw at it. I thought about crawling out of my tent to see if all was well, but reassured myself that these tents could cope with a lot worse than what we were going through.

The generator tent, however, didn?t fair as well; the tarpaulin roof being ripped clean back, dragging the frame with it. Repairing this was clearly the first job to do and perfect for Rhys to practise his engineering skills. His plan is to start at Swansea (in Wales of course!) University in the autumn to start his engineering degree. As long as whatever he builds makes full use of ?strengthening triangles? then he?ll be happy!

?Triangles, what?s all that about?? I hear you ask.

Back in Pheriche, when we were constructing a table on which to mount all the Victron equipment, Rhys was quite insistent that the legs were braced with triangles. It seemed like a lot of extra work, which we didn?t have time for, but he assured us that it was good engineering practise.

Both Rhys and Bobby worked well and the shelter soon took on a much hardier look, capable of withstanding any future storms. With extra rope, cable-ties and plenty of engineering input from Rhys, the frame was toughened up and the cover secured to huge rocks.

Tomorrow the first trekking group would be arriving and so it was time that we had a good tidy up around the camp. I detailed a ?litter-picking? party to go around our whole area and pick up anything that shouldn?t be here. As we walked around the camp, I realised just how huge an area we commanded at Base Camp, probably in the order of 3 or 4 acres of ?real-estate?.

?How long have they been here?? I wondered. ?I guess Hilary and Tenzing must have camped here over 50 years ago. Did they accidentally drop any of the rope that I was picking up. Was I holding a piece of history in my hands I wonder??

The camp was looking good and I was happy that it was respectable enough for the arrival of the first trekking group. I sat on the rock, below our tall radio mast and admired my domain. As the sun slowly crept behind the large peaks to our west, I looked around at the various team members chatting to each other. The camp has a good feel to it.

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Blog by Mac Mackenney