Logistics team blog

Mark Wilson asked me if I would like to walk to Gorak Shep and then climb Kala Patar with him and Mark Edsell. In principle, the idea sounded nice, but I really didn?t want to get up at 5:00am again. For the last three mornings I had got up early and was feeling quite knackered, so decided to have a lie-in and lounge around the camp.

Most of the Base Camp lab staff had set out for Gorak Shep the day before, 3 guys and 4 girls, who decided to sleep over at the small lodge we used on the way up and get in some well earned R&R (Rest and Relaxation).

7:30am and Mark Wilson gave me a radio call to let me know that they were on their way. Their plan for getting there before sunrise had obviously gone by the wayside, but it was a nice morning for a walk and I?m sure that they enjoyed getting away from camp for a while.

I lay in bed for a while listening to some CD?s before venturing out of my sleeping bag at around 9:00. It was great to just relax and chill out as I felt really tired. I don?t know whether it?s the altitude, living in a tent or just generally being unfit here at Base Camp, but I was pretty shattered and nodded off for half an hour or so.

With most of the team out of town, it only left a handful of us here. There wasn?t a lot to do, as with no equipment being used the generators didn?t need to be started and it was just a case of monitoring the batteries.

After lunch the guys started wandering back into Base Camp. First the 2 Marks and then Jules, the girls and finally George and David Howard.

The ?afternoon matinee? was to be Catch Me If You Can, staring Leonardo de Caprio. Pasang, one of the assistant cooks was given the choice of choosing which film it would be. I had seen it before, so decided to go and have a lie down, it?s a hard life here at Base Camp! I woke several hours later and stuck my head around the corner of the dining tent to find that they were watching Platoon, one of my favourite films! I sat and watched the last 20 minutes or so, before the dinner gong went.

Dinner was quite pleasant, just a handful of us that live and work at Base Camp all the time. I can?t remember what we had to eat, but I know it was good, like nearly all the meals that we have here. Every night, without fail, I will go and see the cooks for 10 minutes or so, just to say hello and thank them for another wonderful meal. Akal, Mingma, Sucra, Pasang and Paldin, all do an excellent job under very difficult circumstances.

The evening?s film was ?Catch Me If You Can? this time, so I opted for an early night.