Deboche and Dingboche (say that 10 times fast)

First shot of the 2018 expedition group!

From Left: Dan, Fabian, Tom and Dave (in his super stylish Kathmandu shop pants.  Good news, they found his bag and got it up to him in Namche!  It was a huge relief and he can finally breathe easy.  Well, as easy as you can breathe at 14,500 feet.)

Dave and Tom had previously set up to take a slightly different schedule than the rest of the group this time.  Since they have already done the base camp trek, they decided to chopper into Namche (spend a few days there) then chopper to Dingboche and spend a few days there as well.  The idea was to save some energy and wear and tear before the expedition portion starts.  Today he said "choppered to Dinboche- took 5 minutes instead of 2 days!"  They took a quick hike to 15,000 to help acclimate and now they are resting in Dingboche.  He said it's cold out so they are hanging out indoors.

The trekking team made the trip to Deboche today (about 12,500 feet) which is a pretty tough day.  Lots of uphill and downhill all rolled into one.  It's been really great weather so far, although getting colder now.  Luckily I have a spy on the inside to feed me all of this info- my dad (Tim Watson) is hiking to base camp with the group this year!  It's been fun to chat with him and get the inside scoop.  And also fun when I see pics that he is in.

Dave and my dad hanging out in Namche :)

My dad randomly got paired up with Dan to be his "roommate" on the trek.  They are both attorneys and in a similar stage of life.  It's fun to get to know Dan a bit better since Dave will be spending so much time with him in the next month!  Dan was so supportive last year when the guys were climbing, always checking in with me and sending me helpful information.  Even sending me a nice Mother's Day message from him and his sweet wife Susan.  Excited for him to get a chance to summit Everest this year. Great addition to the expedition team.

That's all for now!  I'm pretty sure the group will meet up with Dave and Tom tomorrow again but that could be totally inaccurate, I don't actually know the exact plan haha :)  Needless to say, I am a lot less nervous and in the details this year.  This is all seeming familiar and routine so far.  I'm not sure I will still feel that way come this time next week but let's hope I do.  The entire group is scheduled to reach basecamp by Thursday which will be such an exciting accomplishment!

So thankful for all of this modern technology to keep us connected every day! Dave has wifi at each village and basecamp so we can use whatsapp in the mornings and evenings when we are both awake (12 hours ahead there.) He also has the GPS Garmin this year (which was not negotiable after last year!) that he will be able to text from when he is on the higher mountain. You can track Dave here: https://share.garmin.com/DavidSnow and also track Dan here: https://share.garmin.com/DanStringham

-Tiffany