A Yeti Heart

This collaboration between
@cecicastor and @tatswaru

Chapter 8 – The Trail Climbs

After a breakfast of sweetened tea, rice cakes and fruit, I once again started my journey. The majestic snow capped mountains are directly in front of me and the trail is becoming steeper. The air is cool and seems to be a bit thinner. The forests are changing to coniferous and rhododendrons. It is a fresh mixture pine and floral scents that assault my olfactory senses.

I met a Sherpa guide leading a very haggard looking group of Finnish climbers, heading back down to the valley. They had attempted to climb Everest but were turned back by severe weather. They said they intend to return next year to try again.

I seemed to be tiring more quickly than I had anticipated and find I need to take more frequent breaks. I decided to stop a make some tea. It is much cooler now and the trees are sparser than before. I needed to put on the heavier clothing I had brought with me.

While I was changing, a bright gaudily painted red and gold helicopter broke the solemn silence with its throbbing rotor blades chopping through the stillness. I assumed that this was one of the gauche sightseeing tours flying low over the mountains. No tranquillity or privacy here!

I heaved my pack over my aching shoulders and continued my slow climb. The mountain loomed closer, looking like a rough diamond shining in the fading afternoon light. My stomach felt hollow and I needed to find a place to camp for the night. The cold northerly wind whipped around me and it felt like it would snow at any moment.

I found a crevice in a steep rock face that was just big enough for me to set up my pup tent. At least it offered me some protection from the elements. I scrounged around and found some dried branches to build a fire; more to keep the wild animals at bay than to keep me warm. I rolled out the thick down filled sleeping bag that my brother Steve sent me from Canada last fall when he heard that I would be making this trip to the Himalayas.

I am so exhausted that I skip fixing anything to eat and fell directly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

all photos are courtesy of Pixbay

To be continued...