Relative Something

April 14,  Gokyo Ri (17,500 ft.) and Machermo (14,650 ft.)

Gokyo Ri is the trekker’s summit, a promontory high above the lakes and Himalayan amphitheater. The hike takes patience and commitment to a very slow and deliberate pace. That done, the reward is a glorious sight, a montage of some of the greatest mountains of the Himalayas–Everest, Lhotse, Cho Oyu and Makalu and more; of snow slopes in the stratosphere, mountain walls thousands of feet high descending from huge snowfields. And the stunning centerpiece is Everest, huge and implacable. The impulse is to want to stay here all day. But it’s warmer and slightly more congenial at the campsite below. We rest there and then head for the overnight at Machermo, reputedly the site of the most recent sighting of the legendary Yeti.

This day, I hope to place a handkerchief that belonged to my mother, Elizabeth Elliott Hays, someplace where it can blow in the wind.