Unite the Clans!

We had new vigor after we left Gokyo and hiked extremely hard the next few days. We stayed the evening in Macherma where we stayed in a warm tea house warmed by dry yak dung. The warmth of heat greatly outweighs the smell and smoke from the primitive chimneys. The next day we dropped all of the way down into Phortse Thanga where we had lunch in the same spot we had seen Cam and Bogue only three days before. We then made our way out of the river valley and climbed hard all of the way to Pangboche. The trail dropped for thousands of feet below us into the river valley and relaxing didn't appear to be an option. We were the only guests at the tea house and we had a warm fire and were greeted by many mice throughout the evening. The next day we had our easiest hike since we separated from the group and arrived around noon into Dingboche. We were only two hours from Chukkung and decided to rest and then hike up the next day and see how Bogue and Cameron were doing.
The next morning we arrived at Chukkung early and enjoyed the some of the most spectacular views of the sojourn. Lhotse Ridge and Ama Dablam are magnificent and the sun was intense with warmth. We had lunch and then took our shoes off and allowed our feet a brief moment of reprieve from the constant pounding of trekking. Then, only an hour after we arrived, I heard Bogue's voice approaching and just like that we were back together again. We gave each other hugs and congratulated them on their successful climb of Island Peak. They were absolutely exhausted and ate and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. The group came together again over tea and the others were sad that father had already left for Kathmandu. We regrouped and planned our attack on the Everest Valley. We were motivated to set a hard schedule and cut a couple of days off of our trek. The season was changing quickly and the cold was taking a toll on our morale. We were yearning for a hot shower, a shave, a beer, sandals, and other simple comforts of Kathmandu. We also wanted to get out and see how the old man was fairing down in Kathmandu. The next morning Chukkung Ri, and then onto Everest Base Camp.