{"id":20355,"date":"2018-10-05T15:54:29","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T23:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/?p=20355"},"modified":"2018-10-06T22:35:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T06:35:51","slug":"back-to-everest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/2018\/10\/05\/tibet-trek\/back-to-everest\/","title":{"rendered":"Back To Everest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>October 5, 2018<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-20355 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson.jpg' rel=\"lightbox[20355]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-20359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson-130x130.jpg 130w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Walking-the-narrow-streets-of-the-old-city-Eric_Simonson-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-20359'>\n\t\t\t\tWalking the narrow streets of the old city (Eric Simonson)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple.jpg' rel=\"lightbox[20355]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-20357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple-130x130.jpg 130w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Eric-and-Anthony-at-Jokhang-Temple-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-20357'>\n\t\t\t\tEric and Anthony at Jokhang Temple (Eric Simonson)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson.jpg' rel=\"lightbox[20355]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-20356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson-130x130.jpg 130w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Anthony-and-our-Tibetan-guide-Tsering-climbing-up-to-the_Potala-Eric-Simonson-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-20356'>\n\t\t\t\tAnthony and our Tibetan guide Tsering climbing up to the Potala (Eric Simonson)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson.jpg' rel=\"lightbox[20355]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-20358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson-130x130.jpg 130w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson-70x70.jpg 70w, https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Morning-light-on-the-Potala-from-the-hotel-balcony-Eric_Simonson-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-20358'>\n\t\t\t\tMorning light on the Potala from the hotel balcony (Eric Simonson)\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no secret that Mt Everest has been a big part of my life, starting with the slide show at PLU in Tacoma, WA that my dad took me to back in 1965.\u00c2\u00a0 We saw the images and heard the stories from the 1963 American Everest Expedition. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0As 10 year old boy I was super excited to meet expedition leader Jim Whittaker and get his autograph and that of Lute Jerstad, Tacoma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first Everest summiteer (and PLU grad). \u00c2\u00a0After that I started reading all the Everest books, and I was hooked!\u00c2\u00a0 Now, 53 years later, I am heading back for my 14<sup>th<\/sup> trip to the mountain.\u00c2\u00a0 This time is different though, as we are going to the East (or Kangshung) Face.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the much less visited \u00e2\u20ac\u0153backside\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of Everest, and a place I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always wanted to go.<\/p>\n<p>It was great to finally return to Lhasa.\u00c2\u00a0 I first came here in 1982 as one of the very first western climbers to the North side and since then I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been back a few times, but not since 2003.\u00c2\u00a0 Wow, the place has really changed!\u00c2\u00a0 Much of Lhasa now looks like any other big modern Chinese city, but fortunately the old town around the Barkhor central square remains intact.\u00c2\u00a0 Yesterday Anthony and I roamed this area and visited the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple, two of the most famous and significant sites.\u00c2\u00a0 Tomorrow we are off to Shigatse, then on to Shegar and then to Kharta where we meet Lobsang and our Nepal Sherpa team for the 10 day trek to the Kangshung Face Base Camp.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a lot of history in that area including expeditions by the British in 1921, the Americans in 1981 and 83, and the 1988 US\/Canada\/UK team. \u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read so much about it and now its time to see it myself!<\/p>\n<p>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably have internet for another couple days, but after that we have low expectations.\u00c2\u00a0 Fine with me, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to turn off my phone and computer, put on a backpack, and start hiking!<\/p>\n<p>Eric Simonson<\/p>\n<p>Sound like fun? <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mountainguides.com\/tibet-trek.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #003366;\">Join our 2019 Tibet Trek!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 5, 2018 &nbsp; It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no secret that Mt Everest has been a big part of my life, starting with the slide show at PLU in Tacoma, WA that my dad took me to back in 1965.\u00c2\u00a0 We saw the images and heard the stories from the 1963 American Everest Expedition. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0As 10 year old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tibet-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20355"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20363,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20355\/revisions\/20363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}