Climb Sepu : The Expedition : Episode 3

"I feel a bit better today. The Cipro is working, thank God. I feel distant from the rest of the team. My voice feels like when I’ve been traveling on my own for a long time, it’s all sand-papery from lack of use. I just have such a hard time relating to the rest of the group. I am so much younger; half of the team is old enough to be my parents. We don’t seem to have a whole lot in common, and my opinions seem very far-fetched for them.

Like the other day. Mark and Kate were talking about how people in the alpine world are so in sync with their sport and passion. How they move to where they can participate in their game of choice, bla, bla, bla… I tried to say that other athletes do that too, but oh, no! That is not the same thing. Climbers and mountaineers are different! They are so much more committed and determined than others. I can’t tell if they are being single tracked climbers, or ignorant Americans. Maybe both. Either way, it’s irritating." - Carina Ostberg, 13 September 2002

"We pulled into camp (trailhead). That night Dawa (the cook), served up a spectacular Chinese feast with one dish of curried potatoes thrown in the mix. We’d be here until Saturday, which I thought wasn’t all bad as it would give us time to decompress with some hikes and hanging out and reorganize gear from plane loads into yak loads.

The rest of the team didn’t swallow the news that we would be here for three nights so well. Carlos brought the liaison officer over to have a serious discussion about leaving earlier, which I knew was futile - it was six one way, half dozen the other."
- Mark Newcomb, 13 September 2002


		"After another solid night of good sleep. Carlos slept in again, or at least remained in his tent listening to his shortwave radio (of which he seems somewhat possessive) until we were all through with breakfast. So he had to coax Dawa into making more French toast.

After breakfast... repacking loads into 25kg loads for the yaks, one load on each side. Repacking went so well we were easily done by noon. The time was right for a bath and a little laundry... another large lunch with three dishes of stir-fried vegetables, more curried potatoes with noodles and egg-vegetable-noodle soup. The group seemed to love it, which is a bit of a surprise. We’ll see if they still like that kind of cooking in a week or ten days.

Carlos and Jordan hiked up the ridge just above camp, making it up to almost 5,000 meters and getting a good view of Sepu, which apparently gave Jordan a case of loose knees."
- Mark Newcomb, 13 September 2002

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