Almost ready to leave

Just a few hours before we leave, and we are actually all ready. The bags are packed and loaded into the vehicles awaiting the drive to the airport.

This is a first for me. Usually I still have several things to do with only minutes to departure which is so stressful for everyone. This time thanks to Jen and Ted for all their help and patience I actually have some time so sit down and do some blogging.

Above is a picture of some of the gear that we will be taking.

All together we have 5 bags of gear and food totaling 270 lbs, and this includes the tents that we will be using on the mountain plus about 20 days of mountain food. I have two sleeping bags, one for base camp and one for on the mountain so that I don't have to move it around. Two pairs of boots. The pair that fits will be for the lower mountain, and the larger warmer pair will be for the upper mountain. The crampons in the middle beside the SPOT are new and ultra lightweight. I am so excited about these. As for the SPOT well I have several pairs of hand warmers. Not sure how they will work at altitude as they need some oxygen to work but I plan to tape one or two on the back to cover the batteries in the hopes of keeping them a bit warmer. I'm crossing my fingers that this will work.

Thanks to everyone for their warm wishes before we depart, and for the brunch at work....the multitude of phone calls and hugs from everyone.....THANKS!!!! Leaving is never easy but knowing that I know so many wonderful people who are so supportive does make it a bit easier.

We are flying to Vancouver tonight, arriving at 2210 then departing at 0300H landing in Hong Kong at 0600 with a 10 hour layover. Just enough time to go visiting, maybe indulging in some dim sum before heading to Kathmandu where our next adventure awaits.