Five years ago…..

There are certain things in each of our personal histories that we will NEVER forget!!! It may be a wedding, a birth or even a death.

Sometimes though it is an accomplishment and that is what I am remembering today.

In October of 2015, Michael and I participated in a 10 day trek in the Himalayas, climaxing at Annapurna Base Camp!! On October 8, 2015 we reached what seemed to be the top of the world…..

After 6 hard days of climbing stairs and crossing rivers, we were there!!

The scenery was astounding…..

….and the sense of accomplishment was huge!!!

Interestingly, one of my favorite parts of the day was spent by myself in a dry lake bed, just enjoying the sight of the mountains surrounding me and hearing the glaciers breaking and falling on far slopes

Naturally, when I got home there had to be a quilt about this trip and inspiration started with the Buddhist shrines and Stupas that we passed on our journey and also the prayer flags that fluttered in the breeze.

Those inspirations and ruminations resulted in “Himalayan Hallows”……

I was pleased when it was accepted as into the “Tactile Architecture” exhibit in 2017 and loved that it traveled during that year.

This is what I wrote about the quilt for the exhibit and I think that it is the best description that I could ever give…..

I almost feel that this quilt should be called “Serendipity” because so many things happened during the construction that were not planned by me but ended up being exactly what I wanted to portray. I started the project knowing that I wasn’t sure how I would complete it and that at any point, I might ruin it, but decided that I just wanted to enjoy the process and see what happened.

As I worked on it, I thought about our 10 days of trekking to the Annapurna Base Camp and how the mountain called Machapucherie was always in our view. It is the highest peak portrayed in the quilt.

I also fondly remembered the Nepalese guides and porters who assisted us on this journey, and of the great care that they showed for each of the trekkers. I remembered how hard it was to say goodbye to them at the end of the trip and how we waved and waved until they were out of sight.

Finally, as I worked, I could smell the wood smoke pouring from the teahouses and hear the sound of the bells that hung around the necks of the pack animals that walked the trails with us.

My husband and I are privileged to have the opportunity to travel overseas often and I love making quilts that come from these journeys, but this one will always have a very special place in my heart and in my mind.

In training again……

Today we received the much coveted and worried about Visa for Michael to work in India…..

….so it looks as if the Nepal trip will be happening as well. The training and planning for our Himalaya trek has begun in earnest.

We have gone thru our gear list again and think that we are about set now and I have started walking stadium steps again…..

…..in the VERY hot summer mornings!!!

Hopefully this work now will mean that I wont be dying TOO badly while trekking!!!

Re-booked!!!

Well, it is official…..we have re-booked our tickets from India and will be making the Annapurna Trek on October 1st thru 14th.

In all honesty, this is probably the best way to go anyway since we will already be on that side of the world and acclimated to the time difference well before we start hiking.

And let me give a HUGE shout out to Delta Airlines…..they REFUNDED our non-refundable tickets which means that we don’t have to file an insurance claim and can just move the insurance over to the new trip…..saving us some money!!!

So now we are doing our happy dance again…..

The results are in……

…..and we will NOT be trekking in May!!

The Representative from REI called this afternoon and said that they have decided to cancel all of their treks in May.

While we are disappointed, we feel sure that this is the best decision for now.

So, now we are trying to decide whether we are going to move the trip to the first two weeks in October, adding the time on to our already planned month in Bangalore, India.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of details that we have to work thru, including filing insurance claims for the trip that we missed, changing our already booked trip home from Bangalore and finding flights from Bangalore to Khatmandu!!

So, once again we just have to be patient and see what happens…….

Sigh……

To Trek or Not To Trek

….that is certainly the question on our minds right now!!

We are booked into a Himalaya Trek starting 4 weeks from today and are trying to make a decision about whether or not we will travel to Nepal in the aftermath of the Earthquake.

If you had asked this morning, I would have told you that we probably were not going, but this afternoon we talked to the people at REI and they have given us a little bit of hope that we may still be able to make the trip.

The earthquake was centered between the cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara, but apparently the waves moved mostly to the East (to Kathmandu and Mount Everest) and did not affect the Annapurna Ranges which are Northwest of Pokhara. This is the area that we will be trekking in.

REI has spoken with their workers and guides in Nepal and reported that all of their assets (hotels, roadways, etc) were unaffected. They have cancelled the Trek that was supposed to start on May 4th, but are still hopeful that the next one will be a go. They will make their final decision based on the conditions as time progresses. They will especially monitor any damage from aftershocks in the next few days and also will want to make sure that bringing “tourists” into the area will not hamper the relief efforts.

SSOOOOO……we wait….maybe not so patiently!!!! But maybe we will still get to see this before long…..