Hello All:

The carry up to Camp II was fine except we had another storm and a huge dump of snow. Rather than getting stuck or having to break trail through deep snow, we dumped our loads of gear and headed back to Base Camp instead of spending the night. This weather can be frustrating and dangerous if you're not careful. Although yesterday was dense with clouds and snow we all wore our glacier glasses and sunscreen. We just saw a woman from another team who has 2nd degree burns on her face from yesterdays stormy weather. Last year there was a woman who took off her goggles on her way from Camp III to Camp IV and ended up Snowblind. Killing her chances at a summit bid. Today it's clear skies and absolutely beautiful with a fresh snowfall blanketing everything. It's very difficult to tell what the Everest massive will serve up.

I appreciate all the notes and messages that have been passed on to me from Brentwood High school friends, Harvard friends, friends of friends and those of you in LA. It's been great to hear from you all and I'm sorry I do not have time to respond to everyone individually. I hope the general e-mails will suffice. There have been some logistical questions that a couple of you have asked that I thought I would respond to now. In regards to our bathroom facilities here at Base Camp I refuse to go into that aspect as neither Bram Stoker nor Mary Shelley could come up with something as horrifying, but I am happy to discuss with you Laundry and Bathing;
Laundry: Yes we can do it. I like to call it "They still stand-up on their own" Occasionally on a sunny day we'll take our most odiferous offenders, get a bucket of boiled water (takes some time) and crack and fold the clothing into the bucket with some "environmentally safe biodegradable suds" (translated that means not very effective). Scrub mash and squeeze into a gray pulp and then look for a rock to dry them on because a warm rock gets you the best results in drying. However, as all the rocks around are covered in snow we resort to hanging them over the tent guy lines. At which point the cool winds, instead of air drying the clothes, turn them into frozen sculptures of clean clothes. Thus, what once stood dirty on its own stands clean and frozen on its own.

Hot Showers: well yes and no. Once again the key ingredient here is a sunny day and a lot of determination. We take a bucket of boiled water (again taking a long time) and a small bowl to scoop up the water from the bucket with. You take the scalding water pour it quickly over your body. Then take a bar of soap (The gentle Grapefruit liquid Soap that Lauren snuck in my bag remains sweetly fragrant and frozen in my tent) and scrub like crazy adding the quickly cooling water as needed. Unfortunately, most of the soapy water and a great deal of the grime end up back in the bucket you continue to draw from. After furiously washing the dreadlocked hair that for most of the night and day remains almost continually under one non-breathable hat or another, you dump the remaining now soapy, grimy, and now mostly cold water over your head to rinse off. Mmm the luxuries of Base Camp.