A short walk in the Kanjiroba Himal

In a couple of days Garry Kennard and I will fly out to Kathmandu en route to Kanjiroba Himal in western Nepal for another bash at a peak we tried to climb in 1984.

That was then:

L - R: Wanchook (sirdar), Mark, Nima (cook), Rana (liaison officer), Gombu (kitchen boy, now our sirdar), Garry

This is now:

This is how:

From Garry - My appetite continues healthy. Last night:
1 large pisco to stimulate before interview at 5.30
I bowl of totilla chips and 1.5 glasses pino grigio in garden with Louis Miguel
Out to dinner:
whole bowl of seed things.
I bowl of courgette and potato soup and bread
I corn on the cob and butter
2 full plates of chicken with bread
2 large plates salad
2 bowls ice cream and maple syrup
I slice apricot tart
3 glasses superb rioja

And:

Having forgotten to tell you about yesterdays breakfast of fresh orange juice, tea, coffee, cereal, tablets, lunch of scrabbled eggs on toast and tea, I should have said that this present diet is in contrast to my usual - no food at breakfast (all the rest), a light lunch, a big plate of beans/lentils/rice/veg followed by some squares of chocolate and three glasses of wine. I like both diets.

And:

Can't let this go at the moment. I cooked a large and stupendous pie tonight of lentils and onions with fresh carrots from a neighbour's garden, with a mashed potato and cheese topping. Fresh green beans from another neighbour accompanied. Chocolate squares (best from Waitrose which makes me sort of dribble while I'm eating it), a glass of Pino Grigio during cooking and half a bottle of a Beaujolais with.

And:

I put the dishes away - and ate the rest of the pie while I was doing it, mouth now faintly zinging with the hint of chili I put in. Must go and lie down.

I believe Garry blames all this, if 'blame' is word, on some eating pills which he scoffs to combat some hideous old man disease. Now it's perfectly obvious that our chance of making this first ascent is rather slim, ahem, but the journey is the thing, isn't it?

Garry has posted a good account of our goings on here at garrykennard.com. I don't mind him calling me a 'neo-con-libertarian', but I whinny at this:

We did climb the Eiger eventually via the Mitteleggi Ridge, but not on that shambolic first trip

In fact I soloed the west ridge (pd), but stopped just below the possibly corniced summit without a belay as the cloud rolled over me. Here's the photo to prove it: