The Climb

May 21, U.S.A. 2014 - Last day of my senior year in high school. My plan this summer is to make it to the top of Mount Everest. Therefore I am keeping this journal to read later on in life. By the way, my name is Tag and I will make it to the top.

June 1, U.S.A. 2014 – I am packing cables, water, food, handwarmers, snowshoes, clothes, and a backpack. I am riding my bike there when I get off the plane. My plan is to make it up and down in two months’ time, I might bring matches also.

June 8, U.S.A. 2014 – Last day until I leave for Nepal, I’m saying my goodbyes to friends and family. I’m getting a huge meal to eat and plenty of water.

June 9, Nepal 2014 – I just arrived at Mount Everest, it’s so tall that I can’t even see the peak from the bottom. I also just ate a great meal consisting of mango, Kodo (finger millet), Kinema, Poko, Chiura, and Lawa. It’s time to stop talking and man-up, so here I go.

June 11, Mt.Everest 2014 – Yesterday was just a practice day, I walked a little up and walked a little down, and after that I set up all the stuff I need for the night. Today is when I really start, it’s quite cold close to the bottom already so I am scared already. I think I see a camp set up right ahead, but I’m not sure.

June 14, Mt.Everest 2014 – Brrr, It’s really cold just a little ways up, I’m already having to wear all the clothing I brought. That campsite is still up there...or the might be a campsite.

June 16, Mt.Everest 2014 - It gets colder as I go up and at the same time, the air gets thinner. I am so used to the thick air of Texas plains but with this it is hard to breathe. I'm only a little ways up because days are short and each and every day I have to set up shop at night and take it down in the morning. There are flags on the mountain every one fourth of the way. So when I reach that I will write another entry.

June 25, Mt.Everest 2014 - As the air is getting thinner and thinner, and the tempertature gets higher, I am getting higher up on Mount Everest. I have finally made it to the one fourth mark. I am getting closer to what I thought was the campsite, and I am so close that I can tell it is a campsite, If  I want to get to that soon I am going to have to skip a couple nights off sleep and walk faster.

June 27, Mt.Everest 2014 - I have finally caught up with the campsite, There were two people inside on a mission just like mine, except their goal is four months and they have obstacles to do along the way. There names are Kevin and Max, Kevin is mentally disabled (but hilarious) and Max has and amputated arm (he is also Kevins helper). So their trip is a little challenging, so I am here to help them. They have easy challenges like filling a bucket with snow, finding any type of animal, setting up and campfire, and more. They said that they had stayed at the spot they have been at because it perfect for most of their challenges.

June 28, Mt.Everest 2014 - They have just a couple challenges left like building a campfire and finding an animal. So I helped them with them and I even got to sit by the fire which felt amazing. The animal we found was a snow rabbit and it was adorable. Tommorow we are going to start packing up and then we are starting to walk again, I'll write another entry tommorow night.

    June 29, Mt.Everest 2014 – Today the three of us started walking and we hit the second flag which means that we have made it halfway! All three of us were so happy. We set up camp and Max and Kevin are already asleep. Tomorrow I am going to try and talk them into going without sleep because I am behind my goal by a few days, so we need to get going. I am about to fall asleep, so I will stop now and talk to you soon.

    July 4, Mt.Everest 2014 – Today is Independence Day in the U.S. but here in Nepal, it is just another day. It does not look like I will make it up and down in two months, but it is still worth trying. I got bit by a rabbit and I started losing a lot of blood so I had to take half of my clothing on my leg, therefore my leg is really cold. Robert is really tired so we will be sleeping from around 7:00pm-9:00am and then we will be walking for the rest of the day.

    July 7, Mt.Everest 2014 - We made it halfway between the halfway mark and the three fourths mark. I have really bad news; I have frostbite from where I took the clothing off to stop blood. So when I get home I will have to get it cured. Kurt had a mental breakdown yesterday when we said that we would have to keep walking and not stop, luckily Robert found Kurt’s pills halfway in. All in all, it has been a rough day. I will talk to you when I get to the three fourths mark.

    July 19, Mt.Everest 2014 –We finally made it to the three fourths mark, and it looks like the frostbite has gotten worse. We slept a lot and that’s why it took so long to get here. The air is so thin up here that I even passed out yesterday, and it is so cold up here, but it will all be worth it in the end. We only have one fourth of a way to go left, I can even see the peak! I’m going to wrap this up and get to sleep so I will talk to you soon.

    July 23, Mt.Everest 2014 – We have made it up a little bit further which is good, and we are all doing well. Kurt and Robert are as excited as ever to not sleep and keep going, which is bad because when you’re this high up, you need sleep so that you don’t pass out. The frostbite gets worse and worse every day, but as it does we gain steps to make it to the top. I have learned more about Max and Kevin, like they have been friends ever since kindergarten, they come from Ohio U.S.A., and they came up here so that they can prove all of they’re friends that say it couldn’t be done…wrong. This is my last journal entry before I reach the top. I feel bad because I didn’t journal as much as I wanted to. I don’t know if I will keep journaling after this but if I do, it will hopefully still be good. I will…no…we will talk to you at the top.

    July 30, Mt.Everest 2014 – We finally made it to the top!!! I have been here for almost two months and they have been here for almost three! It’s so worth it, all that walking, those challenges, frostbite, animals, thin air, high temperatures, and everything else! Wait… now we have got to go back down. It shouldn’t take that long though. I’m going to cut this short sadly, but I will write another entry halfway down.

    August 10, Mt.Everest 2014 – We are halfway down and this entry is going to be short but I just wanted to say that it has been two months, I have reached my goal and failed, but at least I have made it up and almost down. I will write an entry soon.

    August 21, Nepal 2014 – We have made it down. Kevin and Max just gave me their phone numbers so that we could keep in touch, they already left for their plane though, and my flight is in an hour…so…I’ll talk to you in the U.S.

    August 23, U.S.A. 2014 - I am in the U.S., my family is glad to see me and same to them. It was a long hard journey, but I made it. I am so happy to be home, I get to go farming again. The hard is so thick compared to Mount Everest.

   

January 2, U.S.A. 2015 -

 I went to the doctor in September to talk to my doctor about the frostbite. He wanted to do a bunch of tests and see if it could be cured. It could not. So I had a couple months to decide whether to let it stay…or get it amputated. So in December…I got it amputated. Now I have a prosthetic leg. I works well and feels good, but it looks weird.