Hike: Part 2

This is Josh Gaines. He's pointing to the top of a peak that we have planned to climb. He's from Idaho. His wife, Tara, and a bunch of our friends here are going to climb up to the Everest Base Camp (18,000 feet), during our Christmas holidays. So this should be easy for him.

My new GPS indicates 10, 042 feet. Getting close.

I don't want to use the name of the guy that has been in hiding since that 'incident' in New York eight years ago (the bastards at the CIA are electronically tracking every thing I write), but when you see landscapes like this, you begin to realize how big the world is and how many hidey-holes there really are. We're only two countries away from Afghanistan, but he's probably living in Okeefenokee Swamp, Florida.

This is the very top. 10,682 feet. We were tired and hungry but quite happy to reach the peak. The views were spectacular in every direction except to the north--Almaty was shrouded in smog.