Earlier this summer I had the great furtune of meeting a climbing Sherpa from Nepal. In June, during my trip west to attempt to climb Mt Hood & Mt Rainier, I stayed at Whittaker's Bunkhouse on the final day. If you remember, I stayed there during last year's uneventful trip to Rainier too.

This summer after visiting Paradise and taking many photos prior to the storm moving in which thwarted our journey, my climbing partner and I headed back to Whittaker's for our last night in the mountains. While hanging out at the snack bar area Mike pointed to this fellow standing in line and mentioned he looked familar. I went up to speak with him and introduced myself.

He gave me one of his cards and we conversed a bit - quite difficult for a midwestern boy with little exposure to the outside world. It turned out to be Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa - considered by many to be one of the SUPER SHERPAS. I consider myself extremely thankful for this chance meeting - I even received his autograph on the business card. Unfortunately I had left the camera back in the room and don't have a photo to go with the story. Sorry. At some point I intend to get the Mt Rainier map and the business card framed for a token keepsake. My brush with fame was so fleeting, yet I really feel a connection to this fellow. After all I did buy he and his fellow guides a round of beers - for which they were much abliged.