The Rest of Everest Episode 137: The Agony of DeFeet

Earlier in the week I noted that the Rest of Everest video podcast had returned from its summer hiatus with a new episode for fans to enjoy. What I failed to mention was that the show's website also received a major upgrade in the interim, with a nice clean design and some new features as well. The new layout now allows us to easily sort out the distinct expeditions/seasons of the show, but we can now watch the episodes right on the website without the need to download the files or sync through iTunes. Congrats to the show's creator, Jon Miller, for the nice update!

Yesterday, episode 137 of ROE was released, continuing the Everest Trek that took place last year. In this latest episode, entitled "The Agony of DeFeet,"the team begins their descent back to Lukla after having reached Base Camp or Kala Patar. While that is the "high point" of the trek, in more ways than one, the journey back down still has a lot to offer. A large number of the trekkers from the 2009 crew join Jon this week to narrate the episode and offer insights along the way.

The episode opens in Gorak Shep, the last village before EBC, with Chris Marquardt giving us a tour of his tent and showing us all what the conditions are like in the sleeping quarters along the way. Personally, I stayed in tea houses on my recent hike through the region, which probably offered a bit more warmth and comfort overall.

As is typical with this podcast, the images are spectacular and offer a very realistic view of what traveling through the Himalaya in really like. This particular episode offers up some nice tips for staying healthy and alert while trekking through the region as well, with a particular focus on keeping your feet feeling good. Anyone who has taken a long distance trek of any kind can tell you how important that can be. I'm fortunate in that I rarely ever get a blister, and usually don't have issues with my feet. That wasn't the case for some of the trekkers in the video or on my own trek this past April.

Glad to have the Rest of Everest back and a part of my weekly routine!