11.13.19 Kawagebo Mountain for my 60th

Ancient Tea Horse Caravan Trail
Kawagebo Mountain, Meili Xueshan
And here, my family and friends, is my birthday gift, on my birthday, during this 60th birthday adventure (with Emma Kriner - I could not have done this without her and wouldn’t have wanted to) ... Kawagebo Mountain in the Meili Snow Mountains on the border of Yunnan and Tibet.
[Thank you all for all of the birthday wishes. My VPN and thus my access to social media, google, email has been intermittent, so I haven’t been able to respond to all of you.)
Our first glance at Kawagebo (also called Kawa Garbo and Khawa Karpo) had us wide-eyed and jubilant. It is a virgin peak (never been climbed and now it is forbidden to do so) at 6740 meters/22122 feet and one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists. We spent time with it at Thirteen Pagodas, from our hotel room at 11,800 feet (sleep was difficult with the altitude, full moon and mountain energy, but so very worth the lack of it), at sunset, at sunrise at Feilaisi Temple prayer platform. I imagined being on top, taking in the mountain energy and sending out to all those I love. It was hard to leave, but this mountain is now part of me.