Part 9 of our Nepal trip takes you to Everest base camp! We all made it and felt very proud of our accomplishment. Hiking to almost 18,000 ft and sleeping at 17,000 was not very comfortable and so we enjoyed the views and experience but were happy to reach our turn around point and make our way down in elevation to recover.
We were so lucky to have spectacularly clear weather with a little snow dusting. It was windy at times and very sunny. Our guide continuously reminded us to dress warm and wear warm hats when sleeping to stay healthy. It worked and we all got through the trip without a cough or cold.
The highest point of our journey at Everest Base Camp, elevation 17,600ft. The mountain peeking out on the right behind the ridge is Mount Everest and we standing on the Khumbu Glacier. The tents of Base Camp are to our left. The weather was spectacular for our entire trek. Here we are leaving Lobuche and walking up to Gorak Shep and EBC. We met some folks that became snowblind this day because the sun was so intense. They were evacuated by helicopter.
We headed up and felt great with the increasing elevation to 14,000 ft Dingboche. Then Forrest, LJ and Sierra got food poisoning and our progress screeched to a halt. We decided to be patient, abort the first of the “3-passes”, Kongma La, and descend to 13,000 to recover.
This change got us off the conveyor belt of traffic headed for Everest Base Camp and suddenly we had the trail and tea houses to ourselves again for two nights in Shomare and Periche. It was a welcome change after being stacked between lines of large trekking groups since Phakding.
We continue to have cloudless skies every morning and the views in every direction take your breath away. It truly feels like the top of the world up here. We are so grateful to have the time to do this trip with patience. Many groups are here with only 7-10 days for their entire trip and they do not have time to properly acclimate or accommodate recovery from bouts of sickness.
We made our steady ascent up to Namche over 2 days. There is a dramatic change when we approach Lukla. Suddenly the sleepy tea houses in the foothills where we had the trails to ourselves are replaced with crowds of tourists, porters, donkeys and the continuous sound of helicopters.
The mountains are getting bigger and the excitement builds as we have our first views of Everest.
We spent days 4 and 5 in the foothills exploring villages and taking backroads. It was a wonderful part of the trip to be away from other tourists and to visit the home villages of our Sherpa guides. We are working our way up to sleeping at 10,000 feet so we are better prepared when we get to Sagarmatha National Park.
We visited a school that was on summer break but the students and staff still spent the morning giving us a tour and showing their appreciation of our smart board gifts and pencil bags. Aurora danced beautifully for the crowd.
It is the equivalent of summer break for the students here. They will return in a week for the next school year. Despite this, it seemed like the whole town assembled to welcome us for a morning of ceremony and celebration. We were decorated with a crazy number of flower necklaces and scarves for good luck. We were given a tour of the school and celebrated friendship together with an exchange of dancing and song.
Flying out of Vancouver airport was a treat! The security line wait was 0 minutes. The kids loved the fish tank. We boarded at midnight for a 14.5 hour flight to Chengdu and we all slept for at least six hours before watching some movies and eating yummy food. After our transfer and circling Kathmandu airport for an hour, we finally arrived-31 hours after leaving home.
In Kathmandu we had one evening in Thamel before leaving at 6am for a 14 hour drive to the start of our trek.
Our first day on the trail began with a 5,000 foot descent to Jubing. Enjoy the video!
The Miller 6 are headed to Nepal for April 2026! We are attempting the ambitious 3-passes trek in the Khumbu region with highlights including Everest Base Camp (17,369ft), Kongma La Pass (18,084ft), Cho La Pass (17,612ft) and Renjo La Pass (17,594ft). We begin our adventure with 4 days visiting schools in the villages of Jubing and Kharikhola where Sierra has spearheaded a project to distribute 340 handmade pencil pouches stuffed with school supplies and over 200 handwritten notes from students across the United States.
Sierra posing with some of the postcards written for her pen pal exchange project. This project is part of earning her Silver Award for Girl Scouts.
We will have a guide and 3 sherpas for our group of 6. Safety will be our highest priority and we are prepared with a full med kit, backup plans, and evacuation/medical insurance. Recently our experienced and professional guide has informed us of a potential closure of the 3rd pass, Renjo La, due to unstable glacier conditions.
We hope to post updates along the way but are not sure what our internet connections or device charging options will be like.
Our baggage for the month. Left is clothing and gear. Center are 340 stuffed pencil bags in boxes. Right are our day packs with essentials and water.
Here is our anticipated path and itinerary (labels are approximate days on the trail):
We look forward to sharing this adventure with you through blog posts and some videos! We encourage you to ask the kids questions about their experience when we return. They will be completing a daily journal with the help of a daily writing prompt and recording and plotting certain data such as altitude, steps achieved and specific oxygen.
I am 9 years old and my favorite thing is sleeping. I really like strawberries and music. I am in love with the ocean and snorkeling and can’t wait to be old enough to complete my junior open water dive training (next year). I share my bed with ~300 stuffed animals that have individual names, personalities and stories. I have big feelings and a big heart which sometimes makes me feel different and excluded. I am practicing to put those big emotions into fun activities like musical theatre and crafts.
I’m 9 years old and love running and dancing. My favorite foods are spaghetti and bread. I just got my ears pierced and I’m really responsible about brushing my hair, cleaning my ears and getting myself to all of my dance classes on Orcas Island. I am very picky about my clothes and wish that all pants, shirts and underwear were made out of puffy fleece clouds. I still can’t sleep without my purple lovey, which has multiplied into 3. I am very obsessed with pandas and am really excited that we are going to visit a panda sanctuary in China in 2026. School is really fun and my favorite subjects are math and writing.
I am going to be 12 soon and my favorite things to do are skiing and puzzles. I enjoy crafts of many types and also joined the sailing team! Middle school is so fun for me because I enjoy learning. I can’t even identify a favorite subject because I like them all. I play the violin in school and have recently been cast in a musical where I play and sing a song all by myself and I am practicing really hard so I do a good job. I love butterflies and the color green. I am working on my silver award project for Girl Scouts which is to visit and connect with a village in Nepal when we take our family trip there in 2026.
I’m almost 12 years old and love soccer so much that I play it every day. My socks have soccer balls on them. My underwear has soccer balls on them. I love soccer. I also really like skiing and mountain biking. Dessert is my favorite meal. I really like singing karaoke with my friends. I practice the trumpet and tried the guitar a little. I use product in my hair so it makes a natural visor and I don’t have to wear a hat. It took me a little time to get used to middle school but I’m enjoying it now and my favorite subject is math. I really enjoy cribbage and will play anyone who challenges me!
My name is Mike and I just turned 50. I’ve done more than I ever dreamed and enjoy sailing and passage making. I safely transported my family across the Pacific Ocean 2023-2025 and it felt like an incredible accomplishment.
Orcas Island has embraced our family with enthusiasm over the last decade and I feel so lucky to be a part of this special community. From playing my french horn in the community band, to watching my kids thrive on stage at the Orcas Center, to spending countless ferry rides walking laps and chatting with friends on our adventures to the mainland…..it is all wonderful. As I contemplate my bucket list and goals for the next decade, I’m excited to continue planning meaningful adventures of my family and to be involved in our community as a listener and advocate for music and youth.
We had so many wonderful experiences during our 3 months in New Zealand that we have split it into two videos. This first video is of our time in the North Island. We celebrated birthdays, New Year’s Eve in Auckland, Christmas on Kawau Island and American Thanksgiving in Whangarei. Family and friends flew across the globe to share with us an appreciation of New Zealand’s natural beauty and friendly people.
At the end of our time in New Zealand we packaged Lyrae up and shipped her home to Orcas Island. The Miller 6 flew home February 2025 to catch a good ski season in the Pacific Northwest. The kids are back in school and we are very happy and busy with music, sports, dance and community. We wish you well in the holiday season and hope you enjoy this latest video that the kids have edited. Hopefully part 22 of the South Island will not take another year to edit!
Our 2026 adventure will take us to Nepal for the entire month of April to celebrate a milestone birthday for Mike! Sierra is excited to create some video logs of that adventure to document a project she is working with Forrest, Coral and Aurora on to give school supplies to children in the villages that we will pass through.
John, Eunice and Marshall flew all the way from Maine!“School photos” from fall 2024We stayed at Pinnacles Hut, Coromandel, for our final night in New Zealand.
The final stop on our Trans-Pacific adventure before making our way to New Zealand was Fiji. What an incredibly welcoming place! When you arrive at a new anchorage or island group, you present a gift to the village chief as a polite way of asking for permission to come ashore and experience the beauty. Our experience highlights included impromptu chess games with villagers, swimming with manta rays, camping in the mountainous interior, singing with local villagers, and Forrest and Sierra getting PADI Scuba certified. We loved every minute of our time in Fiji and found it hard to fit the highlights into a 10 minute video. Sierra worked hard on these edits to keep it as short as possible! We sailed through Fiji during September and October of 2024.
Forrest and Sierra snuggles on deck during our passage from Tonga to FijiMy night watch buddies during passage from Tonga to Fiji as we threaded our way through the Lau Group at midnight. We returned to the Lau 2 weeks later after checking in at Savusavu.Heading ashore with our visiting friends Jon and Sue at a new anchorage in the Lau Group for sevusevu, where we meet the village chief and ask for permission to visit the island.Forrest and Sierra completed their PADI book learning, tests, and required dives in time for us all to do several dives together on Rainbow Reef and White Wall. Their course was all the same material as an adult would be required but their depth is just limited to 42 feet until they are a little older.Lau group, Vanua Balavu Island, had some incredible hiking and views. We anchored for several days in those beautiful islands below.Overlooking Sawa-I-Lau Caves in the Yasawas.The three of us anchored at this wonderful spot 37 years previously, in 1987! It was so fun to revisit these locations with John and Eunice.Savoring the views overlooking Namosi Highlands Eco Lodge
Sierra edited our videos of the sea turtle encounter in Mexico last year to submit in the “documentary” category of a Girl Scouts film festival in February 2025. She had help from Aurora, Coral and Forrest.
We spent a month in Tonga in July and August 2024. Highlights included observing many mother and baby humpback whales, meeting the local people, making new friends on other sailboats and exploring the caves.
School is a big part of our life on the boat. So far we have completed 1st and 4th grade and when making this video we are half way through 2nd and 5th grades. Thankfully the kids have a great attitude most of the time and we get through a lot of material. Some days are more challenging than others and there never seems to be enough space to spread out for an art project or a pencil sharpener that works. Imagine trying to practice piano, be on a zoom call or take a math test when your sibling is practicing trumpet in the same room! But we figure it out by taking turns or using headphones. We really enjoy mixing it up and doing work in a local coffee shop or public library.
We spent about 3 weeks in the societies of French Polynesia during June 2024 and our time included hiking, zip lines, land travel, visits from USA friends, and hauling out for a new bottom paint job.
In May 2024 we explored the Tuamotus Archipelago of French Polynesia. What an amazing experience to snorkel in such a remote setting and share time with new friends. We visited Raroia, Tahanea, Fakarava and Toau atolls.
Highlights included windsurfing and octopus encounters in Raroia, drift snorkeling the passes of Tahanea, diving and snorkeling with hundreds of sharks in Fakarava, and riding on other peoples boats for day passages.
After 17 days of sailing from Mexico, we made landfall in Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.
Part 14: Marquesas by the kids!
We were welcomed by fragrant smells of flowers and ripe mango. The lush green cliffs turn into gushing waterfalls when the rain showers come. These are usually a welcome change to the otherwise baking sun. One of my favorite memories of our time in this remote island group was when I got stranded at the town soccer field/ playground in a 2 hour torrential downpour and the kids and I got in a line and jogged the 30 minutes back to the dinghy, laughing and giggling the whole way. They are like my own little cross country team!
We visited four islands, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, Tahuata and Nuku Hiva. This video shows the highlights of our three weeks of exploring.
Landfall at daybreak after 17 days at sea
Hiva Oa, Atuona: check in with the gendarme, provision fresh stuff, guided all day tour with Yoan with Kaoha Excursions (https://www.kaohaexcursion.com/) to I’ipona cultural site in Puama’u, Gauguin Museum, lunch out, ice cream!
This small bag of trash was all we had after 17 days at sea.
Fatu Hiva, Hanavave: anchoring a challenge and dragging boats, windy, 1 hour hike to Vaieenui Waterfall and swimming hole, 1 hour hike up steep single lane switchback road to viewpoint, soccer ashore.
Hanavave Bay or also called “Bay of Virgins” in 2024Hanavave Bay in 1987 with sv Harmony
Tahuata, Hanamoenoa: great water clarity, manta rays, snorkeling, beach play, no village just other cruising boats, had a water taxi deliver us fresh produce and eggs, finally met up with SV Impossible and SV Terikah!
Hanamoenoa
Tahuata, Hapatoni: day stop, hike along road to Vaitahu for views of the boat in the bay.
Hapatoni
Tahuata, Vaitahu: sleepy town, ate ashore, sketchy dinghy access at a surgy pier.
Nuku Hiva, Anaho: snorkeling in murky water but there are corals, fish and another octopus. Hike over the ridge to Hatiehu town, cold drinks, ice cream and restaurant lunch. Hike east to beautiful and exposed Haatuatua beach with lots of fishing and plastic trash including a dFAD (floating aggregation device) beacon. Kids and adults playing on wind and foil toys for numerous days!
These are the visible microplastics that we found in 1 square foot of Haatuatua beach
Nuku Hiva, Taiohae: we provisioned for the next 6 weeks, topped off diesel tanks with 18 jerry cans (almost 100 gallons), bought Coral a pareo, and rented a car for a full day driving tour of the interior and Controleur Bay.
100 gallons of diesel and mikes workout for the day
Nuku Hiva, Daniel’s Bay: a spectacular setting with lush cliffs surrounding the anchorage and along the hike to Vaipo waterfall. Walked an ancient stone path and passed many tikis and stone platforms.
We are enjoying our final days in the Tuamotus and it has been so wonderful! We have visited Raroia, Tahanea and Fakarava Atolls. The kids will make a video but we are a little behind and I just wanted to share this snippet from just one amazing 24 hour period at the south pass of Fakarava Atoll. It’s called “the wall of sharks” and no joke, it is an unbelievable coral canyon filled with lazy swimming gray, black tip, white tip and some lemon sharks. I never thought I could enjoy a dive like this, but wow, it was incredible. The fish and water clarity on the edges of the pass were also spectacular and the kids are happy and excited to be exploring it all.
Meet the Millers 