Th e Mayor joined Brunhilde and I in the dining
car shortly after, and told us that nothing we have
seen so far will compare to what is coming.
"Th e yeti," said the Mayor, “is a magnifi cent
creature, unparalleled in spectacle."
"Oh, you've seen one?" Brunhilde asked him.
"Well, no," he replied. "But I've heard as much."
We giggled most amusedly.
T UESDAY , A UGUST THE S EVENTEENTH
Th e tour has been divided into separate groups
of three in order to scale the mountains. I have
been grouped with Percy and Th e Mayor. We
were each given a Tibetan guide and a yak to carry
supplies to the camp site. As we passed a temple
gate, I saw before me the most magnifi cent dog
I have ever seen. It is like our English Mastiff ,
only Tibetan and billowy, with fur! It looks just
as much like a Yeti as anything I have ever seen!
On the way up to the camp, the guide never
stopped talking for a moment, but also never
once said anything in English. He pointed
to things. Sometimes I thought he might be
pointing at animal tracks, for he would often
stop to listen. I could almost see the cogs
turning in the man's head. It seemed a very
laborious process. But after a moment he would
continue on talking and hiking through the
snow without a second thought.
As we moved, the air seemed to get colder and
colder. Th e silence started creeping in whenever
our guide ceased his chat. In the moments when
his voice was absent, I felt a cold dread creep in.
Th ere are no trees, nor any animals but our own
overladen yak, just the crunch of snow and the
changing of the winds. I can quite understand
what compels the dear man to drone on so!
At one point we all stopped completely, and
our guide crouched down. We all crouched with