The 11 day trek to Everest Base Camp.
Back to the Kathmandu airport, this time with an even smaller backpack that I came with, the rest of my belongings in a plastic garbage bag shoved under someone's desk at the guesthouse. It was probably fine. We'd fly from Kathmandu to the Himalayan gateway, Lukla.. Via the infamous propeller plane known for embarking on more crashes than any other in the world.
Michelle was in tow, straight from Australia the night before. The night was spent packing and repacking the things we felt vital to our survival on the base of Mt. Everest. I can probably wear these socks 5 times instead of 3. These granola bars are worth the extra 10 pounds. Leave the stove behind. Went to sleep in the clothes we'd begin our journey in, and so it went.
The adventure started when the plane picked up speed on the runway. Moreso because the plane was a glorified bus with wings, than an actual plane, completed by the handful of people who were crossing their fingers at takeoff. The noise of the propellers were remedied by complementary pieces of cotton balls to jam in our ears, and just to ease the tension...a melted piece of candy to eat on the way down. Arrival in Lukla: walking out of the plane and looking across the expansive sea of Himalayas. My first thought: We're actually going higher? We saw nothing but the tiny airstrip and parking lot we landed in, panoramic snow-covered giants, and the one-street one-stop trekking village of Lukla. We had exactly 2 hours until we'd work our way into the mountain valleys and eventually to the entrance that so often lures climbers to the Everest summit.
Back to the Kathmandu airport, this time with an even smaller backpack that I came with, the rest of my belongings in a plastic garbage bag shoved under someone's desk at the guesthouse. It was probably fine. We'd fly from Kathmandu to the Himalayan gateway, Lukla.. Via the infamous propeller plane known for embarking on more crashes than any other in the world.
Michelle was in tow, straight from Australia the night before. The night was spent packing and repacking the things we felt vital to our survival on the base of Mt. Everest. I can probably wear these socks 5 times instead of 3. These granola bars are worth the extra 10 pounds. Leave the stove behind. Went to sleep in the clothes we'd begin our journey in, and so it went.
The adventure started when the plane picked up speed on the runway. Moreso because the plane was a glorified bus with wings, than an actual plane, completed by the handful of people who were crossing their fingers at takeoff. The noise of the propellers were remedied by complementary pieces of cotton balls to jam in our ears, and just to ease the tension...a melted piece of candy to eat on the way down. Arrival in Lukla: walking out of the plane and looking across the expansive sea of Himalayas. My first thought: We're actually going higher? We saw nothing but the tiny airstrip and parking lot we landed in, panoramic snow-covered giants, and the one-street one-stop trekking village of Lukla. We had exactly 2 hours until we'd work our way into the mountain valleys and eventually to the entrance that so often lures climbers to the Everest summit.
The day would be a 4-hour hike to our first stop for the night. Quick itinerary review, a leisurely cup of milk tea, watch our local porters put 60 pounds of our own gear on their backs just to make us feel that much more amateur, lace up the boots, get this show on the road.
The first day was leisurely, so much so that after enjoying walking through the old Buddhist temples while taking in what was to be our scenery for the next 10 days and making comments about surprisingly easy this was going to be, we tossed around the idea of going for a run at our first stop. Rewind, let's be real. We were warned the first teahouse would the only house with running water (where the pipes weren't frozen). We spent the afternoon drinking tea, getting too cold after the sun went down, and chatting from our sleeping bags. The anticipatory fever had set it for what was to come, and we were cruising, unstoppable.
Once the altitude began to set in on Day 3 things got a little more real. The climb to Namche Bazaar was no joke. A full day of walking at a 60 degree incline nearing 10,000 feet and dealing with an obnoxious Canadian made for a physical and mental challenge. But this day, the day unlike any other, was marked with the first view of Everest's summit and heavy breathing to show for it. If the toll of this trip was nothing more than great exercise, sporadic fatigue and a couple of bone-chilling nights to take on the Everest region then hell, I can't think of anything better.
Day 4. Emerge from sleeping bag, change as fast as possible, eat fireside. Start the day, punch-in-the-face views, take off the 6 layers you needed 20 minutes earlier. Ridges, clif bars, photos, long-awaited lunch stop, bliss. Arrive at Dingboche tea house, holy altitude. Getting closer. Start reading, stop reading. Fire. Eat everything. Sleep. Repeat.
Day 5 and on. As stated from my journal:
Today-Day 5. 4 hours to Pheriche. Walking across rolling hills and ridges to a small town in the middle of a lost mountain valley, planted in the middle of panoramic Himalayas and no other sign of life besides the small string of smoke coming out of our teahouse's chimney. A British guy showed up late at night who had just completed our entire hike in 4 days. Including Kala Pattar which is 400m beyond Base Camp. He is a banker working in Hong Kong and has traveled to 60+ countries, but I was unimpressed by his "do it all to brag" front. What's the point of traveling if you remain an egocentric boaster? Obviously hasn't taken the right things away from his experiences. Had a pretty bad headache from the wind and altitude, but went away when I woke up. Had some cinnamon porridge for breakfast, definitely won't miss the cold mornings and warming up by the fires! Nothing like waking up in a down jacket and unthawing my water bottles before brushing teeth. But THAT, is the entire beauty of this.
Day 6. Peruche-Lobuche. Walked through a long, flat valley, then it was nothing but up. Had lunch at a really cool stop and rendezvous'd with some other trekkers we periodically see along the way. Definitely felt the altitude- teahouse with danger stairs. Sleepy, altitude-affected Sunshine.
Day 7. Lobuche-Gorak Shep-Base Camp. Very interesting day of terrain-the way to Gorak Shep wasn't bad, took a couple hours but a very slow and steep uphill that really elicited altitude breathing...Gorak Shep to Base Camp: Stopped for lunch at G.S., left after an hour for base camp. The first hour was fine and peaceful alongside Pema, Sunshine, and Lakpa. The second hour destroyed my head, never felt so out of it and light headed. I stopped to take a video after about 20 minutes of walking on sand and solid glacier, we all felt strong and chill, excitedly said the apparently classic "one hour to base camp!" line like idiots, and walked into a mental wall immediately to follow. It was amazing how thoughts and words just didn't form, how 3 steps felt like 30, and how my personality diminished for what would be the next 2 days until full oxygen levels were back in action. Perfect mentality to sum it up: It's all in the experience. Base Camp itself came with my attempts at a fist pump, a few pictures of the group and whatever dazed emotions I got across.
Thus: The awesome and unforgettable experience. The hike down was along a ridge that looked over at my guess to be what Mars looks like in 40mph winds, and Sunshine and I made it back to G.S. to accordingly sleep for the next 14 hours. What's crazy is that the walk itself is nothing, but the altitude literally makes every aspect of life seem like a huge task. (And we were only at 17,000ft- props to over-achievers.) Squeezed in a dinner of omelet, potatoes, and sherpa stew, sat by the fire for a few minutes, blew out the contents of my body in kleenex all night, nasty. Woke up. Early to start the trek from G.S. back down. We covered 2 days worth of ascent in 3 hours...Unreal. Stopped for lunch in Periche and walked another hour to where we'd stay for the night (Sunset Hotel?) with an awesome dining room of surround windows and hot fires. Sunshine and I both noticed our personalities came back in the pre-Periche valley, evident from our loopy state.
2nd day down- walk to Namche Bazaar. Tiring walk, feeling good, arrived and played some pool with Pema, Lhakpa, and Sange. Woke up early again to finish the last day to Lukla- Three 6-hour days to descend the 7-day ascent.
Note: one beer after descent feels like 4.
Boom. Accomplished. Life is awesome.
The first day was leisurely, so much so that after enjoying walking through the old Buddhist temples while taking in what was to be our scenery for the next 10 days and making comments about surprisingly easy this was going to be, we tossed around the idea of going for a run at our first stop. Rewind, let's be real. We were warned the first teahouse would the only house with running water (where the pipes weren't frozen). We spent the afternoon drinking tea, getting too cold after the sun went down, and chatting from our sleeping bags. The anticipatory fever had set it for what was to come, and we were cruising, unstoppable.
Once the altitude began to set in on Day 3 things got a little more real. The climb to Namche Bazaar was no joke. A full day of walking at a 60 degree incline nearing 10,000 feet and dealing with an obnoxious Canadian made for a physical and mental challenge. But this day, the day unlike any other, was marked with the first view of Everest's summit and heavy breathing to show for it. If the toll of this trip was nothing more than great exercise, sporadic fatigue and a couple of bone-chilling nights to take on the Everest region then hell, I can't think of anything better.
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Day 4. Emerge from sleeping bag, change as fast as possible, eat fireside. Start the day, punch-in-the-face views, take off the 6 layers you needed 20 minutes earlier. Ridges, clif bars, photos, long-awaited lunch stop, bliss. Arrive at Dingboche tea house, holy altitude. Getting closer. Start reading, stop reading. Fire. Eat everything. Sleep. Repeat.
Day 5 and on. As stated from my journal:
Today-Day 5. 4 hours to Pheriche. Walking across rolling hills and ridges to a small town in the middle of a lost mountain valley, planted in the middle of panoramic Himalayas and no other sign of life besides the small string of smoke coming out of our teahouse's chimney. A British guy showed up late at night who had just completed our entire hike in 4 days. Including Kala Pattar which is 400m beyond Base Camp. He is a banker working in Hong Kong and has traveled to 60+ countries, but I was unimpressed by his "do it all to brag" front. What's the point of traveling if you remain an egocentric boaster? Obviously hasn't taken the right things away from his experiences. Had a pretty bad headache from the wind and altitude, but went away when I woke up. Had some cinnamon porridge for breakfast, definitely won't miss the cold mornings and warming up by the fires! Nothing like waking up in a down jacket and unthawing my water bottles before brushing teeth. But THAT, is the entire beauty of this.
Day 6. Peruche-Lobuche. Walked through a long, flat valley, then it was nothing but up. Had lunch at a really cool stop and rendezvous'd with some other trekkers we periodically see along the way. Definitely felt the altitude- teahouse with danger stairs. Sleepy, altitude-affected Sunshine.
Day 7. Lobuche-Gorak Shep-Base Camp. Very interesting day of terrain-the way to Gorak Shep wasn't bad, took a couple hours but a very slow and steep uphill that really elicited altitude breathing...Gorak Shep to Base Camp: Stopped for lunch at G.S., left after an hour for base camp. The first hour was fine and peaceful alongside Pema, Sunshine, and Lakpa. The second hour destroyed my head, never felt so out of it and light headed. I stopped to take a video after about 20 minutes of walking on sand and solid glacier, we all felt strong and chill, excitedly said the apparently classic "one hour to base camp!" line like idiots, and walked into a mental wall immediately to follow. It was amazing how thoughts and words just didn't form, how 3 steps felt like 30, and how my personality diminished for what would be the next 2 days until full oxygen levels were back in action. Perfect mentality to sum it up: It's all in the experience. Base Camp itself came with my attempts at a fist pump, a few pictures of the group and whatever dazed emotions I got across.
Thus: The awesome and unforgettable experience. The hike down was along a ridge that looked over at my guess to be what Mars looks like in 40mph winds, and Sunshine and I made it back to G.S. to accordingly sleep for the next 14 hours. What's crazy is that the walk itself is nothing, but the altitude literally makes every aspect of life seem like a huge task. (And we were only at 17,000ft- props to over-achievers.) Squeezed in a dinner of omelet, potatoes, and sherpa stew, sat by the fire for a few minutes, blew out the contents of my body in kleenex all night, nasty. Woke up. Early to start the trek from G.S. back down. We covered 2 days worth of ascent in 3 hours...Unreal. Stopped for lunch in Periche and walked another hour to where we'd stay for the night (Sunset Hotel?) with an awesome dining room of surround windows and hot fires. Sunshine and I both noticed our personalities came back in the pre-Periche valley, evident from our loopy state.
2nd day down- walk to Namche Bazaar. Tiring walk, feeling good, arrived and played some pool with Pema, Lhakpa, and Sange. Woke up early again to finish the last day to Lukla- Three 6-hour days to descend the 7-day ascent.
Note: one beer after descent feels like 4.
Boom. Accomplished. Life is awesome.
