Everest Trek Day: 17
We made it! After two weeks of trekking through the Himalayas we finally reached our goal, 5364m above sea level, a little camp of yellow tents.
The walk from Gorak Shep took us over a steep and rocky moraine, mounds of rubble thrown up by the moving glacier. At every bend our goal moved into sight, a field of little yellow dots on the edge of a perilous looking ice flow. High above us Everest could be seen, peaking from behind other peaks. As we descended from the ridge it disappeared from view, you can't see Mount Everest from Everest Base Camp. A short meander through melting ice fields and we were there, in the town of Mountaineers, perched atop a glacier.
Two weeks of exertion, determination and endurance had led to this moment. It was a great feeling, knowing we had arrived at this place on our own two feet, unguided and unassisted, carrying all our needs in the packs on our backs. We had survived hail storms, impossible slopes, snakes, squat toilets, the cold and the altitude. What an adventure it has been. As the group tours rolled in with their guides (each had a western and two Nepali guides) and their dedicated yak teams carrying all their needs, I felt proud that we had gone it alone. In fact relatively few people we met were unassisted, and even fewer came all the way from Jiri.
We spent arround half an hour at Base Camp, taking photos and reflecting on how far we had come. We didn't want to stay up here two long, I had already suffered a violent altitude attack the day before. On the walk up to Gorak Shep I felt fine, we found a nice lodge and sat down to order a plate of momos. 20 minutes later I was hunched over a toilet, my head spinning, groaning for Diamox (a drug that assists acclimatisation.) Despite our very cautious acclimatisation plan, my body just did not appreciate being starved of oxygen at 5000m. I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, as did half the people in our lodge.
We left EBC, feeling slightly dizzy and so descended to below 5000m that night. The extra oxygen provided instant relief, and it's all downhill from here.
We made it! After two weeks of trekking through the Himalayas we finally reached our goal, 5364m above sea level, a little camp of yellow tents.
Two weeks of exertion, determination and endurance had led to this moment. It was a great feeling, knowing we had arrived at this place on our own two feet, unguided and unassisted, carrying all our needs in the packs on our backs. We had survived hail storms, impossible slopes, snakes, squat toilets, the cold and the altitude. What an adventure it has been. As the group tours rolled in with their guides (each had a western and two Nepali guides) and their dedicated yak teams carrying all their needs, I felt proud that we had gone it alone. In fact relatively few people we met were unassisted, and even fewer came all the way from Jiri.
We spent arround half an hour at Base Camp, taking photos and reflecting on how far we had come. We didn't want to stay up here two long, I had already suffered a violent altitude attack the day before. On the walk up to Gorak Shep I felt fine, we found a nice lodge and sat down to order a plate of momos. 20 minutes later I was hunched over a toilet, my head spinning, groaning for Diamox (a drug that assists acclimatisation.) Despite our very cautious acclimatisation plan, my body just did not appreciate being starved of oxygen at 5000m. I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, as did half the people in our lodge.
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| Everest (Center) |
Congratulations on a truly arduous feat. You have to do it to understand the difficulty of carrying your own pack to 5,300 metres. Not getting too sick is feat number two. Well done!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing achievement. This walk will stay with you for the rest of your life. The landscape looks amazing in the photos.
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