After a cold night in the lodge at Lobuje we arose relatively early and left just after 7am. A couple of hours earlier I awoke in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and saw the amazing sight, purely by accident, of a nearby mountain swathed in moonlight. It was, quite simply, a glorious thing to behold and it was a wonderful introduction to the day that had the Base Camp of Mt. Everest beckoning.
Before arriving at EBC, we had a trek to Gorek Shep which is situated at 5180m (16994ft). We began the trek in the dark for the first hour or so and I was glad to be thoroughly wrapped up as it was pretty cold. However, as I was walking, I reflected on the fact that whilst the temperature would have been pretty low, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the coldest temperature I had experienced. In fact, walking round Marine Drive back home in Scarborough in the winter months, with a north easterly gale blowing in from the coast, could possibly give this part of the world a run for it’s money:
Initially the walk was pretty tough going until the sun rose and, when it did, the skies were azure blue once again and the scenery was simply stunning. We arrived at Gorek Shep just after 10am and had a short break before we set off once again, this time towards the goal of the entire trip.
The lodge at Gorek Shep. It says it had “fast Internet service” but it was solar powered. The sun was down when I needed it!…
Despite a tough four hour or so walk in the morning, we began the trek in earnest to EBC where I found some extra energy from somewhere. The picture below was taken purely and simply for the fact that if you look carefully, you can see something that I hadn’t seen for nearly two weeks whilst walking in the Himalaya; clouds…
The walk to EBC was pretty straight forward and as we made the steady incline we got occasional glimpses of Mt. Everest, sandwiched between the two mountains of Lhotse and Nuptse:
Everest is the grey rock between the two mountains in the foreground…
As one approached EBC, what was noticeable is that nothing of any real significance is actually there. I thought that there would be, at least, a weather station but to no avail. The only thing that one could see from a distance as one approached the base camp itself was a collection of prayer flags and a number of cairns. Nonetheless, I had a real sense of exhilaration as we approached our destination after all this time. And, at just after 1.30pm we finally arrived. And to prove it, feast your eyes on this….
To be honest, I was in a bit of a daze for a few moments and was quickly brought back to earth by watching an amazing avalanche that happened within minutes of arriving. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to take a photograph but it was a wonderful sight. Whilst there isn't anything of note at EBC itself, I did notice a lot of messages written on pieces of paper and on stone. Some people had the foresight to bring a permanent marker with them to write their messages, with some of them being quite poignant. So, following their lead, I decided to inscribe a short message of my own on a stone by using a small pebble to write my inscription. So, if you ever find yourself in these parts have a look around for a small stone with the following words….
Paul Clev, 2013. FTM
Not very profound or inspiring I know, but I was pretty knackered!…
Everyone from the group went around congratulating each other for successfully achieving the goal of arriving at Everest Base Camp. We were all of different fitness levels and it was to everyone's credit that we all got there safe and sound. However, credit must also go to our two wonderful guides who, by their expertise, got everyone there. I was particularly grateful to them both so couldn't resist having a photograph with them at our goal…
Mingma, yours truly and Bee Bee…
Me and the lads again….
We stayed at EBC for no more than half an hour. Other groups arrived and wanted time by themselves there so we decided that it time to begin our walk back to Gorek Shep. However, I decided to have one more photograph taken. So, apologies for the pose but I couldn’t resist. In fact, this photograph simply summarises my whole emotion and feeling about being in a place that I had dreamt about for literally years…
We eventually began to decend from Everest Base Camp at 5364m (17598ft) back to Gorek Shep where we arrived back after a two hour walk. Back at the lodge I found that I had lost my appetite which is a sign of the altitude so struggled to eat the evening meal. However, that was the only sign of the effects of altitude so I did not experience any dizziness, sickness or any other symptoms associated with altitude. In fact, on the decent back I discovered, when we stayed in Namche Bazaar, that 4 people had died in the region whilst we were on the trek. 3 of heart failure and one had frozen to death in a tent….
So that is the final update on my trip to Everest Base Camp. I would like to thank Gary, the two Toms, Vicky from Mussie, Lindsey, Sue, and John and Bev for their company on the whole trek. I don’t know if Tom and Gary got to the top of Island Peak after EBC but I’m sure they did. We all successfully descended from the ‘Top of the World’ without any major incidents. Also, my thanks especially go the wonderful guides Mingma and Bee Bee for their help and assistance during the trek. I’ve been walking the hills for a few years now but I can honestly say that I learned how to ascend a hill properly by following Bee Bee. He really was a ‘guardian angel’ over the past couple of weeks.
The weather continued to be perfect the whole trip and it only clouded over, quite literally, during the final three hours as we walked back to Lukla and I enjoyed the forty five minute flight back to Kathmandu, even though it was a bit ‘up and down’ due to air turbulence. All good fun…
So that’s one thing ticked off the ‘bucket list’. I wonder what’s next on the agenda…..