about 2,000 feet elevation gain
Today we started at Lobuche and hiked to Gorat Shep where we had lunch. Then we were going to travel the remaining three miles to base camp and return to Gorat Shep for the night. Although not a terribly difficult day in the abstract, we were only gaining about 500 m in elevation, today was a slog. Perhaps it was the altitude, we started from 16,300 feet and went to 17,800 feet or maybe it just is the fact that this is the 8th day in a row of climbing higher into the Himalayas.
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| Leaving Lobuche |
It had snowed the night and there was about an inch of new snow on the trail but it quickly tracked out. The morning weather was beautiful as we were able to see all of the mountains around Lobuche that we had not been able to see when we arrived yesterday in the snowstorm. When we left Lobuche, we climbed over Lobuche pass and dropped into the valley created by the Khumbu Glacier. We hiked on the west side of the valley and the glacier ran below us. The glacier was cracked with crevasses and funny ice formations. We will follow this glacier all of the way to Base Camp which sits right below the Kumbu ice fall that tumbles of the Western Cym between Everest and Lhotse.
After a couple of hours we reached Gorat Shep which is the last outpost of civilization before Base Camp. By this point everyone was tired and lunch didn't seem to help much (a couple of the kids were mildly nauseous and couldn't eat). And to make matters worse, the weather was starting to get worst.
As we left Gorat Shep, the first snow flakes were starting to fall.
Immediately to our left was the peak, Kala Pattar which we will climb tomorrow morning. It is a brown dirt pyramid of a mountain that rises adjacent to Gorat Shep. At least today, it had a dusting of snow like confectioner's sugar on its slope.
Immediately to our left was the peak, Kala Pattar which we will climb tomorrow morning. It is a brown dirt pyramid of a mountain that rises adjacent to Gorat Shep. At least today, it had a dusting of snow like confectioner's sugar on its slope.
After hiking for about 45 minutes we were able to see Everest Base Camp in the distance.
This gave everyone a jolt of energy as we pushed forward on the final mile. Everest Base Camp is a large collection of tents ranging from dome tents to larger more permanent-appearing structures in a multitude of colors.
It sits right below the treacherous Khumbu Icefall which must be climbed to reach Camp I if you are trying to climb Everest.
As a trekker, you can't enter the camp but hike to a viewpoint just outside of it. Here we took all of our photos to prove that we were here, and then started back down as the snow continued to fall.
Finally, exhausted but jubilant we arrived back at Gorat Shep.
This gave everyone a jolt of energy as we pushed forward on the final mile. Everest Base Camp is a large collection of tents ranging from dome tents to larger more permanent-appearing structures in a multitude of colors.
It sits right below the treacherous Khumbu Icefall which must be climbed to reach Camp I if you are trying to climb Everest.
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| Khumbu Icefall |
As a trekker, you can't enter the camp but hike to a viewpoint just outside of it. Here we took all of our photos to prove that we were here, and then started back down as the snow continued to fall.
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| Beals and our guides, Pasang (kneeling) and Rabi |
Finally, exhausted but jubilant we arrived back at Gorat Shep.
Oxygen level/Heart rate
Seth — 76/78
Kara — 82/107
Grace — 83/110
Kate — 95/110
Cannon — 84/90
Tomorrow we climb Gorat Shep for the best views of the Everest Range and our highest point of the trip and then we start the long trek back to Lukla.
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