Gorak Shep (the end of the civilized road)


trail up Kala Pattar at dawn


Elusive Everest from Kala Pattar (second tip from the left). I climbed Kala Pattar at 4am (having not slept at all) so that I could get a chance to see Everest with clear skies. It was utterly freezing, and the altitude was nauseating. Before dawn, it was perfectly, hauntingly clear, with a total panorama of peaks surrounding me, and then as soon as dawn came, so did the clouds. This is the best picture I got. My friend and I were both feeling faint, so we descended quickly, and on the way down we passed dozens of the undead, these other pale-faced trekkers slogging up the mountain at a snails' pace, asking us, "did you see it?"




trail to Base Camp




Khumbu Glacier


I'm perfecting my stance


The 'real' base camp--this is an Indian Expedition (it was scrapped due to bad weather the next day). I spoke to one of the Indian guys, and he said he had been there for 28 days already.


the 'fake' base camp

Road out of Lobuche. It was snowing when I left Lobuche toward Gorak Shep, so, to be safe, I walked behind a couple and their guide. An hour or so later, I reached Gorak Shep, put my bags down in my lodge, and then started out for Everest Base Camp. It was still snowing, but there were a few small groups headed that way, and I followed their footprints. I had heard that this hike is anti-climactic because there are no actual views of Everest, but I found it to be very beautiful. The landscape is very lunar, and the Khumbu glacier is to your right the whole time, and periodically, you can hear it shifting and ice falling in big avalanches.


Things got more bleak at Lobuche. It was a desolate gathering of lodges which were bustling with tourists who all gathered around the dung heater for the entire day and ate continuously. I took an extremely cold shower while balancing on a broken crate in an outhouse behind the kitchen. The water from the shower was barely more than a dribble. (I will mention that I could have paid for a hot shower, but I refused to--I only broke down once in 16 days for a hot shower). I met some really nice folks in the dining room in Lobuche--very good company for the next several days. There are many different languages being spoken in the lodges, but many of the groups come together with english. Most of the guides speak in english to their clients, even if the clients are french or german. The guides and porters hang out in the main dining room as well, and often sleep there too, on the paded benches that line the walls.




Pumori to my left






my most precarious bridge crossing


When I woke up ready to leave Pheriche, the fog was so thick I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me, but by 7am the winds started to blow in the valley, and pushed all the fog out, and it became a brilliant sunny day. I always start walking before anyone else so I have the trail to myself, besides a few yaks and porters. I could really feel the elevation slowing me down, making me feel heavier; I had to stop more often to catch my breath.


My room in Pheriche--I stayed in the hotel that no one else was staying at--there were dozens of people next door at the very warm and cozy Himalayan Hotel. My hotel was very dark and cold. I always choose the wrong hotel.


view from my window in Pheriche


stone fence


Pheriche--very windy in the afternoons


Pheriche--I sayed here for two days to acclimatize


prayer flags




monestary in Tengboche


gateway into a monestary in Tengboche




Ama Dablam in the distance


Namche Bazaar, the big pitstop on the Everest Trek, 3420m
This is when my trail from Jiri met up with the main Everest trail, and it became like a super highway. I had seen about 10 tourists in 6 days from Jiri, and had been traveling on tiny, washed-out mud trails, but when I hit the road to Namche, I encountered a massive tourist apparatus. The hotels were bigger and fancier, the trail was much wider and well-maintained, and there were lines of 25 trekkers (with two ski poles each) and 5 yaks and 10 porters behind them. By the look of it, most of the trekkers had packed several cocktail dresses just in case the need might arise. In Namche, I first felt the altitude; my head felt heavy and I was tired and hungry all the time. I took some Diamox, and that made an immediate difference. I stayed in Namche for two days to acclimatize.






painted rock along the trail