We caught our first hint of intimidation looking out of the airplane window and being surrounded by mountains towering above the plane on all sides. Right when it looked as though we were headed directly into a mountainside we banked right and touched down on what appeared to be more like a driveway, then a runway. Our destination was the town of Lukla at 9300 ft above sea level.
No Sherpa, no guides just a map and a rough game plan to get to Everest Base Camp and back. Mount Everest is known world wide, however, few know the origin of its name. In the late 19th century the British commissioned the Great Trigonomic Survey, which at the time was the largest scientific undertaking in history. The survey resulted in the mapping of the sub continent of India as well as the discovery of the Himilayan giants, among them, Everest. The project also provided the first measurements of the earths curvature. One of the leaders and main surveyors of the project was Sir George Everest and although he never actually saw the mountain they choose to name it after him in honor of his work elsewhere. It was known, and still is known locally as Sagamartha “Godess of the Sky”.
Day one, Lukla to Manjo about 5 hours of walking with little change in altitude.
Lukla
Day two, Manjo to Namche Bazaar, this was about a 4 hour walk straight up taking us from around 9,000 ft to 11,200 ft. Namche is the biggest village along the route to Everest. We spent two days here while we acclimated to the altitude.
Namche
Day 3, on our acclimization day we set out by ourselves to catch our first view of Everest.
By the end of the day we gained a local friend, hung out at a monastery, saw a Yeti skull, and visited the village of Khumjung.
Our local friend Edic
Khumjung
Monastery
Day 4 , Namche to Pengboche. It was about a 6 hour walk and took us through Tengboche which has a world famous monastery.
Tengboche Monastery
Pengboche
Our lodging ran us approximately 60 cents per night. Typical room below.
Day 5, Pengboche to Dengboche 12,800 to 14,100 ft. Only around a 3 to 4 hour walk but it was our first time encountering snow. This assent brought upon a new dimension to the trek. Above this altitude the air becomes exponentially thinner and each subsequent gasp of air yields less and less oxygen. From here on up the we battled splitting headaches, sleepless nights, the inescapable cold and eventually frigid temperatures.
Dengboche
Day 6, Our last acclimization day here and since it snowed the entire time we spent our time reading, Benjy beating Seth in chess and our relentlessly joyful friend.
Ram, our lodge’s owner.
Day 7, Dengboche to Lebuche, 14,100 to 16,000 ft
After a few snowy, cloud covered days the weather started to turn in our favor and the enormity and beauty of our surroundings came into view.
Day 8, Lebuche to Gorek Shep 16,000 to 16,800 ft, to Base camp 17,600 ft and Back to Gorek Shep. Long day about 9 hours hiking.
Gorek Shep
Base camp was a city of tents set up at the base of the Khumbu Glacier where the remarkable Everest assent begins. You can not actually see the mountain from camp but the views are almost as impressive.
Base Camp
View from 18,200 ft
People from all around the world come here to attempt to reach the top of the world. Expeditions spend anywhere from six weeks at base camp to two months while they go up and come back down to acclimate to the altitude before making the final push to the top. Mount Everest, the worlds tallest mountain stands at 8848 meters about 29,000 ft.
Day 9, Gorek Shep to Khala Pattar, 16,800 to 18,200 ft. After a grueling 1200 ft vertical incline we were treated to a stunning 360 degree view of the Himalayas. The view from Kala Pattar offers what the locals refer to as the million dollar view of Mt Everest.
The Million Dollar Shot
After taking in this special place we were ready to get back downside and spent the next few days quickly making our way down to Lukla.
Along our trek, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the most impressive people in the world, the Sherpa. Their feats of strength are extraordinary and style of life very unique. They are generally little men, but can be seen carrying 200 lb packs with their heads almost effortlessly.
Biggest pak we saw, weighed around 200 lbs.
Mini Sherpa
Taking a quick break
They have great calves
How else do you think the beer gets up
When it was all said and done we ended up walking with our 30 lb packs about 70 miles up and down the sides of mountains and assenting (then descending) almost two vertical miles.
No showers, no heat, little food…unbelievable
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