Everest Trek - Week 3
Trip Start
Mar 22, 2008
1
3
75
Trip End
Oct 05, 2009
Kathmandu,
Nepal
Thursday, April 17, 2008
From Lobuche we climbed to Gorak Shep, the final stop before base camp. As well as Everest, we have been trekking by some other incredible mountains
Alpine Landscape
. Ama Dablam, Lhotse and Nuptse all rose like spires around us as we trekked on towards Everest. The gathering of three lodges at Gorak Shep is above 5000 metres. On our first day here we climbed Kala Pattar. At 5600 metres this was the highest point I reached in my time in Nepal and probably the highest I'll ever be in my life. I wanted to say I'd climbed a peak in the Himalaya and Kala Pattar gave me that opportunity. It's also regarded as having the best views of Mount Everest. To say it was a struggle to reach the summit would be an understatement. I felt like an old man eith each breath I took. The 500 metre trek to the top from Gorak Shep took me over 3 hours. Once I got to the top though the wind and cold could not take from the view. The highest point on earth looked pretty impressive in the cloudless sky in front of me. I stayed at the top for about a half hour taking it all in. It was a relief to get out of the strong wind and the trek down was a lot easier than the way up.Despite being over 5000 metres I managed to get a decent nights sleep in Gorak Shep on the first night there. Most people told me this was quite rare. Next day we set off for Everest base camp. For the first time on the entire trek the altitude seemed to get to Stef. We took our time getting to base camp (about 4 hours from Gorak Shep). On the approach to the camp the Kumbu icefall to our right looked incredible
No more trees
. This particlar part of Everest has claimed more than it's fair share of lives. It didn't feel real as I walked into the camp and through the tents that I had seen so often on TV. There is not much to base camp apart from these tents which are on very rocky barren ground. There was however a tiny bakery setup in one of the tents. Stef and I treated ourselves to an apple pie. Stef still wasn't feeling great so decided to make a start back. I had heard before I left home that an Irishman from Vodafone, Graham Kinch, was making a summit attempt. It took me a while but after receiving directions from a few different people I found the tricolour blowing outside a tent and sure enough I found Graham inside. He filled me in on progress to date, all going well so far. I wouldn't say he gets too many visitors at base camp! After another good nights sleep in Gorak Shep it was time to begin the descent having achieved everything I set out to do. After 18 days I would be lying if I said I said i wasn't looking forward to getting back to Kathmandu and a few home comforts. I was practically a vegetarian during the trek as there's hardly any meat at all in this Buddhist region. It took us only three days to make it down to Lukla. I had my first beer in over 3 weeks in Lukla before catching the early morning flight to Kathmandu the next day.
What a trip....
