Everest Base Camp

Gorakshep and EBC, Nepal -- 5140m (16,860ft)

As has become clearly obvious from the pictures, our weather continues to be fantastic -- sunny, clear, and bright blue skies.  However, the ice in the bathroom barrels, outdoor streams, and the frost on the single pane windows are testament to the frigid temperatures.  

Bedroom window

The goal for today was to trek to the Everest Base Camp (5360m or 17,580ft), the ultimate destination for most who come to Gorakshep.  As expected, the actual site is underwhelming and, for me, somewhat puzzling.  You spend most of the trek hiking alongside the Khumbu Glacier that for most of the way simply looks like a huge swath of gravel and giant boulders.  Only here and there do you actually see evidence of the ice flow below.  

Eventually, as you near Everest, still just peeking out from behind the nearer peaks, the newer, whiter portion of the glacier, and the infamous Khumbu Icefall, become visible.  I was left scratching my head, however, as we stood around on top of the rock-strewn glacier, that this was apparently the current base camp location.  There hardly seemed to be space for the hundreds of people that congregate here during the spring.  Nor did it seem particularly close to the icefall, the first big obstacle of an Everest climb.  Oh well.  On the plus side, this meant that our rock scramble was now over -- time for a few photos and a celebratory chocolate bar.

Kumbu ice fall marks the beginning of the Everest climb

In the spring one would expect to see a hundred or more tents scattered around as numerous expedition crews settled in to support a summit effort that can take a month or more.  Now, however, nothing but a few banners, strings of prayer flags, and a small flat rock inscribed with “Everest Base Camp 2016” remained to mark the site.  Dex and Kylie acknowledged the accomplishment by playing on the few exposed ice patches.  Having grown up in the Bay Area, natural ice is a novel substance.

Back we went, picking our way around and over the rocks, arriving at the lodge in less than four hours. We are lightweights, so that concluded our physical exertion for the day.  I proposed perhaps climbing to the Kala Patthar viewpoint for sunset but elicited little enthusiasm.  

We had expected to see Kevin and Craig today as they should have finished their first of three passes and made it to Gorakshep in the early afternoon.  We eventually learned that Craig had never received our texts from yesterday informing them where we were staying.  So, instead of settling into the Himalayan Lodge, they had picked the smaller “cozier” Buddha Lodge.  When they staggered into the crammed Buddha lodge dining room after their sunset viewing from Kala Patthar, we were there to greet them.  

Himalayan Lodge dining hall

Buddah Lodge dining hall

It was fun to catch up again.  Kevin was incredibly quiet, conceding that he was just not physically prepared for the trip.  I daresay, there are few that are prepared to keep up with Craig who loves nothing more than to tackle every viewpoint and base camp day hike available.  Both Kevin and Craig gobbled down two meals to keep up with their strenuous activity level.  

Not having been to base camp, they planned to accomplish that tomorrow, agreeing to meet up with us at the next town back down the valley, Lobuche.  This would set us up for another 3-4 days together as we would now tackle the most challenging part of our trek, crossing 5420m Cho La Pass. For now, I’ll wait to truly celebrate until we’re over the pass and are safely tucked into a teahouse on the other side.