Everest Base Camp trek, Day 6 - Lobuche to Gorak Shep to EBC

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Our final day of hiking up was here. Today, we would reach Everest Base Camp! Today was the first day I took a full diamox pill in the morning due to the increased elevation. It was going to be a long day, so I was trying to mentally prepare myself, but this was the first day that I was not feeling 100 percent. We were to hike about 3 hours to Gorak Shep, have lunch, say good bye to porters, continue to EBC and come back. Overall, about 9 to 10 hours hiking.

We set off and even though the elevation gain was only supposed to be about 300m to Leboche, it was a bit difficult due to altitude. I don't know what was wrong with me, nothing I could pinpoint, just felt off. Slow. No appetite or thirst. It was a bit strange, but I was still happy because I had been worried about altitude sickness and if this was it, I considered myself lucky.

We made it to Gorak Shep slightly ahead of time, which was good. We had a decent lunch in the common room after dropping our bags to our rooms. I shuffled my day pack around a little to try to limit the weight as much as possible. I half expected it to be super cold, so I put on my Roxy ski jacket, half hoping to wear it because it was feeling neglected. But I just felt cooked, so put my normal thermal jacket on and that was totally fine. After lunch, we paid the tips for our porters (with me giving Gopal a little extra since he had helped me in particular a lot this trip). We then took a group photo with everyone before continuing on our way to EBC. Our head guide seemed to have also gotten ill, altitude sickness or something else we did not know, but he did not join us to EBC - a pity as this would have been his 40th trip. Instead we had our other two guides and two of the porters who had stayed behind to assist.

At this point, with just 200m elevation gain and a 2-3 walk to go, I had a pounding headache and was a wee bit nauseous. My roomie gave me a few starburst, which was actually nice as I was able to suck on them and get moisture in my mouth and sugar in my body. But drinking water was hard. Soon, I was the last in our group and Sudip carried my pack for a bit. He was super patient with me! It was hard and I knew there was a bit of a rush, so I kept moving as much as I could.

Unfortunately, I was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that my photography took a hit. I had noticeably fewer photos than I had for the rest of the hike, which is a shame because the views were astounding! (I'm running out of words to describe the natural beauty: incredible, amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, etc). We saw many people walking to and fro, the ones coming back were definitely more excited and happy, encouraging us "not much farther!" It was especially cool when we came around a corner and you could see the yellow tents of base camp far in the distance. Holy crap, this was real! And we were almost there.

What was also interesting was we heard about 2 avalanches on the way up and another one or two on the way back, a couple of them we saw with our own eyes. One was a relatively small avalanche down a snow covered slope, while another was down stream a bit and we saw the dust up of debris that had fallen. This really hit home at how dangerous this type of adventure could be for the climbers.

Near the camp, I was definitely the last but once you climb to an outcrop, you walk down and across a bit of the Khumbu glacier to the 'rock' which has "Everest Base Camp 5364m" written in bright red paint. You could hear the music coming from camp as you started the downhill portion, definitely indicating a bit of a party atmosphere. And why not - the weather really was perfect.

I met up with my group and the porters gave me a paper cup with ginger lemon honey tea as a celebratory drink for making it to the end. We were all happy that we had all made it to the end! I drank a bit, but was feeling nauseous, so put it down and got ready to take the iconic photos at the rock. Since I was basically last, we did a group photo just after mine. As soon as we clicked, I scampered down the rock..... and puked. Soojan kept one eye on me, but otherwise we were enjoying where we were. We hung around for a bit for the views and some of the group wanted to walk among the tents. I tried to drink a little more of the tea.... and puked again. At this point, the guides wanted me to start heading back, so Sudip and I started the walk back up the slope and headed back to Gorak Shep. I also realized that I had ran out of water from my water bladder, which was weird because I did not think I had been drinking due to my nausea.

It was a bit disappointing that I felt so ill, but I was proud of myself at the same time. I don't know if it was the diamox or not, just strange that it was the first day I took a full pill and up until then I felt great! As we started walking back, I wish I could say I felt better, but I just was happy to be heading to a bed. Though the pounding in my head did diminish quite a bit once we got back to the tea house. It is actually a bit weird trying to remember the walk back, it's like flashes of memory. The guides watched me like a hawk at dinner - I asked if I could order noodles instead of whatever they had planned, but it would have been an extra since they already prepared dinner. I said I would try what they had and I ate a bit of the food - enough to get food in my belly and make them happy.

We all went to bed early as most of the group was planning the early morning sunrise hike to Kala Pattur. I wished I could, but did not want to push my luck either. Instead, I planned on a full night's sleep without having to worry about another day's walk. I was still so proud of my accomplishment and slept with a smile on my face.

Lobuche to Gorak Shep to EBC to Gorak Shep: 12km, 4940m to 5194 to 5364m to 5194m.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Congratulations!!!
Altitude sickness can be a killer at any age. It took us a couple of months to adapt to the altitude where we now live in the Rocky Mountains...8400 ft.

[D MJ Binkley]

Everest
What an accomplishment! Fantastic.

[silvernomads]

Fabulous
Hi Alexis - How truly fantastic you must be 'over the moon' with your achievement - I remember the terrible feeling of altitude sickness when we visited Colca Canyon to see the Condors - no way near the height you have encountered so you have done extremely well to get nearly the whole way without feeling unwell. Loved all your photos and oh my what a super memory you have made. Best wishes Sheila

[lexispence10]

Thanks!!!
Thanks so much everyone for the compliments and congrats. It does feel great and is one of my favorite adventure ever. I actually think I would totally do it again, maybe another route with more time... Or maybe the Annapurna circuit. Too many choices!