Everest Base Camp (Page 3)

Do you remember how much you tipped the Sherpas per day?

Most of those folks don't get to keep all their fingers, toes, nose and earlobes and such. As such, I have scratched summiting Everest from my bucket list. That and the 50K price tag.

All kidding aside, you're going to have an awesome adventure. II'll look forward to reading your blog and seeing the pictures. i met a guy on a bike tour that did a similar trek and his stories at dinnertime were fascinating. He was a physician and managed to get his ticket paid by the group. As the trek physician he also wrote and published a paper on the physical effects of high altitude. The guy was an accomplished marathoner who had run Boston every year since the seventies. He had met and knew Rodgers and Shorter back in the day!

Edited by mdg2003 2014-05-15 11:10 AM

The first day of hiking is done. We only hiked 3 hrs but it was a lot tougher than I expected and I am spent. But let me back up.

The flight from Doha to Katmandu was uneventful. There were probably only 40 people on the flight so there were 200 empty seats. We both slept most of the flight. Turns out it was only a 4.5 hr flight. It was dark when we landed. We got out bags and looked at the long line at immigration. But since I had gotten out tourist visa from the Nepal embassy back in March, we went to a different counter where there was no line at all.

We met out outfitter, Unique Path Treking and got in a cab for a scary ride thru the slum. The slums seemed to go on forever with people and cars sharing the road in sort of a mutual sycronized swimming display. If of run over a dozen or so people had I been driving. I can't begin to describe the slums so I won't try.

When we got to our hotel we were met by our guide, Ross. We had to give him copies of our travel insurance cards and our passport and paid for the balance of the trek, $2350. I paid in cash as I don't want to use my credit card in a 3rd world country. I was glad pay and not be carrying so much cash. We had a dinner which was included in our trek - all the meals are included but all drinks are paid by us. We were told to meet in the lobby at 0500 and headed to our room after dinner at about 11 pm. The room was....hmmm, let's say a clean dump. It had to hard single beds and a little spit of a pillow and the a/c did not work so we opened the window and listened to dogs howl and horns honk. I exchanged $300 rupees at the hotel and the rate was about 92 rupees to a dollar. I don't think they use coins as the smallest bill 5 rupee....which is a nickel.

We got up at 0430 and took cold showers. Nick said he managed to find a position of the knobs where it was sorta warm but I didn't even try to find the sweet spot and just took a refreshing cold shower.

We met Ross in the lobby at 0505 hrs. Ross is a young, 26 yo Nepaleese and speaks English well enough that I can understand about 40% of what he says. We took a cab to a different airport that looked like a run down bus station. It made the Majuro RMI airport look like Newark! It took 2 minutes to go thru security. The provided breakfast in boxes since we had to leave the hotel so early. I ate a tiny banana and half a roll and a boiled egg. The bread and muffin were awful stale and inedible.

We boarded a small prop plane that seated about 20 people. Very cozy plane. We had a short flight to Lukla, 2,800 meters and landed at the "scariest airport in the world'. You can google that phrase to see a video of the airport. You land uphill on the shortest runway I've ever seen. I was sitting just 1 seat back from the open cockpit so was looking out the front of the plane as we were quickly running out of runway. We had to turn to avoid hitting the wall but it really was no scary. The airport in Lukla made the Katmandu airport look modern!

We went to a little cafe and had a really bad cup of instant coffee and used a disgustingly smelly bathroom. Our porter showed up. His name is Kumar and he probably weighs 135 lbs. He is carrying BOTH our out duffle bags. I put my backpack and contents in my duffle bag so I'm guessing the 2 bags weigh 80 lbs. He worked hard today and every time I saw him he was seating and obviously working very hard. I don't know how much the outfitter pays him but they recommend tipping the porter $10 to $12 per day. Since I think our bags are on the heavy side of typical I think we can do better than $12/day for the 11 days. Our guide Ross typically gets $15 - $20/day.

We left the cafe at 0800 hrs and on what I was told was 'mostly a downhill trek'. They lied. It was down for a while and then it was up and down up and down. O M G. Ross said this was an 'easy' day. OMG!! I've hiked some pretty good hikes on Rainier, Mt St Helens, Rockies, Appellations, and Pikes Peak . . . but they were NOTHING like this! The trail is very rocky and we shared the trail with ox and donkeys and horses and local and other hikers. I don't know if my legs will even move tomorrow! It is just me, Nick and Ross hiking and occasionally Kumar would be with us and I pretty much set that pace. That is, young Nick and Ross had to wait on the old fat man to sit on a rock and catch his breath.

The culture is unique! I don't know how else to describe it. I've been to 30+ different countries and Nepal by far the 'most unique'.

We got to our first camp about 11 am and had lunch. All the meals are included in the trek but drinks and wifi are extra. The wi-fi was $5 and Nick and I both bought the service. We botyh had the yak steak that was exceptionally good.

The good news is, I can upload my note. The bad news is, the 173 pictures I took along the trail are on my digital camera and I have no way to get them uploaded to the blog. I will try to have Nick upload some pictures from his iPhone to the blog. If that doesn't work, I will try to take some with my iPad so I can upload them.

The room here at the 'camp' is nice. It has 2 single beds beds and a bath but no shower. I shower is available for $250.
Remembered a few things from today....
?
We crossed a suspended bridge that was a few hundred feet above a canyon.  We had to wait for the caravan of mules/donkeys to pass before we could cross.  I looked at the donkeys and mules and nocticed they  all had bare spots where the girth rubs and cringed at some of the raw spots on some of the animals from where the girsth had rubbed them raw.  I mentioned this to Nick and he said "I don't think life is easy here for anyone". Crossing the bridge was a little disconcerting. It had large cables but the rails and sides look like you could fall through if you stepped wrong. It stirred my innate and natural fear of heights.

Several times horses passed us trotting on the trail. The significance of this is lost until you see how rocky and steep most of the trail is.

We saw some of the local places with gardens of potatoes, wheat, greens and such. I was surprised at how good the potato plants looked given the rocky soil.

Most of the houses are made with motor-less rocks meticulously selected to get a nice wall but we also some many houses were made of cut stone blocks that had an really tight fit. We actually passed a house under construction and saw a guy with a hammer and chisel cutting a block. It looked like a very slow and laborious process but the houses made of these cut stones look tight.

Sounds like you're having a good time. Had to laugh a bit about the "slum". That's actually downtown Kathmandu...... I guess by US standards it is a slum. Having lived pretty much all my adult life in the third world, to me it just looked like a typical city with lots of temples and unusually chaotic traffic. The plane to Lukla is quite an experience. I called it the "flying tuna can of death" in my travel diary. Did you catch the landing on the near-vertical runway? I thought we were crashing into the mountain, and wondered why everyone else on the plane (all Sherpas--this was at the height of the Maoist rebellion and business was very slow) looked so calm. Kept trying to imitate them "Om mane padme hmm..." and meet my demise calmly!

Nepali downhill is Oregonian "undulating". Nepali "rolling" is a major mountain ascent. Nepali "steep" is probably Everest of K2. My guide described Everest as a "relatively easy" climb. "Only problem is altitude somewhat but you can use oxygen on summit day." Uh-huh.

The local food is way better than attempts at Western food. Dal bhat, potato dishes and yak steaks are great. Avoid anything too creative, or uncooked. I actually gained five pounds on the EBC trek. But then again, I'm a human garbage disposal at altitude. It affects my appetite and sleep opposite of most people--eat constantly, sleep like the dead.

I can't remember what I tipped my Sherpa, but it was pretty generous as he was both guide and porter. Maybe 20% of the package price? It was a few hundred US; my trek was probably longer than yours as I spent more time in the villages, not just directly to EBC and back.

Have a great time. Wish I were there. Despite the username, I actually don't like hot weather and feel much better in the cool and at altitude--maybe part yak.

Today was the most physically difficult thing I've ever done in my life. This is not a trek for old fat men! Hiking 8 hrs today nearly killed me. I bonked with 2 hrs and 9000' elevation gain in front of me. What should have taken 2 hrs took 3.5 as I had to stop and catch my breath every 100 feet. Details to follow.

I hit the wall hard. Then it occurred to me I'd totally neglected to bring any nutrition. You'd think a triathlete would know and be prepared but I had nothing after a light breakfast. Lunch was salad and soup. An hour later I bonked hard! The increasingly thin air was taking its toll too?

At Namche now and having boiled potatoes for dinner. Will try to find some Cliff bars or power bars or gels before we set out tomorrow.

After today's experience, I'm not sure EBC is doable for me.

Awesome sounding trip so far. Can't wait to see pics as well.

Karen, what 14er did you bag? I was discussing Colorado's 14ers with a co-worker last night who had attempted Evans and Bierstadt with his BIL last summer. Said it nearly killed him and he only made it up Bierstadt and had to turn back without summiting Evans(or I could have them backwards!) Sounded like a good day trip as long as you can handle altitude.

Sounds like you had a great hike. Thanks for the info on Grey's, sounds like it might be a nice family 14er to try. Long's peak has evaded me 3 times because of weather, ice and snow. My oldest daughter was going to climb it with me the last time we were in RMNP, so I know she would be onboard for Grey's!

As to the altitude, anything above 12K gets hinky and I find I need to plan on being a little slower than usual. Luckily I've not had issue with headaches. I hope my luck holds as we're planning to spend close to 2 weeks above 10K this summer in the Ansel Adams wilderness/Yosemite area.

Thanks for the encouragement Karen!

Here is my latest....


0445 hrs and Ive been up for 2 hrs unable to sleep. I told and ice cold shower this morning that really woke me up.

Day 2 of hiking turned into a physical nightmare.

The day started with an ice cold shower in the camp and then a light breakfast. We've been advised not to eat meat after this point as all meet has to be packed in with no refrigeration.

We left camp about 0730 for what was to be about 6 hrs of hiking. We hiked down to the river and had to cross suspension bridges a few times. These thing are scary to me as they bounce and sway and the wind blows and I'm always wondering if the slats are gonna fail. In the movies they say don't look down and turns out that is sound advice.

We hiked up and down over some of the roughest and rockiest and steepest trail you could imagine. It was tough hiking but I was enjoying it. We'd occasionally have to stop for a passing caravan of mules or oxen.

At one point Nick befriended a dog on the trail. He gave the do some water out of his hand and that was it, Nick had a new friend. At the next little village we came to Nick bought a can of sardines and gave it to the dog and he really enjoyed those.

We stopped for lunch after 3 hrs of hiking at little camp in the last village before Namche, our destination for the day. I had Sherpa stew and a potato salad. The stew was nothing more than boiled potatoes. We saw potatoes being grown everywhere by the locals.

After lunch the trail started climbing in elevation. We were down in the basin between the mountains and could look up and see 2 suspension bridges about 1000 feet above the canyon and Ross said we'd be crossing the bridge. OMG. We climbed for about an hour in one of the most exhausting hours of my life. At times you stepped from rock to rock and other times you climbed rock stairs until you quads were just on fire. The scenery was of course magnificent and I'd pause often to take some photos.

When we got to the top of the climb at the highest suspension bridge I've ever seen in my life I was exhausted beyond belief. I've finished 5 marathons and never been this tired. I was happy to have made the climb to the top.

But we were not at the top. We still had at least 2 hrs of very steep climbing before Namche. But first we had to cross that bridge. It looked scary as all hell and it was. The wind was really howling at that hight and the bridge bounced with every step. What made the bouncing bad was the bouncing caused by other people on the bridge. It was like when 3 people are on a trampoline and jumping at different rates. You never new if the 'bottom' of your step was gonna rise up to meet your foot or drop a few inches. I tried not to look down but you can't help but see and know you are 1000 feet up in the air on this little foot wide bridge. Well crossing the bridge was not optional so I sucked up my fear and headed across. My heart was racing by the time I got across and I wanted to just sit for a while but we still had 2 of the hardest hours of the steepest climbing I could ever imagine ahead of us. I was spent.

I would would walk about 25 feet and have to stop. Not only was I getting winded but I'd hit the wall....I bonked. The first time I ever seriously bonked was when I was training for my first ironman. I was 103 miles into an 109 mile bike ride and my body literally just shut down. I had to call Casey to come pick me and my bike up in Belle Mina. One would think after biking 103 miles, going another 6 miles would be nothing but not when your body shuts down. So here I was on the trail with no Casey to call to came rescue me. There was no SAG support or medical people coming to help. It was then that I realized I'd been hiking a very strenuous hike for over 4 hrs with almost no nutrition. My endurance training had taught to take in about 500 calories per hour when running of biking but I'd had nothing but a few potatoes.

The Nepalese people are very short and small people and at least half of the Napalese people I passed on the trail would stare at me like I was Yetti. I guess they don't see many 6'3" 300 lbs me up here. And of course with Nick at 240 and taller than me we were quite the novelty.

The next 3 hrs were the hardest 3 hrs of my life. The trail was so steep it was like constantly climbing stairs. The air was getting thinner and that was taking its toll. I would walk 30 feet and have to stop. I was dehydrated and my quads began to cramp. It was very painful. But there was nothing to do but keep moving upwards. I knew eventually I'd have to make it but there were a few times I thought I might pass out. It was slow going and I felt bad for Nick and Ross who stopped and waited for me every time I'd stop.

We saw an 11 yo boy carrying a pack that we found was about 75 lbs. The boy probably weighed less than his pack. He was really struggling but he pressed on. I tried to find inspiration in this but at this point it was energy my body needed. Nick had some gummy bears and I ate the and that seemed to help a little. He also had an orange and I ate a piece of that and nearly hurled so threw the rest away.

We finally made it to Namche and I struggled walking thru town. Namche is considered the gateway to Everest and the other local peaks. It is a large village and a huge market place. Of course everything here had to be carried in from Lukla either on the backs of mules or donkeys or oxen or on the backs of the Nepalee.

I was filthy with black dirt and dust from the trail so we paid five bucks for a shower. I took about a 2 hr nap and then went down to eat. I was not hungry. Go figure. Must be the altitude. I forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes.

My confidence is shaken and I seriously dont know if I will make it as high as EBC. I think we at at 12200 feet here and EBC is 17600. Given how hard today was and how I was gasping for air like fish out of water, I don't know how much higher I can go. I will try to find some Cliff bars or power bars before today's 5 hr hike. It is 1:45 am but I can't sleep....

Make sure you don't have high altitude sickness. 

Here's what I found on the internet and you seem to be having some of the symptoms.  Based on what you wrote, you seem to have 4 out of those 6 symptoms. Please be careful. Good luck man. If you can't go higher, then that's OK. You are still in an awesome place getting to see some amazing sights! 

Edited by KSH 2014-05-21 3:48 PM

Almost all tours give you a day or two of acclimatization at Namche. It definitely sounds like you need it. Rest or just walk easy around town and DO NOT go higher until/unless you feel better. Normally the body adapts in a couple of days--if not, you could tour some villages around Namche (toward Thame, and Khumjung) instead of EBC. FWIW on the normal trek route, the ascent to Namche is about as steep and nasty as it gets. The rest of the elevation gain is more gradual....well....by Sherpa standards. I'm an altitude animal, but I remember b....ing and moaning a bit about that walk up. The only other ascent I recall that was as bad (actually, worse, as it was longer and higher up) was the high pass (Thorung La) on the Annapurna Circuit further west.

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-05-21 6:59 PM

Day 3 hiking was relatively easy. This was an acclimatization day so we did 2 out and back hike. The first hike was to a hill top that provided our first view of Everest and Lhotse peaks. It was a 'modest' hike on the Mike Rogillio Hiking Scale (MRHS).

The second hike was intended to get us exposure to higher elevations. We hiked up some very rough rock 'steps' about 1,100 feet. This was is the equivalent of taking the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building.....only it rocky and sandy and lots of loose gravel. The thin air was hard on me but did not seem to bother Nick too much. I had to take numerous breaks to catch my breath. I rate this hike as 'moderately strenuous' on the MRHS. There is a very short landing field up there that small plans and helicopters use. Nick was convinced he could a nice view of Everest if he went over the next ridge. I was not so inclined. So Nick and Kumar went up a little further and Ross and I headed back down. Coming down was pretty easy as you just push in the clutch and coast.....only you had to ride the breaks and chose each step wisely so as not to slip on the sand. I slipped only once and ended on my backside. Fortunately I have lots of cushion and was not hurt.

We have the rest of the day to relax and explore. I took a shower and we gathered up all our laundry and gave it to the guest house to be laundered. I don't think any of the higher camps have laundry service available. They charge 80 cents per item with a pair of socks being an item. I saw people doing laundry in the village in and open creek and I suspect that is where our laundry will be done.

After lunch I will take a nap and then go explore the village. Ross said some of the bars show "Into Thin Air Death on Everest" and some other documentaries. So we will go see what we can see.

It's nice to have an easy hiking day and time to relax after that hike from hell yesterday!

I ordered a pizza with mixed topping and it has tomatos, cheese and tuna. Ugh. Not used to my pizza smelling like cat food! Hmmmm, well I do like to try different things....

This is great. Thanks for sharing your trip!

That's what I meant by "creative". As I recall the teahouse meals basically consisted of choice of starch (soup noodles, fried noodles, rice, bread) with some veggies, and choice of protein (egg, canned tuna, and/or cheese). I hate cheese so tuna and egg got really old, really fast! Dal bhat is way better. And every cook/region makes it a bit differently. I normally have an iron stomach, but my gut had major issues with Nepal. I ended up doing two months on pretty much nothing but dal bhat, fruit, and instant noodles lower down, plus yak steaks and potatoes higher up.

On the subject of power bars, when I was there there was a locally produced "trekkers bar" with dried fruit and nuts that was quite good. I got some in Kathmandu; you might be able to get them in Namche. Failing that, there should be chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit around for trail snacks. I also carried a jar of peanut butter (not sure why--just seemed like a good idea) and used it for snacks and my breakfast chapatis.

Sounds like you're feeling a bit better. Hope all goes well.

There is nothing really western on the munue. Nick ordered Mac and cheese and got pasta with tomato sauce and a little cheese sprinkled on top. That 'pizza' also had a fried egg and bean in the mix with the tuna. I try to order something different each meal.

Getting ready for a 5.5 hr hike to the next higher camp. I think we net about 1200' today but we go down a lot first and then back up. My legs are sore all over. Discomfort in walking down the hall in the guest house. Anxious to get on the trail to get legs working and hopefully felling better.





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Day 4 of hiking

I actually got a decent night's sleep last night. Up at 0500 and came down to mess hall for coffee but place was empty and the wifi was not connected so played Spider Solitaire on my iPad mini.

Day 4 of hiking turned out to be a repeat of day 2 and is the second most difficult physically challenging day of my life. The hike started with a very steep climb out of Namche. After that we had a relatively easy 3 hours that followed a ridge line without a lot of climbing. Then we went down, down, down. We stopped for lunch and I had no appetite but forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes and a yak cheese sandwich on soggy bread.

After lunch came the climb. For the next 3 hours we climbed. I would force myself to go 100 steps before having to stop, gasping for breath. This cycle went on and on and felt like I was being water boarded. It was strenuous climbing and that alone would take the wind out of my lungs . . . but add in the thin air and it was killing me. I got to thinking about my SCUBA diving days and how I was always the first one out of air. Even when I dove with my brother I sucked down all my air faster than him and would use his spare regulator to share his air so we could stay down longer. At any rate, the climbing and thin air is killing me.

At lunch I had to go to the bathroom as I've had diarrhea for 2 days. The outhouse ate the cafe was literally a dung house! It was a small room with a huge pile of fresh dung on one side, big bags of pine cones on the other side and a hole in the floor to do your business. I decided I would hold off going. Nick and I debated the use of the pine cones. Were they for fuel for the winter or for wiping? IDK.

We got to the top of the hill which was our destination 7 hours after leaving Namche we found there is monastery with Buddhist monks beside the guest house. This guest house is the raunchiest hole we've stayed in. The toilet is kind of an outhouse with a little stool about a foot off the ground. You are not supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet. I have absolutely nothing in my digestive track right now. We were too tired and had no appetite for dinner. It is odd because we probably burned 10,000+ calories today yet neither of us was hungry. I figure the loss of appetite is due to the altitude. I think we are at 12,600' now and I am getting winded walking on flat ground.

At 4 pm we got to go into the Buddhist temple and observe the monks prayer or meditation time. We had to take our shoes off before going in and then get a rug to sit on. They did chants and banged on various instruments and hummed and such. Very strange ritual.

After that we came back to our little cell which is barely big enough for the 2 single beds. We laid down at 5 pm and fell asleep. Ross came by at 7 and asked if we were coming to dinner as they were about to shut the kitchen down and we both said we were not hungry and fell back asleep. I got up a could hours later for another fun trip to the toilet hole and by now I'm just passing almost clear water.

I woke up about midnight with an aching tooth. I've not had any toothache before so I surmised it was maybe the altitude. I also have a little upper respiratory congestion and i sure that contributes to the difficulty breathing. I took a couple of aspirin and went back to sleep. I woke up at 0300 hrs and am up for the day.

Before we went to bed, Nick and I talked about the trek. He seems to be doing fine with the altitude and strenuous climbing. But this is killing me. The enjoyment of hiking is lost when I am constantly doubled over gasping for breath. So what to do? I have concluded there is no way I will make it as high as EBC. That is just never going to happen. We are only at 12,600 and EBC is 17,600'. I can't keep food down (hurled on the trail from pushing myself so hard) or up. I can't breath and the higher we go it will only get worse. This is an adventure but is also our vacation and I don't want to just kill myself on my vacation. We talked about me going to a camp about an hour from here that is a stopping point on the way back from EBC and the Nick could continue on to EBC. But this trip is more about father/son time that reaching some arbitrary elevation. Another option would be to turn back now and hike back to Lukla and the fly back to Katmandu. Then we would spend 4 days exploring Katmandu before our flight home. Another option would be to hike back down to a lower elevation and do some local hiking to various locations to see what we can see. Nick and I will talk to Ross this morning and come up with a revised plan. If we do go back to Katmandu I am gonna try to find a Hilton or Marriott to get a real shower, comfortable bed and maybe a hot tub.

It is 0430 now and I am waiting for sunrise. We are supposed to have great views of Everest from here with the sun coming up over the mountains. I hope it is clear. It rained last night. That should help with the dust on the trail.

Went outside at 430 and the sky was bright yet the sun was not yet up. We are surrounded by huge peaks including Everest and Lhotse. We had breakfast of soup and a disgusting cheese omelette.

Nick and I talked again about our plan going forward. He really wants yo press on to EBC and I've no doubt he would make it with little difficulty. I cannot send will not try to ho higher. We talked about splitting up but that would put me in Namche for 4 days waiting on him. I don't want to do that. There is nothing to do in Namche and I don't want to just sit around for 4 days doing nothing. So Nick being the good son that he is said he would ho back down with me and we'd find something to do in Katnandu. But we still have 3 days of hiking ahead of us to get back to Lukla. Hopefully we can get a flight from Luka back to Katmandu.


Day 5 of hiking was pretty tough. We hiked a little over 5 hours with only breaks long enough yo catch my breath. The hike down from the monastery was much harder than I thought it would be as the trail is wicked steep (like 45 degrees) and is covered with big rocks. This was the 5th consecutive day of hiking and my body is feeling it. I have a little upper respiratory congestion and that just compounds the breathing. We still have two tough days of hiking ahead of us till we get yo Laklu and fly back to Katmandu.

Went to room after hike to lay down and fell asleep. I did not feel like eating lunch. I just wanted to lay still. Then I started getting really bad chills. I am very hot natured so chills is something that seldom happens. I got under the cover but was still just shaking. I think my body is fighting something off. I forced myself to get up and come down to the mess hall form some soup.

We see about half a dozen medical evac helicopters per day. Altitude sickness, sprained or broken ankles? IDK. Nick and I got shots for hepatitis A and typhoid before we left.

Plan to eat some soup and go back to bed.

Sorry to hear things aren't going as you hoped. I think you've made the right decision, though. Maybe part of the reason you're struggling is that you're coming down with a respiratory virus, on top of the altitude stress. I remember being very stressed out as I caught a minor cold early in the trek. Was terrified it would develop into bronchitis/asthma plus high altitude nightmare (it has, once, in Tibet) but it didn't, just stuffy nose and sore throat throughout. I would definitely go down ASAP if I felt worse or didn't feel better. If by some miracle you do feel better in a day or two, Thame in the other direction of Namche is a pleasant day's hike. (I think....maybe my recollection of the ascents/descents is warped.) At any rate it isn't as steep as the ascent to Khumjung (on your acclimatization hike) or Tengboche (where you just returned from).