Top of the World – Base Camp & Kala Pattar – April 27

The valley and mountains around Lobuche were dusted with snow when we woke up on the morning of our Base Camp bid. A hearty meal of vegetable omelettes and porridge would fuel us for a big day. We donned our cold weather outer clothing and saddled up the mountain.

Unfortunately, we lost another team member today. He could feel gurgling in his lungs and was unable to sleep a wink the previous night. This is a dangerous condition known as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), which can be fatal if someone experiencing it does not immediately descend in elevation. Essentially, there is so much pressure on your lungs from the altitude that fluid enters the lungs and you can drown. One of the Sherpas walked him down the mountain to Pheriche at 14,100 feet where there is a well-known high altitude medical clinic. It is also the village where we would meet up with him and the two others again in a couple days after the treks to Base Camp and Kala Pattar.

Magnificent peaks towered above us on all sides of the trail through the Khumbu valley. As we moved further up the valley toward Everest, we could see Nuptse and Pumori and Lohtse; three of the giants encircling the tallest mountain in the world. From some angles, Lohtse looks taller than Everest. The massive Khumbu glacier tiptoed its way down from the peaks until it completely engulfed the valley floor. The immense size of the ice boulders, jagged walls and snow covered frozen pools filled the horizon as far as the eye could see. Seemingly captured in time, this icy moonscape disguised the fact that beneath the surface, the Khumbu glacier is a frozen river moving upwards of 4 inches per day.

Our base for the evening would be Gorak Shep; a tiny village in the shadows of the foothills near the Everest Base Camp. It offers a few stark teahouse lodges and restaurants for trekkers and climbers, but nearly all visitors are people like us who are traveling just to Base Camp and/or Kala Pattar. It is so cold here that ice must be chipped from the glacier and melted for cooking and drinking water. As a result, there is no running water in the lodges. Similar to all other lodges we’ve visited, toilets must be flushed using the pitcher of water method, but at Gorak Shep the water in the barrels freezes overnight and during particularly cold days.

At these high elevations, commodity prices are at a premium. Bottles of water cost 400 rupees ($4), rolls of toilet paper are 500 rupees ($5), and we didn’t inquire about the cost of soda pop or beer. With tough climbs ahead of us to Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar, very little except water seemed appetizing to us. The combination of altitude and head colds suppressed many of our appetites. After a quick lunch of ramen noodle soup – pretty much all we could stomach – in the Gorak Shep dining hall, it was time to head to Base Camp.

The route to Base Camp begins behind the Gorak Shep lodges, through a large, flat open space that reminded me of a desert. The ground was covered with fine sand, which I have no doubt is the trailing of a glacial moraine; possibly from the Khumbu glacier passing over this area some thousands of years ago. The trail then gradually begins to rise up and over rocky terrain, continuing and escalating for a couple miles. There are many steep inclines and boulder field scrambles along the way, so it is certainly not an easy trek!

It took us two hours to reach Base Camp. This trek may be one of the toughest physical experiences of my life. My head and sinuses screamed at me and my stomach was in knots. Much of the time I thought I might vomit from the physical intensity and altitude. Each moment I thought I had expended the last bit of energy from my body, I told myself that I needed to push more. I couldn’t give up; this is why I was here. I thought of what Alison Levine wrote in her book, “On the Edge,” about her Everest Summit, and of my sister Bren’s inspiring persistence in Ironman triathlon competitions. When you think you’ve pushed your body as far as it can go, keep going.

The last leg of the trail leads you along a high ridge, then drops you down and back up an incline to the camp “entrance.” There is some sort of invisible boundary around a plateau conveniently perched above the orange tents of Base Camp where we trekkers can stand to observe and snap group photos or glorified selfies. Understandably so, it would be unwieldy for hundreds of people to be milling through the camp unattended, so only climbers and their support crews are allowed down into camp. Base Camp becomes its own small village during climbing season with approximately 1,000 people – double the population of my hometown of La Honda – and no doubt an intimate system of trading, bartering and selling goods.

Exhilaration rapidly snuffed any negative feelings or pain as soon as I stood on that summit above Base Camp. We all hugged and snapped group photos. The world had opened up to a sea of possibilities, as we had accomplished something few would in this lifetime. Once you reach a pinnacle like this, you feel as if you can fly. I don’t think my feet touched the ground on the trek back to Gorak Shep.

A few of us awoke early the next day to climb to Kala Pattar at 18,500 feet. Surprisingly, you cannot see the summit of Everest from Base Camp. Kala Pattar provides the best 360 degree view of the Himalayan range with Everest taking center stage. It is a tough hike straight up the mountain but worth every breath. You truly feel on top of the world once you reach the summit and see the sun rise over the peak of the tallest mountain in the world.

I can hardly imagine what the next challenge will be beyond this…the Everest summit? Perhaps I’ll put that one on the shelf for a little while and think about it. I might start with climbing Island Peak in the Himalayas and see where it goes from there. For now, I’m humbled with gratitude and basking in the glow of a lifetime achievement with some of my new best friends.

May everyone have the courage and freedom to pursue their dreams. For me, that is the only way to achieve happiness.

Now, who wants to go climbing?

Namaste,

Cat