A divided party heads up to EBC

Wednesday, 16 April 2014 The Kongma la pass crossing took their toll on Lauren and Carol. Each of them elected not to make the trip up to Everest Base Camp today. Lauren planned to walk up about half-way to Gorek Shep, accompanied by Jetha. Carol was feeling some respiratory strain from the heavy breathing of the previous day. She and Danny elected to stay in Lobouche to rest up. If she is feeling better, they will make the trip up to EBC tomorrow. The rest of us headed out around 9:00 a.m. The trail fairly wide and very busy. Everything and everyone seems to be going up. Many trekkers seem intent on just reaching EBC, turning around and heading down. It is their summit of sorts. We reached Gorek Shep in two hours. It is a tiny place, perhaps best known for its terrible water quality. When even the Sherpas drink bottled water there, you know you don't want to give it a try. Our final hour-and-a-half to EBC was full of anticipation. We could see it in the distance and worked our way up, along the left side of the Khumbu Glacier. Having never been here before, I did not know what to expect. Here are three immediate impressions: First, the place is huge. After we passed through the ceremonial entry area, it took us about 20 minutes to reach our camp. It would take another 20-30 minutes to reach the far end of the camp. Second, it has lots of ups-and-downs. Camps are perched all over the glacier. There are more than 50 expeditions here this year. Ours sits on high area (17,750 ft), above several others. Third, high mountains flank us on all sides. While this may strike you as obvious, the size and scale of the peaks is staggering. We were greeted by Nima Tashi and our camp staff. The central point of our camp is the dining tent, communications tent and cooking tent. Our individual tents spread out beyond. Nima is particularly proud of our toilet tent which resembles a green phone booth, placed on a rocky outcrop. After a dinner of dal bat (rice and lentils), we headed to bed for a well-deserved sleep. We are here! Lots of love to our family and friends. Posted by: Scott Williams Blogs by other members of the expedition Shane - http://HeartHealthyEverestClimb2014.blogspot.com Steve - http://Wetumpka2Everest.blogspot.com Jeff - http://www.highpeakadventures.com/high_peak_adventures/web_log/web_log.html

Gorak Shep half way to EBC


Down the hill and up the glacier to BC


Old friend Dawa "moti" Sherpa grets us at EBC

Comments are closed.