Final Assault - Gorek Shep to Everest Base Camp
A mixture of R.E.M. and conscious thinking clouded my nights intermittent sleep. One minute I was steps away from Everest’s glorious summit, the next rifled back into reality with a cough or rustle of a neighbors sleeping bag. The freezing conditions, high elevation and howling winds made sleep impossible and I instead lay in the darkness, praying for morning.
Buzzers, bells and whistles provided the morning wake up call, echoing throughout the teahouse in an almost melodic succession. Rolling out of our down cocoons, we dressed quickly to retain heat and hustled into the common room for a quick brekkie of, you guessed it, porridge.
Leaving our heavy backpacks in Gorek Shep, we felt lighter then we had all trip. Our spirits soared with the thought of lay ahead and our legs seemed to glide over the loose rocks. Well, for the first hour anyways. The endless path of boulders, loose stones and notorious ankle twisters reared their ugly heads once again and the final leg into Base Camp was spent looking down, more then it was looking around. Not a complete travesty, I thought, considering Everest could no longer be seen anyways. Hiding behind two other colossal mountains, the closer you get to Everest, the larger those flanking mountains appear, masking all visibility of the famed peak.
Buzzers, bells and whistles provided the morning wake up call, echoing throughout the teahouse in an almost melodic succession. Rolling out of our down cocoons, we dressed quickly to retain heat and hustled into the common room for a quick brekkie of, you guessed it, porridge.
Leaving our heavy backpacks in Gorek Shep, we felt lighter then we had all trip. Our spirits soared with the thought of lay ahead and our legs seemed to glide over the loose rocks. Well, for the first hour anyways. The endless path of boulders, loose stones and notorious ankle twisters reared their ugly heads once again and the final leg into Base Camp was spent looking down, more then it was looking around. Not a complete travesty, I thought, considering Everest could no longer be seen anyways. Hiding behind two other colossal mountains, the closer you get to Everest, the larger those flanking mountains appear, masking all visibility of the famed peak.
Nearing Base Camp, the rolling slab of rock and ice we had followed to get there, culminated at the base of a shoehorn of mountains. I must admit, my first impressions would not be described as beautiful. Instead the opposite. A wasteland of stone and avalanche aftermath’s. It wasn’t until descending into Base Camp that the area’s true size and beauty were realized. Shear walls of milky blue ice glinted in the morning sun, jagged bergs silhouetted the horizon and eerie ice tunnels, running deep into the glacier, provided a means for melt off to re-enter the frozen interior. Ominous but perfectly majestic.
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We were almost there! Just a bit further. Smack…Yakkity Yak, don’t talk back! Our plans of arriving before the masses of other trekkers were thwarted, yet again, by these gentle giants. Extending as far as the eye could see, a long disjointed train of yaks, overloaded with summit expedition gear and provisions, leisurely snaked its way towards E.B.C. Trying our best to pass, we expended more energy trying to pass the yaks then getting to our final destination. Needless to say, my first glimpse of E.B.C. was not exactly what I expected. Bordered my yak bums and smelling of dung.
Pushing our oxygen-deprived lungs to the limit, adrenaline eventually carried us to the finish line. And, instead of a single checkered flag signaling the end, we were greeted with hundreds! Dancing around a weathered tin shard heralding, “Everest Base Camp”, their wild flapping’s applauded our successful journey.
Pushing our oxygen-deprived lungs to the limit, adrenaline eventually carried us to the finish line. And, instead of a single checkered flag signaling the end, we were greeted with hundreds! Dancing around a weathered tin shard heralding, “Everest Base Camp”, their wild flapping’s applauded our successful journey.
Base Camp itself revealed a world of dust and stone. But don’t let the rocky facaude fool you. This glacier is alive and changing every minute. Situated at the base of a horseshoe of craggy, russet colored mountains, Base Camp is a repository for run off. Continuously shedding layers of debris onto the glacier below, sometimes just meters from the tent camps themselves, one large boulder or a wave of loose falling stone could bring an untimely demise to all those hopeful expedition groups. And that is only the visible movement. The most dangerous movement of all is that which cannot be seen. Constantly melting, freezing and shifting, no step you take is ever 100% safe. All it takes is one wrong step and you may meet a watery grave.
Aside from the rubble, Base Camp is home to a small community of fortified, yellow expedition tents. Some expedition camps brim with new arrivals while others accommodate jovial porters basking in the high-altitude sun, awaiting their Everest hopefuls.
Moving closer to the edge of camp, the ice walls that seemed so insignificant from a far, grew to their true, ominous proportions. Cracking and popping with the continuous strain of glacial movement, the 30-foot high ice seracs were anything but comforting, but this was the chance I had been waiting for - to climb a portion of the famed Khumbu Icefall. |
Rationality holstered I jumped over a small glacial stream, separating the main glacial body from the icefall, and scurried up a large, slick wall of ice. There was only one way to celebrate…an ice angel!
Lying atop the mini-pinnacle, I relished the sights, the feelings and the sounds beautifully amplified around me by the icy tuning fork. Closing my eyes, I envisioned what the lofty summit must look like. Recounting our incredible journey, I welcomed the larger then life feeling that came with being so close to the top of the world and finally succumbed to the seduction of Everest.
Perhaps, you have not seen the last of me Everest!
Perhaps, you have not seen the last of me Everest!