Friday April 8th, 6pm. Everest Base Camp, 5,350m
(EST is 9 hours 45 mins behind Nepal)

We finally arrive!

Our trek today took us about 4 hours as we climbed up the final stage of our journey from Gorak Shep. A lot of the trail was gravel and sand and quite different from some of the treacherous paths that we’ve travelled. Most of the trail was on the glacier itself. There was ice underneath the rocks so you had to make sure that your footing was always good. Not much different from a regular Canadian winter path, in that sense! On our trek today we got some magnificent views of Everest which had an almost mystical halo around it. It was unbelievably beautiful and glowed in the sky above us.

Last night we were awoken by the sound of an avalanche at Gorak Shep, at about 4 o’clock in the morning. It was a long way away but the ominous sound resonated around the valley. It went down to -14 and it’ll be -20 tonight, but the gear that we brought is outstanding and everyone has stayed warm.

This morning there was a commotion in the cook’s tent. I was up early, about 6am, and I suddenly heard an almighty hissing sound like an old stream train arriving at a station. I looked over at the kitchen tent and there were cooks running for cover in all directions. It was the fastest I’d seen them move since we’ve been here. The last guy came out carrying an enormous pressure cooker which was about to explode. He managed to safely defuse it and they all went back in the tent, after some excited chatter and laughter. Nothing like a pump of adrenaline to get the morning started.

We arrived at Base Camp at 2pm after a four hour trek.

There must be over 200 people here. The landscape of the camp is totally inhospitable with rock, ice and snow and looks like a moonscape. Sherpas arrived here early to level out places to put our tents. We’re sleeping on the glacier itself and the sherpas have warned us that we will occasionally hear loud “cracks” as the glacier moves underneath us, but that it will not be dangerous. It’s good to finally unpack knowing that we won’t have to pack up again for a bit.

Harold is feeling pretty sick. He kept trekking in spite of feeling the effects of the altitude which says a lot for his stamina and courage. He seems better now that we are resting. Last night everyone felt sick with headaches and stomach aches but we have all made it, safely, and spirits are high. The “Khumbu cough” is rampant because it’s so dry. Conversation is punctuated by coughs and you have to drink pints of water to keep your throat wet. We are all experiencing a loss of appetite, a loss of the sense of taste and the sense of smell, which is probably a good thing as showers are hard to come by up here.

Sean is very focused on his climb now. He will start practicing almost immediately and is making trips in to the ice fall area over the next 2-3 days.

Talking about this trek back in Ottawa seems like months and months ago. I remember saying to people, “I’m just trekking to Base Camp”. Well, just trekking to Base Camp turned out to be many times harder than I imagined and we all have a very real sense of accomplishment in finally arriving here.

More later.

Terry