Day 11: Everest Basecamp
Day 11, our last day of the trek to our final destination, Everest Basecamp.
By far our coldest night was in Gorakshep. I slept great, but I’m still happy we were only spending one night. Our original plan had us here for two nights in case of bad weather or altitude sickness.
One of the common yak dung furnaces we had come to love over the course of this trek.
Setting out for our final destination, Everest Basecamp. It was a cold start, we had to return to Gorakshep in time for the helicopter, so we were hiking mostly without the sun.
Although there was some climbing involved, Basecamp is a little lower in altitude than Gorakshep so this was a relatively easy five miles. Also, we were properly acclimatized so we weren’t feeling the exhaustion that a lot of trekkers would at this point.
Rocks everywhere. The previous night we had climbed high above this spot, so it was nice to now see it from ground level.
Looking down toward basecamp. Once you reach it, there isn’t a view of Mt. Everest.
The Khumbu Glacier.
The sun couldn’t quite get around that peak. We were wishing it was a little further north in the sky so it would start to warm up as early as possible.
After a cold but enjoyable hike, we finally reached the famous rock at basecamp. Because we arrived early, there was no one around and we could enjoy the spot in peace.
Thu had stolen my jacket again and I had doubts that I would ever get it back.
Kieran, Rabin and Ram. What a perfect team of guide and porters. Our trip wouldn’t have been nearly as great without them.
After experiencing the summits, passes, lakes, glaciers, and all the incredible sights that this trek had to offer, basecamp was a little bit anticlimactic. The view was nice but didn’t compare with everything else we had already seen. However, the history and significance of this spot made it well worth the extra time and effort, and gave us a sense of final accomplishment in closing out the trek.
A well earned Bounty bar, frozen rock hard. Not the best idea to bring celebratory candy that freezes to a location like this.
Trying the porter carry, but with a person.
Come on sun!!
After spending some fun time up at basecamp, we realized time had run out and we needed to get back to Gorakshep in time for the helicopter. Otherwise we’d be hiking it back down to Lukla, and nobody was interested in spending several more days hiking out.
One last look at Everest before we reached Gorakshep.
And finally, the sun broke out from the western ridge and we were finally able to warm up a little bit.
Reaching flat ground. I can remember maybe four small sections of the entire eleven day trek that were flat.
One final picture of our team. We consider this a major accomplishment, completing the entire trek with nobody getting sick, injured or having to turn around or even take a day of rest. Not bad for a bunch of sea-level dwellers!
Little did we know that there was one more climb waiting for us. The helipad was perched atop a small hill, and I feel like this was one of the most challenging moments of the trek. Truly a moment of “it’s all in your head.”
Looking back down on Gorakshep from the helipad.
Since the air is so thin, we had to be picked up in separate groups so the helicopter could take off. The pilot took the first group down to a small village. Then he returned to pick me up and we flew down to the village, picked everyone else back up, and continued the journey back down the Khumbu Valley.
Taking off. We lifted off and quickly descended to get out of the thin air.
We flew over the main Everest Basecamp route, which we didn’t hike.
Picking up the rest of our group.
Drones aren’t allowed in this area, so I was happy to at least be able to see part of it from above.
A happy landing. Kieran was trying to arrange the helicopter to take us all the way back to Kathmandu, but the flight schedules didn’t work out. That meant staying one more night up in Lukla. At first we were a little bit disappointed, but quickly realized it was nice to have one more night to recuperate before jumping straight back into the busy city.
No porters to carry our gear. Rabin and Ram couldn’t join us on the helicopter, so they were walking back.
We stayed overnight in a nice little place, and when we woke up, we found Rabin and Ram waiting for us downstairs. They had covered the entire route coming down the Khumbu Valley in only a day and a half!
Flying out of Lukla airport. If we had taken the helicopter back to Kathmandu, we would have missed the thrill of flying out of this unique airport down the dangerously steep runway.
These planes are also used as a delivery service. They had a small snack incident on their way in. After watching them unload packages for almost a half hour, they had to reinstall the seats before we boarded.
And that’s it. An incredible journey, we were so happy and relieved to have had such a successful expedition.