[RD] The Everest Basecamp Trek

[warpus]

Everest Base Camp

That's Base Camp where all those people are right by the icefall. You can compare this photo to the last one posted - Both are taken from the same spot. It was harder to spot the people in the last shot, but here I zoomed in.

There isn't much of a camp there when this was taken, since nobody would be climbing Everest for about 6 months. As I get closer you'll see that there's flags from various countries, some prayer flags, and a bit of a Base Camp marker, but not much else than that other than people.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Doesn't look like much even in the blow up. Thanks. I never would have seen it in the previous pic.

 

[warpus]

Doesn't look like much even in the blow up. Thanks. I never would have seen it in the previous pic.

In shots like that it's tough to wrap your head around the distances and scales involved, but I didn't quite realize that the people would be so hard to spot in the first photo, as I had been staring at it for a while and my eyes would always wander right to Base Camp.

Some people don't know that there isn't much at Base Camp (except for in early May) and get disappointed. But after finishing this hike I can tell you with full confidence, and this might sound cheesy.. It's all about the journey. The adventure is on the way there and not waiting for you when you arrive. Besides, when you do arrive at Base Camp, the surrounding scenery and the Khumbu icefall steal the show anyhow.

It would be cool to see people getting ready to climb Everest, but there are essentially two best time periods to hike to Everest Base Camp. One is in may-april and the other one is in october-november.

We decided to hike this route in the fall because the views from the trail are the best at this time of year, due to the low humidity and low cloud cover. You have the best chance of blue skies in the fall, which you must have noticed in some of the photos. The clouds slowly move in throughout the day, but in the morning and early afternoon the skies are usually a pretty shade of blue. The trails are also not as busy, as there are no expeditions attempting to scale Mt. Everest at this time, so you don't run into their support crews on the trail. Spring is also a slightly more popular time to hike to Base Camp, crowding the trails even more. Furthermore, there is also a decreased chance of rain in the fall (compared to the spring)

One of the benefits of hiking this trail in the spring are the slightly warmer temperatures, but also all the blooming flowers and vibrant colours. You also have that chance of still seeing tents at Base Camp, although you'd probably have to arrive there in early May to still catch climbers there. However, the humidity at this time of year is higher than in the fall, so the views can get a bit hazy in comparison.

We weighed all the pros and cons and decided that early November was probably the best time to do this hike. Looking back at everything we saw and photographed along the way, IMO we definitely made the right decision. The one downside really were the colder temperatures at night, but that was more of an annoyance than a problem, and it made everything feel a bit more epic.

 

[Cutlass]

Lots and lots of little piled up piles of rocks. Places I've been have signs asking you to not do that.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lots and lots of little piled up piles of rocks. Places I've been have signs asking you to not do that.

Those might be trail markers.

 

[warpus]

I know that stacks of rocks like that are used by the Inuit people in northern Canada. Historically they have used them for navigation, points of reference, locations of hunting grounds, etc.

It's tough to say if tourists or Sherpas erected some of these rock cairns, or whatever you want to call them. I would guess probably a bit of both? You sort of see them all over the place. When I was hiking in Norway, they were frequently used as trail markers. There is a lot of wilderness in that country and some trails are not marked very well.. so hikers will erect these as a way to help the next hiker, at least from my understanding. I also saw them as markers for side trails that are not obvious. I experienced the same thing on some trails in New Zealand.

There were also larger memorial mounds of rocks at the Everest memorial and elsewhere, and I think I remember other sorts of random piles of rocks here and there..

And thinking about this more.. Who has time to stop and stack a bunch of rocks here? I would bet it was a Sherpa. All the hikers are busy hiking.

It's possible there are no erosion issues here by a glaicer, but I'm just guessing. I think that's the main concern and the reason why people are told to not erect these.

 

[Cutlass]

Those might be trail markers.

That works so long as only the people maintaining the trails makes them. But making them has become a 'thing to do'. And the people maintaining the trails wish it wasn't.

 

[warpus]

Arrival at Everest Base Camp

This video is about 15 minutes long. I do not do any cuts, so you get to watch our full approach and arrival at Base Camp.

If you hear me mumbling about "Chinese batteries".. I'm talking about 3rd party goPro batteries I brought with me that were dying on me. Fortunately I had a bunch of backups.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Awesome video! I enjoyed every minute of it. I did notice a couple folks who seemed in a big hurry and that the flat land for pitching tents is limited. I guess comfy pads for sleeping would be must.

 

[warpus]

Thanks! I had problems with my batteries and some memory cards, but felt that this part of the hike should be well documented. It's why we fell a bit behind and why you see us catching up with Jeff and the guide near the beginning of the video. I had to swap out the goPro battery and possibly the memory card as well.

Running this whole route is actually not that uncommon. Some travel agencies offer such packages for people who are interested in attempting to run to base camp and back. I believe this takes about 8 days (12 days if you walk it)

The person you saw running could have been running the whole route, but it's possible he was just trying to catch up to some friends. I would say it's probably the former

 

[warpus]

National Geographic's Tour of Everest Base Camp

Here's what Base Camp looks like in early May, from above (Photo not mine, obv). You are looking south over the Khumbu icefield and glacier

The markings are from a National Geographic article that takes you on a tour of the place. I highly recommend it! You can check it out here

Unfortunately the text did not translate over, so the markings are useless here.. but you can still see that the tents are sort of all over the glacier. There's actually all sorts of stuff set up, including two helipads.

I found this article when I started looking into BirdJaguar's question about available flat land. Definitely worth a look!

 

[Birdjaguar]

So when you arrived at EBC where about in that picture were you? That link was perfect!

 

[warpus]

So when you arrived at EBC where about in that picture were you? That link was perfect!

It's so tough to say. My best guess is by the top white line horizontal line, right by the icefall, maybe a bit south (up) from there.

 

[warpus]

Yours Truly at Base Camp

Here's that obligatory shot of me at Base Camp.. Although you can ignore the "organized by" part. This trip was organized by me!

 

[Cutlass]

Nicely done.

Did you notice any parts where the trail seemed to be improved, or was it all just making the best of what was there?

 

[Birdjaguar]

And he is only halfway done!

 

[warpus]

Sorry everyone, I spent the last week at a cottage with the family and in the rush of packing and making sure I have everything I completely forgot to post an update here.

Nicely done.

Did you notice any parts where the trail seemed to be improved, or was it all just making the best of what was there?

Thanks! It felt like a big accomplishment to get there.. At the time it felt like the most challenging thing I'd ever done, beating out the Salkantay Trek in Peru.

The thing is that 40,000 people complete the basic hike to basecamp (and back) successfully every year. During busy months hundreds of people arrive at Base Camp every day. One or two are evacuated from the trail every day or so on average, but most people who begin the hike do complete it.. So it is a challenge, but it is a challenge most people would be able to complete. If you are able to walk around and don't have any extreme medical issues then you have a solid chance of being able to complete this hike. Once you're there, you keep going, step by step, and eventually you reach your target. Children and 70+ year olds have walked the classic route, as well as many couch potatoes.

I believe it helped me psychologically to know about that completion rate ahead of time and to see all those people on the trail. If they can do it, so can I! And the thing is, even if you are not in great shape, once you decide to fly all the way out there and begin the hike only a medical emergency will send you back.. and those are rare. Most people who arrive complete the trail, since it's a slow gradual grind, day by day, step by step, and you might as well keep going because you have already made it that far and you sort of know that it was just a matter of time and effort. If you are acclimatizing properly and brought all the right stuff then you are probably going to be fine. That's why I call it a psychological challenge moreso than a physical one. Along the way you learn that your body is capable of more than you thought and all you have to do is guide it along the way in a safe and controlled manner. Doing your part of all that takes some mental focus as you step from stone to stone.

To answer your question, parts of the trail on the glacial moraine and the glacier shift over time, since the moraine and the glacier are always moving as well. The trail is not as stable here, and it basically changes over time as guides find slightly different routes as the terrain slowly changes.

Most of the route to Basecamp (over the first 7 days) is a lot more compact than this.

And he is only halfway done!

Less than halfway actually! We were going to be traversing an alpine crossing and returning back to Lukla via a different valley, which adds an extra 2 days to the itinerary and an extra 30km (20 miles). And an extra level of effort and difficulty up on the alpine crossing, but at that point we were still all in.

The only thing that could stop us at that point was the weather.

 

[warpus]

Views from Everest Base Camp

You get a much better look at the Khumbu Icefall in these photos. It makes it easier to understand why this is one of the most dangerous parts of the whole ascent of Mt. Everest. The crevasses have to be crossed on metal ladders and can form unexpectedly at any time. The pointy towers of ice (called seracs) can also collapse unexpectedly.. This is because this icefall is moving relatively fast compared to other icefalls and glaciers (as much as 1 meter a day)

In the above photo you can see the Khumbu icefall curve around to the right and continue uphill. This is where you would be headed if you wanted to climb Mt. Everest.

Spoiler :

 

[warpus]

Victory Dinner at Gorak Shep

After returning to Gorak Shep from Base Camp we had a couple hours of downtime until it was time for a communal dinner. It was a celebration dinner for us, but for some people here it would have been the last dinner before their arrival at base camp the next day. It's probably safe to say that some people here weren't even going to be heading to base camp at all, and many of us here would be waking up at 4:00am for perhaps the most challenging part of the whole trek. The atmosphere in the air was one of expectation, fatigue, adventure, but also community.

Here at Gorak Shep there are only 4 teahouses, limiting the number of beds for people passing through. Those who arrive and don't find any beds available will sleep here in the common area along with all the Sherpa guides and porters.

Dinner time was also set here, in contrast to all of the other teahouses up until then. We usually had the option of eating dinner a bit earlier or a bit later, depending on our arrival time, nap time plans, and so on.. But here at Gorak Shep everyone ate dinner at the same time. The options on the menu were also a lot more limited than elsewhere. From what I remember only big communal dishes were cooked, and you might have had your option of 3-6 types of dishes overall.

We all ordered Dal Bhat. It's what all the Sherpa guides and porters eat every day, proclaiming that it gives them "Dal Bhat power 24 hour".

We would need that Dal Bhat power, as the plan was to wake up at 4:00am and begin the ascent of Kala Patthar, the highest point on the whole trek. It would prove to be the most challenging as well.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I guess your sleeping space was #M.