We left Lobuche in perfect weather, excited that we were finally going to reach our destination. The route first heads to Gorak Shep, the last settlement before EBC.
Ready to head out to Gorak Shep. Kangtega, Thamserku, and Tabuche in the background.
This is looking back the way we had come.
The trail towards Gorak Shep. The Peak on the left is Pumori (7161m) and the one on the right is Lingtren (6749m). Pumori was apparently named by George Mallory who disappeared on Everest in 1924.
As the photos above show, we had perfect weather on this day. Needless to say, it felt like someone was looking out for us. The trail to Gorak Shep follows the moraine of the Khumbu glacier and goes up and down (and up and down..). Lobuche is at 4910m and Gorak Shep is at 5140m - even though the gain in altitude is not much, the climbs over the moraine are quite exhausting.
First views of the Khumbu Glacier. EBC is 'upstream' to the left.
The classic face of Nuptse. We were looking at the face on the right from Lobuche and wrongly believed it was Lhotse.
Everest is the rocky peak in the middle and Lhotse is hidden behind Nuptse.
Gorak Shep is a tiny collection of lodges wedged into the moraine of the Khumbu glacier. In fact it was used as a base camp by the earliest expeditions. Typically, most EBC visitors head up from Lobuche, drop their bags in Gorak Shep and then head out straight to base camp. They then stay the night at Gorak Shep and climb up to Kala Pathar the next morning before turning back and heading to Lobuche. This plan has many advantages. Firstly, you spend only one night at Gorak Shep but still see two destinations. It allows you to reach Kala Pathar - a 5550m peak with 360 degree views - early in the day so that you can enjoy the view before the weather turns bad. Indeed, most trekkers head to Kala Pathar well before daybreak. Finally, it recognizes the fact that there are no great views to be had from EBC and hence utilizes the first afternoon to see it.
Given that we were having such fantastic weather when we reached Gorak Shep and all indications were that it would hold for some time, Mingma suggested that we switch plans and head to Kala Pathar right away. For us, this meant switching gears a bit and preparing mentally for what we knew would be a challenging climb. With a quick stop in Gorak Shep to check into the lodge and have a cup of tea, we headed out to KP.
The trail to Kala Pathar climbs up the hill on the right.
All set.
Gorak Shep from the Kala Pathar trail. The trail from Lobuche is also visible..
Gorgeous views of Tabuche (left, 6495m) and Cholatse (6335m)
From Left - Khumbutse (6639m) and Everest. Everest Base Camp is on the glacier directly below Khumbutse.
Kala Pathar, as the name suggests, is just a jumble of rock. The climb from Gorak Shep is about 1300 ft and each one of us had to find our personal way to deal with it. The kids and I seemed to settle on a 'climb 30 steps - rest for a minute' routine. Latha was taking it much slower, carefully monitoring her breathing. She told me later that she was counting breaths, not steps. On the other hand, Mingma and Pemba were competing in races up the mountain .... It took more than two hours to get to the top but boy, was it worth it!
At the top of Kala Pathar. Pumori in the background.
Here's a panoramic video from the top of Kala Pathar. You will notice how windy it was and also how out of breath I had become! Also, I was too scared to physically turn around while shooting the video so the ending is a bit of a mess. It misses Pumori, Lingtren, and Khumbutse. I would suggest watching it in full-screen mode, if possible.
And now for a bunch of 'money' shots....
Everest (Left) and Nuptse
We were there - really!
The summit of Kala Pathar cannot really accommodate more than two people safely.
Also there's a precipitous drop on the left.
Looking towards Lingtren and Khumbutse.
How's that for a photo album! Everest and the classic face of Nuptse on the right.
South col is on the right on Everest. Note that Nuptse is on a separate ridge well in front of Everest.
Everest (8848m)
The whole troop.
The descent to Gorak Shep was of course quite easy. We were very happy to have reached the summit in good weather - as we were to discover we had been incredibly lucky. We heard so many stories of trekkers who gambled with the weather and lost.
The lodge in Gorak Shep was really quite basic. We found ourselves gasping just to climb the stairs! Needless to say, we didn't sleep too well that night although we knew that this was to be expected. It turned out that the lodge has the highest statue to Chatrapati Shivaji in the world - it has been installed by Giripremi, a Pune-based climbing organization.
The highest statue of Shivaji..
As usual we turned in early. Finally, it seemed we would be reaching EBC the next morning.
Lukla We had reached Lukla a day earlier than planned, i.e. on May 30th. That afternoon we visited Tashi at the gompa in Lukla where he was busy preparing for an upcoming festival. The gompa in Lukla With Tashi Sherpa at the monastery Masks for the upcoming festival in the gompa's store room Junior monks making display items out of dough Kathmandu, we have a problem There is an interesting system (or lack thereof) for actually getting on a flight out of Lukla. Of course, you must have a reservation but that's just for starters. There is a complex system of patronage between lodge owners and the airline staff which determines which flight in the day you actually get scheduled on. When the weather is reliable, this is not so important but when it isn't, it's much more likely that you will get out if you're scheduled on an early morning flight. On the 31st, we were scheduled for the 11th flight of the day but only 4 flights
Everest Base Camp Finally the day was here. We had brought out our fancy, customized T-shirts, that Latha had so painstakingly made. Of course, they were the last piece of clean clothing at this point! The trail to EBC from Gorak Shep is relatively easy, just a few climbs over the moraines, and it only took about two hours to get there. The weather was good but not perfect - in hindsight it had been an excellent decision to push on to Kala Pathar the previous day. Heading off to EBC from Gorak Shep which is in the distance. Mingma was getting cell-phone coverage even here! Although the climbing season was in full swing, we saw a number of yak trains returning with gear. Perhaps the expeditions had started to send back non-essential stuff. We saw several yak trains on this day EBC is spread out over a large portion of the Khumbu glacier. And just like that we were there. Of course, EBC (or the end of it we walked into) is marked by a huge tangle of prayer
Outward Bound With all the preparations done, clothing and equipment gathered, and most importantly, the kids' school year finished, we set out from Phoenix on May 12th for Kathmandu. Of necessity, we would be trekking at the tail end of the tourist season, hopefully just beating out the crowds and the monsoon. In high spirits just before leaving home Kathmandu We arrived in Kathmandu in the late evening of May 14th. The airport has a small town feel and we found that this description is appropriate for the capital city itself. We were soon settled into the Retreat Serviced Apartments where we would stay until our departure for Lukla on May 16th. The property is located close to the Swayambhunath temple. Swayambhunath Temple - check out that Jacaranda! A view of Kathmandu from our apartment We spent most of the 15th in Thamel, the trekking district of Kathmandu, tying up details with Bikram Thapa of Summit Treks and Adventure, whom I had engaged t
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