If I thought the night before was cold, boy was I wrong. Last night was by far the coldest night I have ever slept through. Sleeping outside in a tent at sub zero temperatures was something I was glad to experience, but definitely something I will hopefully only be doing that once in my life. The Diamox only added to the fun by making me need to pee almost every hour. It’s one thing to be bundled up in a sleeping bag, but going outside to pee, where your pee almost freezes by the time it hits the ground was definitely too cold for me. The morning brought a new adventure to the highest summit I have ever been to in my life; Kala Pathar. This day was definitely a highlight of the trip for me because not only were we at 5550m, but we also had the best panoramic views of the world’s tallest mountains all around us.
With the air so thin and oxygen so scarce, every three or four steps we had to stop and catch our breaths, taking in as much as we could to get the sufficient amount of oxygen needed to function. This slow ascent took a little over two hours, but making it to the top was another achievement definitely worth the effort. With Mount Everst, Ama Dablam, and many more peaks in our sights, the glacial winds ripped and howled at us but even that couldn’t get us from coming down. It was too perfect up there. I was in complete awe and couldn’t even imagine what the climbers of Mount Everest feel like when they reach its summit. After finally deciding to head back down, on our way, we again saw the daily helicopters routinely fly by, transporting those that could not bear the altitude or those who were injured during their attempts. Every day we saw those helicopters, and every day we were reminded at how serious this trek actually is and how dangerous it is to trek to EBC alone. I can’t even imagine summiting Everest. The time, preparation and acclimatization that one must go through to get to the top is beyond me. The nature pass alone to even attempt it is $25,000; quite a bit too pricey for me at this time. Going to base camp gives me only a small taste of what it might be like. I have so much respect for those that even attempt it though, let alone make it to the top and live to tell about it. The Himalayas are incredibly dangerous, taking the lives of so many adventurists each year. This place doesn’t ask for respect, it demands it.
Upon arriving back in Gorak Shep, we found Mike who had become ill with stomach issues and not doing too well. Surprised that he was still up for trekking back down the mountain, we headed out to Lobuche. We will stay the night here in hopes of Mike’s stomach feeling better tomorrow so that we can trek to Phorste. It’s incredible how harsh this trek is on people. Hopefully Ryan and Kelly will continue to do feel well on our descent. I am lucky to only be suffering from headaches currently. Nothing an ibuprophen and some Diamox can’t fix.
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