Day 7 – Dengboche to Laboche
Today we lost a member of our group, she was too sick with gastro and altitude sickness and was medically evacuated. We are now a group of 5. Luckily Alex and I still feel fine, but we are warned altitude sickness will start to kick in around this height, 4,410m.
Today is tough. Super tough. The wind is batting against us and it is -5 degrees. It snowed last night and we wake to a blanket of white and grey skies. The path is somewhat flat with a little uphill but every step is a battle against the wind. My fingers are numb despite the ski gloves I am wearing. My nose is so cold I can no longer feel it. I’m wearing ear warmers and a beanie, scarf, jumper, windbreaker, hiking pants and a pair of normal socks and thermal socks. I keep thinking about yesterdays hike and how every step is worth the view, but it is still a mental game of pushing your body forward. After lunch we pause at the memorial to all those who have passed away while summiting Everest. It is a somber reminder of just how difficult this mountain is. Today is all about lollies and chocolate. A couple of snakes and a square or two of chocolate is needed to tackle the ever-prominent hills.
Day 8 – Laboche to Gorakshep then Basecamp
My body is so exhausted; each step is like walking trough treacle. Slow and steady, one foot after the other. Breathing is incredibly tough, the air is so thin no matter how quick I breathe it is not enough. We all sound like mini trains we are drawing air so hard. Today I start to experience my first signs of altitude sickness. My head is pounding and while panadol at the start of the day helped ease the pain, by the end of the day it does nothing. About halfway we see tiny spots of orange; base camp tents! This gives everyone the push they need to keep going.
Gorakshep is a miserable small town that hovers around -19 degrees at night. It is so bitterly cold. Appetite loss is common at high altitude and I have no stomach for any food. Instead I soldier on to base camp, another 2 hours from Gorakshep. Nausea kicks in, another effect of altitude and combined with my headache each step is laborious. Base camp is in view and slowly I push on.
Reaching base camp and touching my hand on the rocks is like being hit with a tidal wave. The feeling of relief and euphoria is immense. I am so proud of myself. Despite every big hill, endless stairs, no air and struggling to breath, I have just hiked 8 days to reach this exact spot. Huge silly grins are plastered on all of our faces. There’s a lot of hugging and high-fiving. The headaches are all but forgotten.
We leave after 15 minutes, which feels weird since we spent 8 days hiking to get here, but after 2pm the wind starts to furiously pick up so our guide decides to head back to Gorakshep. On the way we see people still struggling to make it, one young blonde girl has her arm draped over a porter struggling to make it up the hill she looks dizzy as he supports her and half pulls her up. We push on and climb the trail. At this point the adrenaline of reaching base camp has faded and my headache returns with a vengeance, I feel sick and stop to catch my breath many times. By the time we return to camp I head straight to bed and Alex not only feels the same, but it also dealing with Gastro. We don’t get up till 7am the next morning having a solid 15-hour rest. Unfortunately we don’t make it down the hill and instead are flown down in a heli bringing the Everest trip to an end. But we made it to base camp and that was the most important thing.
madeleinecurby 