Slept OK. Up at 03:30 for cup of tea then started at 04:30 for the climb of Kala Pathar. We set off in the dark and crossed the sand basin and onto the slope. It was cloudy overhead and there was light snow on the ground.
We were quite worried that the cloud might obscure our mountain views. As we climbed up the hill, the clouds began to part and reveal parts of the mountains with the most amazing lights. Some of it looked like it was out of a Lord of the Rings movie or CGI.
The sun began to reveal more and more peaks until finally Mt Everest opened up. It was quite a magical moment to see the peak and the Hillary Steppe. I got a real chill (despite the fact that it was quite cold anyway).
The mountains absolutely towered over us despite the fact that we summitted Kala Pathar at 5,545m (18,500 ft). This is the highest we will reach on this trip.
The climb to the top was solid and some of the team found it quite hard. Not sure why, but I felt OK and in fact enjoyed the climb. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the top and about one to get down.This was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.
We went back to the lodge for breakfast: porridge and toast, before setting off for BaseCamp.
We set off at a pretty slow pace and tried to keep at this through to BaseCamp which was pretty tough as it was very stop-start.
The Khumbu glacier was pretty impressive - greens and blues against the white. The glacier is covered with rocks and boulders and interspersed with pools of green frozen water.
Made it to base camp in the middle of the afternoon.
We're sleeping two to a tent. They're pitched on rocks that are on ice.
Lunch and dinner were in the mess tent and were probably one of the best meals we've had so far.
The toilets here are pretty special - tents with a drum lined with a sack. Number 2's only; Number 1's to be done on the rocks.
The mountains absolutely towered over us despite the fact that we summitted Kala Pathar at 5,545m (18,500 ft). This is the highest we will reach on this trip.
The climb to the top was solid and some of the team found it quite hard. Not sure why, but I felt OK and in fact enjoyed the climb. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the top and about one to get down.This was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.
 |
| Nawang burns some juniper |
We set off at a pretty slow pace and tried to keep at this through to BaseCamp which was pretty tough as it was very stop-start.
The Khumbu glacier was pretty impressive - greens and blues against the white. The glacier is covered with rocks and boulders and interspersed with pools of green frozen water.
Made it to base camp in the middle of the afternoon.
We're sleeping two to a tent. They're pitched on rocks that are on ice.
The toilets here are pretty special - tents with a drum lined with a sack. Number 2's only; Number 1's to be done on the rocks.
 |
| Megan is unimpressed |
No comments:
Post a Comment