Namche Bazar was an oasis hidden within the majestic Himalayas, offering plenty of amenities to visitors passing through.  We picked up a supply of Snickers bars (our indulgence on the trail), nuts, water purification tablets, and the book Into Thin Air and enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate in an outdoor coffee shop with spectacular views of the snow covered mountains.  The next day we took a hot shower (limited and pressureless, but hot nonetheless), put on our packs, and carried our now acclimated selves, onward up the mountain. We had no way of knowing how much we would miss Namche in the upcoming days.

As we made our way up the mountains, we arrived at Tengboche (~12,664’ elevation), a peaceful village which houses the largest Buddhist monastery in the Khumbu region, and is surrounded by mountain peaks Tobuche, Kangtega, Lobuche, and Khumbu Yui Lha. We arrived, a bit tired and hungry, and started to notice the effect of the elevation and thinning air.

When we started our EBC trek earlier that morning, wearing short sleeves and plenty of sunscreen, it was a balmy 70 degrees.  The trail was a tree-lined wonderland that followed the winding river Dudh Kosi. But the higher we went, the less trees we saw, and the more drastic the weather became.  Shrubs replaced trees, and the ground turned to loose sand, as we passed Mani walls (which are stone plates, rocks, and pebbles inscribed with six syllabled Buddhist prayers) on the trail.

After 5 hours and 10 miles, we arrived in Pangboche, where we spent our fourth night at an altitude of 12,893’.   Shortly after arriving, a hail storm ensued.

The next day we arrived in Dingboche (14,553’ elevation), which is nothing more than a town filled with Tea Houses (basic mountain shelters/lodges) for trekkers and a few small coffee shops. We were to stay here for two nights to further acclimate.  We awoke the following morning to do an acclimation hike and ascended an additional 1,000-1,500’ before noon. Back in Dingboche by lunch, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at a local coffee shop and caught a showing of Everest the movie with 45 other fellow trekkers.

We left Dingboche at 6:30 AM in order to reach Lobuche, stop number 7, by lunchtime. On our way we had to trek up a 500’ mountain face, shortly followed by a 1,000’ mountain face, all via switchbacks.  The switchback pain quickly subsided once we arrived at the top and were greeted by the Everest Memorial – a sacred site that is home to cairns, prayer flags and memorial monuments honoring the climbers and sherpas who had lost their lives attempting to climb Everest.   

We arrived at Lobuche (16,203’ elevation) a couple hours before lunch, and quickly realized….our days of enjoying warmth and running water were gone.  Each tea house had no insulation and the room walls were made of plywood. The temperatures dipped every hour that passed and we found ourselves wearing every piece of clothing we had brought in order to stay warm (yep, we’re talking 3 layers of socks, 4 shirts, and 2-3 pants y’all).

With only a few hours of sleep (we were COLD!) we headed to our final stop and knew we were close to our final destination – Everest Base Camp. We left at 7:00 AM to Gorak Shep (16,962’ elevation), the final resting spot before EVB, and also known by trekkers as “Gorak Sh*t”, for being the most cold, unpleasant, unclean, stop on the trek.  And after our stay, we can safely say it lives up to its notorious nickname. We arrived at Gorak Shep by 10am, refueled, and continued on to EBC. We were near!

We started off walking through a dry river bed that lead us to a cliffside trail that we would follow all the way to EBC.  The landscape reminded us of something out of a movie – we were surrounded by sharp sheer granite rocks, glaciers were down below, cutting through the valley, and gigantic snow covered peaks were above us.  We were breathless, both literally and figuratively.

A few miles in, our guide Basu stopped and pointed to an opening up ahead where there was a smattering of yellow and orange colored specs at the foot of a mountain.  These specs were tents, temporary homes to hundreds of trekkers, sherpas, and support teams, living at Base Camp as they trained and acclimated in preparation to ascend Everest.  With every step we took our excitement rose and the tents grew closer.

At around 1pm on April 22nd 2019, after 8 days of trekking, and after 50 miles, after surviving extreme weather, and soon to survive a stomach bug (poor Moira), we arrived at Everest Base Camp (17,598’).  And although we were tired and cold, we couldn’t help but smile with joy. As we looked around we saw familiar faces of trekkers we had met on the way, all of them with equally large smiles, all of us relishing in our accomplishment.  We had done it.

** After reaching EBC our trek was half over, we had to then trek all the way back to Lukla, the world’s most dangerous airport, where we would then take a small plane back to Ramecchap and a bus back to Kathmandu.  Our total Everest Base Camp trek took us 12 days, over 90 miles, and required us to ascend 17,598’ in elevation. It was a glorious accomplishment.

More images: