What Were We Thinking?! (Everest Base Camp Trek Part 1/3)

By Jed

During our travels, we sometimes get some big ideas. But often, once we really analyze the scary realities of the ideas, we often decide not to take on such momentous challenges. Climbing to Everest Base Camp was one of our big ideas. The potential issues were numerous:

Conditioning

Caitlin and I have never hiked more than a half a day before. The hike to Everest Base Camp (EBC) and back would be 13 days of hiking.

Altitude Sickness

Even though Base Camp is at the base of Mountain Everest, it is still very high: an altitude of 17, 598 feet (5,364 meters). Neither Caitlin nor I had been anywhere near that high. EBC is higher than the peaks of the highest mountains in the continental U.S. (which are around 14,000 feet) and in the alps. Altitude sickness, or AMS, is a real and serious risk at this height. AMS affects everyone differently and actually has nothing to do with physical fitness. It is just a chance thing that no one is quite sure why it effects who it does, but it can be deadly.

Lack of Oxygen/Fatigue

The Oxygen level at EBC is approximately half of that at sea level. In addition to presenting AMS risks, it makes it much more physically exhausting to hike since your muscles are not getting enough oxygen.

Extreme Weather Conditions

Just a few weeks before making our decision, there was a horrible disaster at the Annapurna Circuit, the other most popular trek in Nepal. An extreme blizzard and resulting avalanches killed over 40 people in what was otherwise thought of as a very safe trek.

Dangerous Airport

Lukla, the airport you fly into to start the trek, has been dubbed “the most dangerous airport in the world” because of the one and only very tiny runway on the side of a mountain cliff. If you don't time it perfectly, the plane will crash into the mountain. It has happened on a number of occasions.

Extreme Cold

Although the daytime hiking wouldn't be too bad with the sun out, the nights get below freezing and the accommodations (teahouses) have no heat and are made of super, super thin plywood (no insulation whatsoever).

Injury Risk

There is no paved path on the trek; it is a rough path of dirt and rocks. It is quite easy to trip and sprain something or break a limb. There are also risks of rock slides or a run in with a yak on the trail, which has actually resulted in numerous serious injuries when yaks have pushed hikers off cliffs on the trail.
 
Fears/Personal Ailments

I have a fear of heights and Caitlin has asthma and some pain in her knees. We weren't sure 13 days of high-altitude trekking in the mountains would go well with these conditions.

Forced Vegetarianism

Not really an issue for Caitlin, who already is a vegetarian, but 13 days without meat was a bit of a scary thought for me, especially when I would be craving protein after the long hiking days. There is meat on the trail, but the conventional wisdom is not to eat it since the meat is not fresh up that high and you do not want to be battling an upset stomach during the long hikes.

General Sickness

Which brings me to the last fear, which is getting sick and having to do this hike. Pretty much every report of someone who has hiked to EBC includes some sort of sickness, ranging from nasty colds to serious stomach bugs. It didn't sound fun

Even the Starbucks in Nepal is a knock-off. Seriously, this is a fake Starbucks

Despite this numerous list, we went against our usual better judgment and decided to do the trek. We weren't sure if we would make it all the way, but decided to give it a try. This decision was literally made in Nepal, 3 days before the trek was to begin. We spent the next 3 days scrambling around the extremely busy area of Thamel in Kathmandu, trying to find which of the hundreds of trekking companies to use and buying gear from the endless knock-off shops that line the streets.  They are amazingly good at making knock-offs in Nepal; the fake North Face, Marmot and Patagonia items were near perfect looking, right down to the tags. 

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After three very stressful days, we had secured two porters, a guide and all the gear we needed for our trek. Most hiking duos use just one porter instead of two, but after seeing our ridiculously full and heavy duffle bags, we felt there was no way human could carry both those bags (over 40 lbs) up a mountain, in the high altitude. After a few days on the trek, we came to realize how wrong we were as the Sherpas are incredibly strong people and were carrying loads 3X or 4X that. Oh well, we gave someone else employment for 2 weeks. The night before the trek began, we barely slept more than 3 hours due to our anxiety of the upcoming journey. Not a great way to start out 2 weeks of hiking.

Due to my fear of flying, particularly on an old, Nepali plane into the most dangerous airport in the world, we booked a helicopter into Lukla for just a little bit more money. Turned out to be an amazing ride with the spectacular Himalayan scenery in the backdrop. Seeing the mountains as we flew by, I knew these next two weeks were going to be epic...

Tea break at one of the many gear shops

Stressed about all our stuff