Hiking To EBC Part 3: We Come To The Point
So, after only a week of hiking I arrived at Gorak Shep, the gateway to Everest Base Camp and ostensibly the point of the whole trek. As a reminder, the trail map is here.
Day 7 (cont): Kala Patthar
Kala Patthar is a hill above Gorak Shep. At 5550 meters it has great views of Everest and is the common destination for most people who "trek to Everest base camp".
Day 8: Everest Base Camp
The next day I set out to hike to base camp itself. There isn't any view of Everest's summit from base camp itself so many people skip it altogether, but I really enjoyed this day. Getting to base camp involves crossing part of the Khumbu glacier which I found fascinating. I'd never been on a real glacier before and had always pictured them as flat expanses of ice. As the pictures show this is actually far from the case as the pressure of all that ice flowing down the mountains creates a distorted and rather spectacular landscape. And the whole time you're on the glacier you can hear it creaking and shifting beneath you with occasional avalanches in the background for emphasis.
I'm going to make today's post a shortish one and stop here. I'll continue tomorrow with the beginning of the walk up to Gokyo Ri.
Day 7 (cont): Kala Patthar
Kala Patthar is a hill above Gorak Shep. At 5550 meters it has great views of Everest and is the common destination for most people who "trek to Everest base camp".
Day 8: Everest Base Camp
The next day I set out to hike to base camp itself. There isn't any view of Everest's summit from base camp itself so many people skip it altogether, but I really enjoyed this day. Getting to base camp involves crossing part of the Khumbu glacier which I found fascinating. I'd never been on a real glacier before and had always pictured them as flat expanses of ice. As the pictures show this is actually far from the case as the pressure of all that ice flowing down the mountains creates a distorted and rather spectacular landscape. And the whole time you're on the glacier you can hear it creaking and shifting beneath you with occasional avalanches in the background for emphasis.
I'm going to make today's post a shortish one and stop here. I'll continue tomorrow with the beginning of the walk up to Gokyo Ri.
1 Comments:
Sooooooo jealous!!!!
-Sara
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