Everest Base Camp Trek, Nepal (18,000ft)

Death peered over me as my body lay awake all night above 17,000 feet, or so I envisioned.

High altitude trekking contrasts traditional hiking in that it complements physical stress with an added mental duress. Take a simple bag of chips from sea level to 6,000 feet, say in one of the higher areas near Denver, and watch the bag expand to the cusp of bursting. Take something so complex as the human body three times higher to 18,000 feet and the brown stuff hits the fan.


Try to imagine this:

Cracking through my skull, a headache whipped through my head as I lay awake all night. Fatigue ached my muscles, tired from walking up dozens of miles in the rocky Himalaya. My heart raced as it tried to pump enough oxygen through my veins, drawing from thin air depleted to 50% the normal oxygen level. The acclimatization drug Diamox drained my corpus of fluid, drying out my throat more and more each time I rose out of my cold sleeping bag to eventually fill my third 1 liter bottle with urine. Subfreezing air rasped my filthy room in the mountain lodge as I cringed into a fetal position inside a -10 degree Celsius sleeping bag and under a heavy blanket. Low grade fever developed as I occasionally coughed and stared blankly at the thin, colorless wall to my right. Like particles in the bag of chips, my thoughts scattered more and more as I spent each night toward Everest Base Camp.


These ill-effects last up to a few hours in the daytime and typically fade as the body gradually adapts to altitude, leaving only memories behind. I debated how to write this entry, how to depict the most strenuous trek of my life, and decided to communicate the experience to the level of detail that I felt. Pardon the expression, but acclimatizing to those altitudes made me feel like yak shit. Somewhere in the silence of those wretched nights anxiety engulfed my thoughts for perhaps the second or third time in my conscious memory, and my scattered thought process started to only register the important things in life. These thoughts would float vigorously and aimlessly as I entered thin air, and gently glide into position as my trekking companion and I soon descended. A few priorities have changed.


Deciding to take on an "impossible" day as we were told by each Sherpa we encountered, Todd and I raced down 25 miles of difficult trail in search of heavy air, comfortable beds, a hot shower (my first shower in 10 days!), and meat, a rarity high in the mountains. Sucking down mouthfuls of thick air, we slept like infants before rising to conquer yet another massive descent to our final destination of Lukla. The lightening descent shaved three days off our trek and quickly brought our vitals out of remission.

Visiting Everest Base Camp offered us a rare glimpse into the world of hardcore mountaineering. Take my experience and multiply it to imagine what those gauchos experience; I'm not jealous. We ate freshly baked apple pie and sipped ginger tea at Base Camp in the Year of the Rat, just days after China summited the Olympic torch atop Mt. Everest and unlocked Sagarmatha's belt. Fortunately, Diamox and Ibuprofen spared the duress of altitude throughout our glorious final walk to Base Camp. I enjoyed every moment and can say approaching Base Camp's city of tents almost felt worth the struggle (needless to say though, I'm done with extreme altitude for a while!)


Regarding health on the mountain, nearly all of my symptoms were considered typical, spare the brief fever. I sought this trek only after participating in high altitude seminars [not to mention 4 summers as a wilderness guide and a recent jaunt around Nepal's equally tall though less painful Annapurna Circuit (see below)]. Everest teems with the world's most experienced mountaineers and experts on the effects of altitude. Throughout the trek I never once considered my health in danger. High altitude temporarily alters the thought process, though not more than a night of drinking. After all, I flew back to Kathmandu from Lukla early this morning and I'm sitting here typing a [hopefully] coherent response in perfect health.

Yes, I would recommend this trek, though only after appropriate training and/or under the supervision of a capable guide. If you want to experience the highest region on Earth remember to take it slow on the way up and drink TONS of water.

This week I relax in what's become the familiar town of Kathmandu.

Next week I fly to India to continue the journey with my amazing girlfriend Brittany, priority number 1.