Day 11 – Mission Accomplished

This blog has enabled us to keep our families up to date but I am conscious that not all of them know who we are so from left to right:

Charles Whitbread, Ruadhri (Rory) Duncan, Nicholas Bewes, Richard Pemberton, Michael Findlay and Simon Hirtzel:

 

What a day!  We all slept pretty poorly last night as the altitude was beginning to catch up with us.  The accommodation was pretty average as well which didn’t help and it was freezing cold!

 The rooms were pretty basic:

There were some long faces at breakfast but we all dug deep and headed out from breakfast eager to get going.  We headed out down a rocky and sandy valley heading for Gorakshep which is the last town before base camp.  The weather was stunning and although it was pretty cold we made good progress.  

The surroundings became rockier and sandier but we still had stunning views of the mountains.  It was beginning to get busier as this was the choke point for EBC.  

Definitely more people on the track:

We noticed lots of helicopters flying up and down  the valley as they were so much lower.  

Equally we noticed more and more people on horses being carried up the mountain as well as some rather louder groups than others including a minority that don’t seem to be able to trek without loud music playing.

 

We arrived at Gorakshep at lunchtime where we took over our rooms and lightened our daysacks before heading off for the final leg of the outbound journey. 

Gorakshep:

 

Leaving Gorakshep for EBC.

The scenery continued to be rocky and the walking was slow as we contoured round to EBC.  It was a  2 hour walk over rocks and boulders before we turned a corner and there in front of us was the Khumbu glacier and some tiny orange tents that denoted our objective.  We walked along a ridge before turning right onto the glacier and reaching our destination. 

First sighting of the Khumbu glacier:

Mission accomplished:

The return trek:

Epilogue:  This is likely to be the last blog as we are up early tomorrow and then catching three helicopters back to Kathmandu.  We are hoping to be back by lunchtime which will give us time to sort ourselves out before heading out for supper and then we plan to catch an early flight on Wednesday (except Simon who loves it so much he is staying out for another week).

This blog has been a rather matter of fact account of the past 11 days.  I hope that it has been useful for those interested.  Putting it together has been a team effort but I would just like to add a couple of comments before signing off.

Today was rather emotional for some as we have all learned something about ourselves over the past 8 days of trekking.  We have certainly got to know each other pretty well and there hasn't been a cross word.  It has been quite an adventure and I for one will take something of Everest home with me.  Whether it is that Sir George Everest never wanted the mountain named after him or the Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the third choice to head for the summit.  322 climbers have died attempting or coming down from Everest and seeing the memorial park yesterday really brought it home.  One inscription read 'Better to live one day as a tiger than a thousand years as sheep'.  I really now understand the draw of the mountains.  No two days have been the same over the past 8 days and it has been a truly enjoyable and memorable experience.