Mt Everest Base Camp Trek – Vlog V

Today is the day! We made our way up the trail in between the Khumbu glacial moraine and the mountain walls.

We picked our way through massive boulders before reaching the town of Gorak Shep where we stopped for a well earned lunch.

Recharged, we made our way past the moraine wall of Khumbu Glacier; slow and steady was the name of the game as we weaved our way up the path to Everest Base Camp at 5364 metres (17,598 feet).

Situated at the base of the Khumbu Icefall, the camp is the stuff of legends, having been the launching point for numerous expeditions by the world’s greatest mountaineers for many years.

Mountaineers have the best chance of reaching the summit of Mt Everest using what’s known as ‘siege’ techniques, where they’ll spend weeks establishing a series of high camps stocked with food and oxygen cylinders ready for a push to the summit when the conditions are right. During the climbing season, Everest Base Camp becomes a village of brightly coloured tents and there’s an incredible atmosphere in the air.

After taking in this magical place (about 20 minutes), we left Everest Base Camp and returned to Gorakshep for the night.

Donned with headlamps and extra layers, we set off before sunrise to the ridge-top of Kala Patthar.

At 5550 metres (18,208 feet), this is the highest point we reached during the trip and the location of one of the most dramatic views anywhere in the Himalayas.

I wanted to turn around at least four times – it was one of the hardest physical challenges of my life.

From the summit of this rocky knoll, we had a panoramic view of Mt Everest and the surrounding peaks – the views from this place are unreal!

After breakfast back in Gorekshep and lunch in Lobuche, we descended further to Pheriche and spent a comfortable night at the White Yak Hotel – with our first meat dinner in almost a week – yak steaks!

Pheriche is also where I snuck out for some night photos.

Over the next four days we hiked back down the mountains, staying over night in Deboche, Khumjung, and Jorsalle, before returning to Lukla for a night to celebrate!

It just so happened to be the Nepali New Years when we returned to Lukla as well, so it was extra awesome.

We woke up early the next morning to catch our crazy flight from Lukla back to Kathmandu.

What an adventure!

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Visit Active Adventures for more Everest Trek information.

Watch the Featured Everest Base Camp Trek video if you haven’t already.

Check out Clint’s take of Base Camp over at Triphackr.com.