Where to today: Lobuche (4,900m) --> Kala Pathar (5,550m)
Where are we sleeping: Lobuche (4,900m)
How do we get there: By foot
Interesting things happened overnight.
To begin with I wasn't able to sleep properly, which was a combination of having to share a single bed with Ben; Josh's restlessness; and the side of effect of taking diamox (difficulty sleeping). After lightly sleeping for maybe around 2-3 hours, I was suddenly woken up by Josh who asked me to come and lie next to him as he was freezing. At first I thought he was just being wimpy, but when I moved beds next to him, he was physically shuddering. I did my best to warm him up by rubbing his body through his sleeping bag and hugging him. His body still shivered relentlessly and I was scared he would go into hypothermia. After about 45 minutes, Josh mentioned that he needed to vomit. I grabbed a plastic bag as a standby and continued trying to keep him warm. After 10 minutes or so, he then needed to use the bag...
It was at that point it hit me that he too was suffering from altitude sickness. My heart sank as I knew it meant he would not be able to come to Kala Pathar with us tomorrow. I know this is something that would crush him. From the beginning I always that Josh would definitely be one of the few that would make it in our group. Just comes to show that altitude sickness really does not care about how fit you are. It can impact the most athletic and healthy people. Even Bear Grylls suffered severe altitude sickness whilst summitting Mt Everest.
About 20 minutes later, Josh said he needed to vomit again. At the exact same time, Ben woke up and advised he needed to urgently vomit. I quickly gave the 'vomit bag' to Ben and rushed around in the dark trying to find another bag for Josh. At this point Matt woke up and asked what was happening. He was shocked to see Josh sick, given that he was perfectly fine 4 hours ago.
After a short discussion in the dark (we did have headlamps however), we all tried to go back to sleep. I still wasn't able to sleep though as I had to continue nursing Josh. Sleep seemed like a luxury for me at that point. I wondered if I would be able to make the trek up to Kala Pathar tomorrow on no sleep.
I finally managed to get some proper sleep when Josh crazily moved his sleeping bag and mattress into the outside hallway. Although it was absolutely freezing in the hallway, Josh said that he needed the fresh air, and that it made him feel better. I reluctantly agreed to let him sleep there after finding 2 thick fleece blankets in a closet room. After what seemed like about 30 minutes however he came back into our room, and I wasnt able to sleep again.
At 5am sharp, Dorchi knocked on our door. He sat down and we told him the sad news that Josh had been vomiting during the night. Ben amazingly had woken up and informed us that he felt better. "Guess what guys, you're never going to believe this but I feel 100%". He said he was now able to continue on and make the journey to Kala Pathar. After a short discussion Josh also decided that he wanted to make the 8 hour return journey too.
So we skipped breakfast and departed the lodge at 6am sharp.
It had snowed that night so we were making our way through ice and snow. Ben was beginning to look weak again and I had my doubts whether he would make it. After stopping for Ben to take a toilet break behind a boulder, Josh and Ben had a short discussion and agreed that they could only make it to Gorak Shep, which was the town just before Kala Pathar and Everest Base Camp. Gorak Shep was about 2 hours away from where we were and was a height of 5,180m.
After walking for another 30 minutes, Ben had to stop to take another rest. As he sat there for a short while, he then made the hard decision that he should turn back to Lobuche. By this time Josh was also exhausted, mainly due to no sleep from the night before, and also reluctantly agreed to join Ben on the path back to Lobuche. It was sad to see my two family members go. But I knew the decision they had made was the right one. I did not want to see either of them getting rescued from the mountain in a helicopter. That would cost over $10,000 AUD. We weren't even sure if our insurance policy covered helicopter rescues.
So it was now only Matt and myself (plus our sherpa, Dorchi and porter, Junis) that would be making the journey to Kala Pathar. After hiking for another 1.5 hours through some steep and rocky terrain, we finally arrived at Gorak Shep. I was so relieved as I knew that it meant from that point on, I only had another 2-3 hours to go to reach Kala Pathar. We stopped for a quick breakfast in "Buddha Lodge and Restaurant', visited the putrid toilet, and then took one deep breath before stepping outside to head to Kala Pathar.
Matt and me on the way to Kala Pathar!
We first walked across a large flat bed of dirt and sand. I later learned that this was the place where a British cricket team played an officiated match. Why would you bother!!!!??? There is little to describe about the climb up to Kala Pathar, expect that it was steep, exhausting, never-ending and TORTURE. One step, breathe in, one step breathe out, a repetitious cycle. It seemed as though everyone was passing us on the way up. Luckily I had two hiking poles with me (as Ben had passed his onto me), which greatly helped. I got myself into a steady rhythm and tried not to look up as much as possible. The peak of Kala Pathar always seemed so far away. Our porter, Junis, carried my day pack up the mountain and then also carried Matt's pack from about 3/4 of the way up Kala Pathar. Junis was a gift from God! If I had to carry my own day pack, I'm not so sure I would have made it. I had such a low level of energy from lack of sleep. Although it probably only weighed about 3-4kgs, it makes such a difference when you don't have to carry anything.
Resting on a "flat" section of Kala Pathar
After about 2 hours we finally reached the peak. We were exhausted but so happy and relieved. Matt and I high fived each other, hugged, and then I had a small cry. I didn't tell Matt I was crying (and luckily I had sunnies on so he couldn't see), because he said earlier that if I cried, he would cry too! We took numerous photos of this momentous occasion and Matt and I could not stop smiling. I also took my video camera to film the amazing views of the surrounding mountains, Everest Base Camp, and most importantly, Everest herself.
Matt and I ontop of Kala Pathar
I made it!
Everest Base Camp circled in red
Mount Everest circled in red
Matt, me, Dorchi, Junis
I then turned on my iPhone and tried to make a phone call to my Dad. But that was wishful thinking as unfortunately and not surprisingly there was no reception. I didn't even have reception in Kathmandu, so I'm not sure why I thought I would have reception in the Himalayas!
We then started our descent back to Gorak Shep. We made the journey down in a very fast 45 minutes. On the way up it took 2 hours! After a quick tea break at the same lodge we made our way back to Lobuche.
On the journey back it began to snow heavily...a blizzard was starting. Dorchi was leading us and set a very very fast pace. At some points I was actually running to keep up with him. Junis the porter actually decided to run back to Lobuche because it was snowing that heavily. However the snow eventually ceased and we caught up with him as he waited for us on boulder on the side of the path.
On the way back to Lobuche
Once we reached Lobuche we met up with Josh and Ben in our room. Matt and I walked into the room with serious, sad faces and advised that unfortunately we hadn't made it. Matt was screaming out "Whhhhyyyy, whyyyyy God do you hate me?!" Matt and I were giggling like little school girls and eventually told them we were joking and that we had successfully reached the top!
We then all ate dinner together and then I slept like a baby.
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