Day 10: Lobuche to Gorak Shep + Kala Patthar + Everest Base Camp

Approximate Trekking Time: 1 ½ – 2 hrs. to Gorak Shep; 3-4 hr. roundtrip e/ to Kala Pattar & EBC

Distance: 16.4k / 10.2 miles

Overnight Elevation: 5160m / 16,929ft

This day was exhausting, but one of the highlights of the trip. I dressed quietly, trying not to wake Florence, and met the rest of the guys in the dining room for a breakfast of Tibetan bread and honey. Having determined that their meet-up plan was not well flushed out, Nathaniel had left early in the morning for Dingboche in attempts to intercept Erica along the trail from Chhukung. Ube got a head start toward Gorak Shep to acquire rooms while Shawn, Dan, and I finished our breakfasts before heading out.

Having rejoined the main trail toward Everest Base Camp (EBC) after yesterday’s less traveled route over the pass, the trail toward Gorak Shep was full of groups and porters, the busiest of the trail sections we had hiked along yet. We bobbed and weaved past the groups, hiking through the boulder-strewn valley until the trail gradually climbed to steeper rocky switchbacks, curving through the moraine en route to Gorak Shep. Around some of the narrow curving trails through rock fields, bottlenecks of trekkers formed, everyone making their way to Gorak Shep to head to EBC and the top of Kala Pattar for the spectacular Everest views.

Finally making our way past the crowds, we descended into Gorak Shep (5160m/16,925ft.) and veered right to the Himalayan Lodge, where Ube had secured two rooms for the four of us. In the room, we ditched everything but warm layers, water, and snacks and made our way toward the trail up Kala Pattar.

Dropping down from our guesthouse, we walked across a large open sandy field to the trailhead. The beach sand here, and on many of the trails, lasting evidence that this region was once under water, part of the ancient Tethys Sea. Fossilized rocks and shells of Jurassic period sea creatures are found throughout many riverbeds in Nepal. Called saligrams (or shaligrams), these black ammonite fossils are considered iconic symbols of Lord Vishnu by many Hindus. We had seen the rocks for sale throughout the Annapurna region and in Thamel.

The trek up Kala Pattar climbed steeply, then gradually, then steeply again… and then even more steeply… to a final rocky boulder scramble to the top. I moved l like a grandma with her walker in the thin air, kicking up dust with each step in the fine soft dirt. But, the views at the top were worth it.

While Everest Base Camp receives all the hype, Kala Pattar (5545m/18,188 ft.) affords the best views of Mt. Everest in the Khumbu; in fact, the summit of Everest is not even visible from the low vantage point of base camp at the foot of the mountain. From the top of Kala Pattar you are treated to one of the best views on earth, with Everest, Nuptse, and Lhotse to the east – the Khumbu Glacier sprawled out below them, Pumori to the north and Lobuche West to the southwest.

At the very top, tattered prayer flags flapped from a flagpole in the wind, others pressed and flattened between boulders at the summit. I sat along a mass of prayer flags wedged between the boulders, they were warm in the sun compared to the cold rock and it felt spectacular to sit at summit among such stunning scenery. The warmth didn’t last though and we didn’t linger once colder wind gusts pushed through. After a few photographs we made a quick descent back to Gorak Shep.

Back in Gorak Shep, we ate a quick lunch at our lodge and were back outside on the trail toward Everest Base Camp by 1pm. We had originally planned to take an extra day for this, but the prevailing knowledge was that spending more than one night in Gorak Shep – which sits at an altitude of 16,925 ft. (5160m) – is a terrible prospect. On our way to Gorak Shep, we had also run into a group of Canadians that we had met several times along the trail and they assured us that the trip to Everest Base Camp was only 3 hours roundtrip, including some time spent for photos, etc., and that it was easy to do both Kala Pattar and EBC in the same day – so this was our new plan.

With rumor that the trek to EBC was relatively “flat”, I was cursing the undulating rocky traverses for the first half or more of the trek. Eventually the rocky ups, downs, twists, and bends spat us out on a long ridge – the flat portion of the trail. From here we could see EBC ahead of us, set in the rocky Khumbu glacial moraine field.

After a steep descent into the moraine, we wound our way along a narrow trail back up through the boulders to the Everest Base Camp area (5340m/17,515 ft.). Situated in a glacial moraine, the area was strewn with mounds of rocks everywhere, not a flat spot in sight. Our first thought was, “where the hell do they put the tents?” Clearly the expeditions must find – or make – some flattened areas come spring time and it would be fascinating to see the base camp during climbing season (April-May).

EBC was strewn with rock cairns, prayer flags, memorials, and flags, and we strung our own set of prayer flags below an American flag with the names of those who had perished in the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and February 1993 (WTC bombing). While Everest’s summit is not visible from base camp, the view of the Khumbu icefall was amazing. The first region that climbers must navigate en route to Everest’s summit, I tried to imagine how deep the crevasses through the jagged ice might be, and the difficult and dangerous job of those who worked to fix ladders through the ice. Just two years ago, 16 Sherpas had been killed by an avalanche in the icefall as they worked to fix the ladders for the 2014 season. The following climbing season was also ended promptly after avalanches triggered by Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake killed 18 climbers and guides.

After soaking in the views, snapping some pics, and hanging our prayer flags, we hopped our way over boulders and out of the moraine, and back down the trail toward Gorak Shep. It was an exhausting but amazing day, and we were happy to have seen everything in one day so we could descend from Gorak Shep in the morning.

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