Don Cowper from the North-East of England was on his 8th trip to Nepal. We enjoyed getting to know him along the trek! He always had good chat and offered us lots of support and good advice when we saw him each evening. He also had a special Birthday of May 29th 1953 :-) Happy 70th Birthday Don!!
We had a 5am departure time planned to go up Kala Patthar but woke up to snow.
The Sherpa's delayed our departure and eventually we left at 9am when the clouds started to lift.
A beautiful blanket of clouds still covered the peaks.
Heading up! Waiting for the clouds to reveal Everest.
We were getting closer but still needed stops to catch our breath-and have it taken away again by the awe-inspiring views.
We didn't have long to wait! Everest is actually not the tallest looking mountain here, that is Lhotse, Everest is slightly to the left with a small wisp of cloud hugging the peak.
Harita, Ankurika and Preetidutta, with Karma Sherpa reached the top of Kala Patthar at 5644m.
After a welcome warming lunch back at Gorakshep ( can we eat any more potatoes??) we crossed the last piece of flat land on the trail to base camp.
The trail to Everest Base Camp was very rocky, undulating and full of animal trains and porters.
The loads coming towards us from base camp continued to amaze-both in size and content...beds, sofa's, fridges, picnic tables, endless ladders, mysteries in tarpaulin!
Slowly the terrain changed and small lakes appeared, we were on the edge of the Khumbu glacier, boulders were bigger and morejumbled, the mountains were now truly towering above us.
The famous Base Camp rock and we'd (nearly) reached our goal.
Holding the Peace Torch at the foot of the world's highest peak.
Passing beyond this rock is a privilege usually reserved for summit expeditions and workers, now that would be extended to Everest Base Camp marathon runners. For us, it felt like reaching base camp was our biggest challenge as we would now run back 'downhill'. For the mountaineers that arrive here its the start of their summit bids.
Our home for the next 2 days!
Everest Base Camp is often described as 'a pile of rocks', which it was under our feet, but the spectacle of carrying the Peace Torch into a bowl of Himalayan mountains is an experience we will all deeply treasure for the rest of our days.
The peaks are majestic and the lighting and clouds continually change the appearance of the mountains.
The tents add sprinkles of colour over the moraine. So warm in the sun of midday-so cold at night under the stars.
