Category Archives for Adventures
Coming Down from Everest Base Camp
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 16 – Pheriche to Tengboche The next day’s walking is, like Pheriche, almost new to us. It’s perfectly possibly to walk from Pheriche to Namche Bazar in a day, but Zac isn’t keen for an early start, so we wander up a ridge to look at the views. [...]
Kala Patthar
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way – Day 14-15 By mid-afternoon, the sun is breaking through the clouds, warming the air both inside and outside our lodge, and I’m beginning to believe we’ll achieve the trifecta of Gokyo Ri, Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar. The guys at our lodge say we should set off [...]
We Made It! Everest Base Camp!
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 14 Sleeping in thermals, jeans, two fleeces, two pairs of socks and a snood, but neither hat nor gloves nor down outer layers, in a -30 rated sleeping bag under two quilts, we’re actually quite toasty at Gorak Shep, despite the cloud that’s come in. It feels like [...]
Ambling Towards Everest
Ambling Towards Everest Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way: Days 12-13 As places in which to brush one’s teeth al fresco go, Dzonghla takes some beating. There’s a mist that creeps up the valley in the evenings and retreats in the morning, winding soupily around the base of Ama Dablam, my favourite mountain EVER. I [...]
Crossing the Cho-La Pass
Everest Base Camp The Lazy(?) Way Day 13 Crossing the Cho-La Pass The Cho-La Pass should bring us from the Gokyo Valley over the mountains to just below Everest Base Camp. That “should” marks the single biggest variable in our trek so far. It’s not always possible to cross the Cho-La. And, even where conditions [...]
This Frozen Hell
This Frozen Hell Everest Base Camp The Lazy Way, Day 12: Gokyo to Dragnag Dragnag is our jumping off point for the Cho-La, the Himalayan high pass that is beginning to scare the pair of us, and it sits across a hideous slurry of dying glacier from Gokyo. We have fallen a little in love [...]
A Bit More Than We Bargained For…
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 9: Machermo “Look,” I say to Zac, who would rather spend his acclimatisation day resting. “It’s only 300 metres! That’s nothing! But it WILL help us acclimatise, plus we need something a bit steep to prepare us for the Cho-La.” “Oh alright,” he says, sulkily. My son has [...]
Frozen Waterfalls and Fallen Glaciers
Frozen Waterfalls and Fallen Glaciers Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 8 – Dole to Machermo Heading out of Dole up to Macchermo, the landscape shifts ever onwards from late autumn towards winter. We’ve crossed frozen rivers and waterfalls, some with streams still bubbling below them as the sun warms them into life, webs [...]
Botanists and Glaciers
Botanists and Glaciers Everest Base Camp The Lazy Way Day 6: Khumjung to Phortse Tenga You don’t need to be a scientist to see climate change in action around Everest. We’re still below 4000m (13,100 feet) and already the scars that glaciers leave behind, slurried dark mats of pebbles and scree, are evident on the [...]
Yeti Skulls, Hospitals and the Highest Hotel in the World* Everest Base Camp The Lazy Way: Day 5 We have observed the main trail to Everest Base Camp leading out of Namche Bazar. Zig-zagging straight up a 60 degree slope for an hour or so’s walking it looks, well, hard on the limbs, frankly. So [...]
