Making Our Way Down From Everest Base Camp

I wasn’t prepared for what happened to me emotionally as I left Everest Base Camp.  Greg had outlined the plan to us the night before, and I knew I was headed to Pheriche for our first overnight on the way out. Five minutes out of EBC I came to the Base Camp Rock.  Most climbers and trekkers take a picture here as they first arrive.  There have even been marriages performed in front of this rock overlooking the vast camp. As I stood there to take a picture, the weight of the entire experience finally hit me.  A real tragedy had just taken place.  People had lost their lives here just hours earlier.  And, personally, this was likely the last time I’d be here, and, likely, the end of my dream.

I cried for a while before I finally left.  Some of my fellow team members stopped as well with the same reaction.  I stopped several times over the course of the next half hour or so to look back and catch some final glimpses of camp.  I chose to walk alone for most of the five-hour trek down to Pheriche.  The heaviness in my heart gradually lifted, and I was feeling much better by the time I arrived.

Pheriche, like Lobuche, had a few buildings that had considerable damage from the earthquake.  The tea house we stayed at on the way up was one of those.  It had sustained enough damage to be completely closed.  We were forced to camp in a yak field behind it next to a tea house called the White Yak.  We had dinner at an adjacent tea house and relaxed afterwards as a group by playing Name That Tune.  It was good for all of us, as we found a healthy way to release all the built-up anxiety from our intense experience.

After a decent tent slumber we had breakfast and began our journey to Phortse.  Phortse is not on the regular trek out, but given the situation at Lukla – with a bottleneck there, causing some 1500 trekkers and climbers to wait in queue – Greg decided we would be better off, in effect, stalling on the way down to allow it to clear out a bit.  Kathmandu also had many problems we thought may get a little better if we delayed our arrival.  Since many of IMG’s Sherpa have come from Phortse over the years and some of their homes were damaged in the earthquake, we decided to go out of our way and spend several days there helping.

The view from the other side of the canyon, overlooking such places as Tengboche, was fun and interesting, and steep!  The trail is not for the faint of heart!  It took half the day to finally arrive at Phortse, but was well worth it.  It’s such a cute little village!  It sits on the side of the mountain on what looks like a tabletop or shelf.  It’s untouched by tourism and has amazing views!  None of us minded spending the next two and a half days killing time and helping with some of the damaged buildings, including a young family’s home and a monastery.  In fact, I kinda fell in love with cute little Phortse!  I loved walking the narrow dirt walkways that linked all the homes and tea houses together.  I imagined being a young boy playing hide-and-seek with friends and having the time of a boy’s life!  I also enjoyed the 20-minute walk around the mountain to a point where I could not only get better reception to call Judy twice a day to check in, but could overlook Tengboche.  From there I also had a view of Ama Dablam, as well as the spectacular Kantega and Thamserku!  We had hoped to help with the damaged school and medical clinic, but they required some extensive evaluation before work started and that didn’t happen before we had to leave.  As it was, we stayed three nights then made our way to Namche Bazaar.

The hike started with a steep drop to the river off the tabletop that is Phortse.  It took about 20 minutes to reach the river before a very steep 1000-foot climb to the high point of the day’s walk.  It was a very pleasant day with beautiful views of the mountains, especially with all the Rhododendrons in bloom.  We arrived at Namche by about noon and had our sack lunch at the grassy area near the top that would become our tent site.  After lunch we shopped and had some more to eat and drink at one of my favorite bakeries.  I noticed enough damage on some of the buildings to be concerned, but not as much as I expected to see.  We were advised, however, to stay out of the buildings just in case, as aftershocks were still expected.  Tonight would be the last tenting night and the tenth with Jim Davidson.  I appreciated that it was on relatively flat ground as opposed to the 10-15% incline at Phortse, which kept me at the bottom of the tent all night.

The next morning dawned clear and beautiful, and we all started our last day of hiking, going down through Namche and losing altitude quickly through the steep village.  One home near the bottom had been completely destroyed by the earthquake after it caught fire.  It was the worst I’d seen so far.  I enjoyed hiking the steep trail through the forest and down to the river, especially trying to keep up with three happy teenage Sherpa girls.  I wondered why they might  be in such a hurry, but concluded it was probably their normal pace.  From the high bridge over the river at the bottom to Lukla, it was green and beautiful.  The last two hours from Phakding to Lukla were uphill and it seemed to take forever.  After another five to six hours of hiking, I was really ready to be done.  For the third time during the trip, I was the first to arrive – first, the peak of Lobuche. second, Camp 1, and now, finally, Lukla.  It felt good!  I was satisfied with my training, especially being one of the oldest.  Don Harbart had actually just turned 61, so he is about nine months older.  If I had to do it over, I would slow down and eat and hydrate more, especially to Camp 1.  I would do that because I think I’d recover quicker.  Anyway, it was good to be back in Lukla, and we all celebrated.

The weather forecast for the next morning was good, and I was especially excited to take off in a fixed-wing aircraft.  Three years ago we were forced to pay extra to take a helicopter down to Kathmandu because of the weather.  Even though I had the front seat then and could see a lot more, a helicopter is slower and less exciting on the takeoff.  Flying down the runway in a fixed-wing and sailing off the steep drop off at the end is my idea of a good time!  We passed over many villages on the way down to Kathmandu and I looked carefully for more earthquake damage.  We were too far away to really see details of the homes and tea houses, but I saw plenty of orange tarps indicating make-shift tents.  I assumed that meant there had been plenty of damage to homes.

After about 45 minutes we made the approach to the runway, passing over parts of Kathmandu.  Again, it was impossible to see the damage to homes and buildings.  I didn’t see any totally collapsed buildings, but I did see military aircraft from several countries on the side of the runway as we landed.  We had been told that supplies from all over the world had already arrived, and I could see evidence of such as we taxied. We bussed 15 minutes to Hotel Tibet, and, again, I didn’t see much evidence of an earthquake. It hadn’t affected this area very much.

We checked into the hotel about 9:00am and learned our rooms wouldn’t be ready for several hours. Jason and Caroline Ahlan found a spa nearby where we could get a massage, manicure, pedicure, and scrub for a ridiculously low price.  So, that’s where I spent the next few hours waiting for a room.  It was wonderful!  It felt good to be squeaky clean again!  We had a nice dinner at the hotel. I roomed that night with Andy Land, a very pleasant hospice nurse from Wisconsin, whom Judy and I had come to like quite well.  We had fun and joked as we tried to stuff one duffel instead of two (our climbing duffel is still on the mountain somewhere between EBC and Lukla on a yak) with all of our stuff, which now included some extra gifts for friends and loved ones at home.  

We had a decent night’s sleep, took another shower in the morning, had breakfast, and were again bussed back to the airport.  We picked up some of the team on the way, who were forced to stay at the Yak and Yeti as Hotel Tibet was short on rooms.  The Yak and Yeti is much nicer, but it cost them three times as much money.  We were all aware from the beginning that we would be paying for our own room in Kathmandu on the way home.  So at this point it was just kind of luck of the draw when some of us ended up at one place and some another.  Our departure was uneventful, and before I knew it we were in the air and finally on our way home.