Base camp

Ok, I guess I need to do one more update before Bart takes over!  I’m hearing that people are wondering if he got to EBC safely, yes he did.  He’s lost some weight, as expected, and has a bit of frostbite on his cheek, but otherwise he’s in good shape. He really wanted to trek  back down to Lukla, which would take three days, but as it turns out, there wasn’t anyone else that wanted to, so he’ll take the helicopter out with those who remain. What’s another $1,000 at this point. He will leave for Kathmandu tonight, weather permitting.

Bart: The euphoria of summiting continued to aid the extreme exhaustion of getting back to EBC.  After a sub-par sleep at Camp 2, in a tent with John – the one who had turned back, I packed all the extra stuff and headed down.  I guess John had accepted his fate because he didn’t seem as disappointed as I thought he’d be. My pack was extra heavy at about 50 pounds, and I was feeling every ounce.  Pk took my sleeping bag and pad which I didn’t have room for.  It took about twice as long as it had before to get to Crampon Point at EBC, but I was relieved to finally be through the Icefall safely one last time.  We were met there by one of the porters with a cold refreshing Coca Cola!  I couldn’t believe it!  I had spent the past 30 minutes struggling through the boulder field at the bottom of the Icefall, beyond tired.  It enabled me to walk the last 20 minutes to my tent.  I unloaded my pack and took all my sweaty down clothing off and finally laid down to rest in my homey little tent.  I had gear strewn everywhere both inside and out.  After a while I struggled over to the dining tent for lunch.

Some of the Hybrid Team were just leaving to trek out.  I had hoped they would wait a day so I could go with them, especially when I found out they were the only ones doing it.  The others were taking a helicopter to Kathmandu.  Chris had asked me before and asked me again at lunch if I wanted to join them and share the $5,000 cost.  I didn’t really want to trek out alone so I gave in.  By the time I decided to go I had less than an hour to get ready!  Fortunately, Pk came over to help me and we stuffed my duffels as fast as we could.  I tipped him $1,500, grateful for our successful summit, and gave him my altitude watch and Luminoodle, plus the solar panel to charge it.  I got back to the dining tent at 1:00 pm, just in time for our flight.  However, the clouds rolled in and they never left so we were forced to stay another night.  I ate red licorice, Jelly Bellies, and cashews all afternoon waiting for the weather to change.  After the flights were cancelled and rescheduled for morning we got our sleeping bags and pads out one last time and put them back in our tents.  I slept well, but woke up the next morning with a bad case of diarrhea from all the junk food!  Fortunately, some wonderful person left lavender-scented baby wipes in the poop tent and a small disaster was averted!

The flight to Kathmandu was breathtaking!  We stopped in both Pheriche and Lukla to refuel, and found spring had arrived.  It smelled wonderful!  The beauty was indescribable, and I had mixed emotions about seeing it for the last time!