Allison A Janssen

Tag: EBC Trek

  • Day 9: Lobuche to Gorak Shep

    Day 9: Lobuche to Gorak Shep

    Out of all the tea houses we stayed in, I hate to say it, but I think the one in Lobuche was my least favorite. The set-up was just odd. There were about 8 or so rooms on one cement hall, interconnected by a cemented bathroom to another cement hall with its own 8 rooms. It was all pink dark cement. Odd. To add, everything was wet and dingy. It was off-season, we get it. Anyways, when 6:30 wake up call came, I was ready to throw on my clothes and hit the trail. Before doing the grudge work of getting out of my sleeping bag, and packing everything up, I took a peek out the window of our small room. I could see that the clouds wanted to take a gander at what the ground felt like. Heavy rain swells lied within them, and it was almost certain to me that our morning hike would be a wet one. Rob took a look as well. In agreement, we slid on an external rain tight layer that we bought for under 30 Euros in Kathmandu. Apparently Northface. In a jiffy, we were headed to the breakfast table for, who would have guessed it, porridge and oats. Sustenance is sustenance eh?

    Roughly around 7:30, we walked out into the wet cloth of outside and headed for Gorak Shep. The air was really wet a thick, yet a deep inhale still filled my entirety with fresh mountain air. So entirely invigorating. Within the first 100 meters, we saw a helicopter landing pad made of green grass and yellow flowers and painted rocks which made the H with the circle around it. Being that my Gramma is a helicopter pilot, I automatically thought, how cool would it be for her to fly here right now and see us climbing this trail! Everest, I am sure, is out of the question. My next thought was, I am glad we have not had to fly a helicopter this trip. A helicopter flight would have meant a life threatening situation and at least $5,000. So, yes, glad no helicopters joined our adventure.

    Gorak Shep lies at 5184m. It was about a 3 hour walk from our tea house in Lobuche. For some reason, I had envisioned that the last stretch to the last tea house would be tough. But, it could quite possibly have been the easiest day, both physically and mentally. The streak from Lobuche to Gorak Shep is just a steady, constant incline. No major changes. Just steadiness. The trail climbs over rivers, valleys and makeshift bridges, but all with rather easy forward footing. Once the rain came, my initial reaction was a bit of dread, but after a couple of minutes and the realization that my rain gear worked, I was so happy it was raining! With strong legs, steady breath and a light heart, we treaded on! Life felt real, gritty and beautiful. And as we mounted the village of Gorak Shep, just a short three hours after departure, a beautiful white horse stood under the day’s last view of Everest. All I could do was smile with my heart.

  • Day 8: Periche to Lobuche

    Day 8: Periche to Lobuche

    After a day and a half of rest and relaxation in the soft valley of Periche, we picked the trail head back up early morning on Day 8. According to estimations, Lobuche our next destination, would take us about 4-5 hours to get to, even though it was only 700m away. The reason for the lengthened time, lied solely in the fact that half of the trail that leads to Lobuche resembles the old Agro Clag from Nikolodeon’s game show GUTS, only it is longer. No kidding. The climb has to be at an 80% grade and took us at least an hour to climb. It was tough. But after the steep climb, a surreal moment awaited. A moment that took our mental breath away.

    At the top of the steep climb lies a small, shallow trough that overlooks the valley of Periche, previews the mist towards Louche and is home to the truthful Everest Memorial. I am not sure if it is official, but in this small glen lies the grave stones of all those who lost the epic battle against mother nature, the gravestones of those who lost the battle of Everest.

    From small piles to big piles of stone, lie the memories of courageous people. People from all over the world. People who had the same dream as many others, but were actually brave and determined enough to seek it, even if it meant their end.

    This was a truly captivating moment. A moment that was very hard to remove myself from. But, our destination was calling us onward. So, we rightly left behind the memory filled stones, keeping the recognition of their bravery with us and headed towards our own kismet.

  • Day 6: Tengbouche to Periche

    Day 6: Tengbouche to Periche

    A rooster? All the way up here? Really? Those were my first thoughts in the morning after a too short of night’s sleep in Tengbouche. Must have been the smell of paint that kept me awake. In any event, I rose out of bed with a smile; to the trail we go. But, first, breakfast. Funny enough, being halfway through our ascent, one of the biggest things I noticed outside of nature, was the teasingly long, but limited menu. During high-season, these trails have full-blown English breakfasts, pancakes, noodles, more Dal Bhat, eggs… everything. But, for us, there was only oatmeal and Dal Bhat; which, by this time was starting to get a bit old. Luckily, I had brought with us some dried fruits to add a little something to the monotony of oats and warm water. And when you spend all day hiking, nourishment is nourishment after all. So with a big swallow, Rob and I took in our oatmeal, drank cozy tea, filled our water bottles with our water/tang mixture and headed out for the 3-4 hour hike to Periche.

    This part of the hike was really interesting, because our destination- Periche- lies literally in the middle of nowhere. It is nowhere near the larger cities of Lukla (which connect to Kathmandu) nor is it close to the Himalayas notorious climbing peaks. Periche lies somewhere in the middle. To get there from Tengbouche, we began a most immediate descent, which eventually leveled off into a steady incline for a good couple of hours. An absolutely beautiful day was upon us. The sun was shining lightly on our backs, the roar of the Dudh Kosi river within reach, and displays of the beauty of the Himalayas all around us. At one point, we even saw a wild/stray horse perched underneath a view of Ama Dablam. He/she most likely used to be owned by someone, but we could tell from the protrusion of its ribs and wild hair, that it had been a while since a human cared for it. But, more so that it simply looked free, much in the way I imagined ourselves. Free.

    After around a total of 4 hours, we came upon a point where the Dudh Kosi river made a deep twisting bend, which required us to climb a bit higher to make the turn. Once we made the turn, I stood awestruck and agape at the beauty that lied ahead. Before us lied a valley of small flowers, rock homes and a babbling brook that shook hands with the Dudh Kosi, close to its twisting bend. Views from most all of the famous Himalayan peaks can be seen from the point of Periche; you simply just have to catch a moment in time where God opens up the cloudy gates and allows perfection to be seen.

    Being that it was still early in the afternoon upon our arrival, Rob and I made a point to check out the small village of Periche. To our delight, most everything was closed. Somehow, closure of all of the hotels, shops and so forth, had become a comfort. Somewhere along the line, the periodic closure of the few restaurants and hotels made our experience that much more real. More true. Like we were closer to nature because of it. So, we strolled around Periche, watching the quiet nature of the village unfold.