EBC Days 7-9

We made our way to the second to last lodge before reaching base camp, Lobuche. This is also where some trekkers branch off to either summit Island Peak or Lobuche itself. The weather was in our favor and by day 8 we were excited and ready for our last hike to reach base camp.

The last two days weren’t too challenging, my body was adjusting well to the altitude. We ended up skipping lunch EBC day because we made it to Gorapshek early (around 10:30 am) and decided to just push to reach base camp by 1 pm. We all made it, healthy and safe Alhamdulillah. It was starting to get cold but we still wanted to make the most of our time there and started walking about camp to meet some folks Manal knows personally. 

I’m not one to fangirl over celebrities or “influencers”, but I absolutely love meeting really inspiring people that have done some pretty cool things. Surround yourself with people that are doing the things you want to do and naturally that’ll have a positive effect on the way you view yourself and what you’re capable of. We stopped by the Elite Expedition tent and I met Nimsdai and Manal’s friend Remi, we then went to visit Yousef who is attempting to be the first Arab man to summit Everest without oxygen. I never realized how huge base camp was, we walked around for two hours and it was very interesting seeing the places people call home for two months as they attempt to summit. 

We hiked around 10 miles that day and the others in my group were exhausted and wanted to sleep on. But on Day 9, I went up to Kala Patthar with my guide (a peak even higher than base camp). Overall, the trek is very doable for anyone that has a decent fitness level. I was using this trek as more training (and a very scenic place to train at that) but I wanted to have at least one challenging day and this would be it. We started close to 3:50 am, the key is to go slow and I tried to keep a decent pace even when breathing became hard as we got higher up. One guy I talked to the day before said it took him 2 hrs, and another guy said it took their group 4 hrs..so when I reached the peak around 5:40 am I was very proud and happy with how it went. It was a cloudy day and we couldn’t see much of Everest so we headed back down and had 9 miles to go down the mountain to our next lodge. 

We met some of our friends on the trail while we were hiking down, I put my music on to help pass the time too, the hardest part of the trip was over but the weather made the last stretch pretty grueling. We arrived in Pheriche and our lodge was such a luxury after the conditions we stayed in the last two days. Honestly, it seems crazy that we put ourselves through things like this but the resiliency, toughness, and determination you develop from putting yourself through difficult situations stays with you in so many parts of life. And the gratitude that we felt having running water and a toilet after two days couldn’t compare to anything else Alhamdulillah. Turns out we can live with way less than what we think we need, and these short blips of times where we struggle, persevere, and get through it is where we realize what we are capable of and find ourselves coming out stronger than ever.