Day 11 (6/Apr/2026): Lobuche (4930m) to EBC (5360m) to Gorakshep (5170m)
Memories from our trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC)
Morning routine at this altitude has its own challenges. I was like do we really need to brush? Ofcourse, with the temperatures we were in changing into fresh clothes was also a difficult task. Even wearing shoes was so tough. I felt breathless just from bending to tie shoelaces. Even though we had got up early, it took more than usual time to repack a few things we had taken out and get ready for breakfast. Everything had to be done slowly with breaks. I had never experienced this - doing such simple things felt tiring.
By the time we packed all our stuff and came down for breakfast I was already tired. After hot breakfast and tea, we were all ready to leave. When we got out of the tea house, it was a sea of white. It had snowed overnight. The skies however weren’t fully clear. We hoped it would clear soon. Today was the summit day and it was going to be the longest day of the trek so far. The plan was to start early so that we can reach Gorakshep before noon, have lunch and move to EBC.
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| Fresh layer of snow outside the tea house |
There was fresh layer of snow on the trail. Though it was bone biting cold and super windy we were all excited to start the summit day. Walking was getting tougher with the slippery snow and high altitude. But the views were out of the world. About an hour into the hike, weather started clearing up and the mountains shined in the sun rays. With the sun coming out, snow on the trail also started melting and it started getting more slippery.
The trail was continuous slow ascent. We were all walking slowly in a single file hardly speaking - one to save energy and other reason was even if we spoke, we could hardly hear each other. With all the layers covering our ears, head and face and the gushing winding we barely could hear. For me, this was meditative – in my own thoughts enjoying the views and walking slowly a comfortable pace.
We could see the vast moraine of the khumbu valley with the mountains shining in the backdrop. The mountains now were so close that we could see some parts of the mountains having blue ice. Though the distance between Labouche and Gorakshep is only about 4-5KMs, it still takes more than 4 hours to reach Gorakshep. Fingers were getting numb walking in this cold weather with trekking poles. Even with the buff covering the mouth and nose, the face was as cold as ice.
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| Khumbu valley moraine |
On the trail we also saw a piegon like bird, which was happily walking on the side of the trail. Don't what this solo bird was doing here. The only animal species we spotted on this trail were mostly yaks and couple of mules and this bird. Yaks were mostly carrying loads of items of trekkers who were planning to summit Mt. Everest. These loads where taken to EBC which would be their base. Many of these yaks had fancy bells tied to them, some had a small portion of their hair colored in bright red or blue😀
It felt like a never-ending walk to Gorakshep. The hike was constant ascent and descent. With every ascent I would hope we would see Gorakshep behind the mountain, but the hopes died soon when the trail continued. This stretch really tested my endurance - both mental and physical.
With the melting snow, the trail was getting slippery, and we had to watch our steps. Chirring recommended we wear our crampons. Chirring was having a very bad headache from previous day’s exertion. Even with that pain he helped us wear our crampons, guiding and supporting us.
Finally, we reached our mid-stop for the day – ‘The Himalayan Lodge’ in Gorakshep. We would have lunch here and soon head to EBC our final destination and later return here for dinner and night stay.
Lunch at Gorakshep was short. Even though Pankaj & I were tired and hungry, didn’t have much of an appetite. The thought that we were halfway done was a relief and at the same time anxious that we had lot more to go before we reach the summit. Throughout the day the sun has been doing hide-n-seek. The weather was getting cloudy and windy. Sam was like, let’s have a quick lunch and we should start towards EBC. These breaks were good, we could rest a bit, ate whatever we could and back on the trail.
The hike from Gorakshep towards EBC was the hardest. It was getting windy, the trail had snow which made it slippery, it was a bit rocky terrain which made it harder to walk. I was getting very tired. Soon the wind started turning into light snow drizzle. We wore our ponchos and crampons. Even with so many layers on our body it was bone biting cold. I didn't even dare to take out the gloves to adjust the buff on the face. Palms were hurting with constant grip on the trekking poles. I could hardly feel my fingers in the glove. Shoes were wet and felt colder. Even with all this, the only driving factor was to make it to the summit.
The light snow, soon turned into snow blizzard. The visibility was almost nil. We could not see who was ahead and who was behind us. At one point, I was so tired, I told Pankaj I can’t walk anymore - you go ahead. He kept motivating me to continue walking slowly. Which helped. But after few minutes, I was feeling very weak and tired. I told him I can’t do it anymore - you go ahead. Pankaj got angry (which is very rare) - either we both go ahead or we both return. He was like 'you got me on this trek, now you better complete it'. This is his strategy to ensure I don’t give up - and it worked 😅. From here there was no looking back, no more complaining. I was tired but having come so far didn't want to give up. Just continued walking in the blizzard, walking slowly and watching every step.
We reached a ridge where we saw Sam and all the trek members waiting. The weather was not on our side. The blizzard continued to grow. Visibility was very low – we could not see anything beyond a few meters. We were about 200-300 meters from EBC area which would roughly take us 1 ½ - 2 hours to go and come back to the point we were currently at and another 2 hours plus to reach Gorakshep. Assessing the weather and severity of the blizzard, Sam told us, we can’t continue towards EBC and need to turn back from here. We tried to discuss with him if there is any way we can continue. It was hard to accept we come so far and not reach the final point. I don’t know whether it was the way he said or the way the weather looked, none of us further questioned that decision. The weather further worsened and Sam told us we need to head back to Gorakshep immediately and as fast as possible without any breaks. We wanted to take a group picture at this point and Pankaj was like if we wait here any longer to take pictures then our photos will be in tomorrow’s newspapers 😢
There was no possibility of going towards EBC area. We all knew how serious the situation was. With all the energy we had (which was very little at this point), we started walking back to Gorakshep. Megha and Sonam Dai were on a sprint. Within a few minutes we lost sight of them. Pankaj and I were together. Shobita, Sanjeev and Gowthami were with us for some time. I don’t know how AP team kept track of who was where in such low visibility. The snow blizzard was hitting our faces. We could not stop to adjust our buff, gloves nor our binnies. All of us were aware of the fatal incident of a few trekkers caught in the snow blizzard on a trek in Uttarakhand couple of years ago. The only goal was to reach Gorakshep as fast as we could. By now our face, hands and toes were numb. We didn’t even stop to take a break to sip water nor a bio break. It was also getting darker. Whole hike back to Groakshep is a blank memory. Don’t know how we managed to do it in that harsh weather. Gives me goosebumps when I think of it even now.
It was around 6pm, by the time Pankaj and I reached the lodge in Gorakshep. All our group members had reached back safely. Reaching the tea house safely was an achievement in itself. It took a few minutes to come back to our normal self. We had all huddled around the table with hot GLTs, sitting quietly just absorbing what we had all gone through in the last few hours. Many of us had our lips turned blue, nose had no sense and fingers and toes were stiff with cold. It took some time before the senses returned. Lots of what-if discussions were happening around the table. Each one sharing their experience on how they managed to reach Gorakshep. We got to know that Rupal had made it to the EBC rock point. Since she had been unwell, she had chosen to take the mule. So it was just her from our group who had made it to EBC rock point.
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| @Gorakshep just after returning from EBC |
After relaxing for some time, it was evening as usual but seemed different. Chirring took our dinner orders. We all took pictures in the tea house. This was our summit day, and we had finally made it. It was a proud moment. After anticipating this for months it was finally done. Sam had to go to Copenhagen for his book launch. He had planned to start descending today. The tea house owner convinced him to stay back as the weather was getting worse and it would be very risky to walk in this weather.
After relaxing a bit in the bustling common area around the bukhari we went back to our rooms to get out of shoes and other possible layers. The rooms were decent with twin beds and thick blankets. The rooms were cold and for sure we would need the sleeping bags today too. There were a couple of common washrooms on each floor. Like in Labouche, water was available in a huge tub. Since there were a few tea houses in Goarkshep, there were more trekkers per tea house compared to the tea houses at the lower altitude.
With shoes and knee pads out, legs felt so good. It was very cold, so there was no way we could be off the fleece and down jackets. Soon we were back in the common area for dinner. Some of the group members were having headaches and feeling uneasy. Unlike the other evenings, today there was no mood to play cards. Everyone was tired and were a little disheartened that we could not reach the EBC final point. Pankaj and I didn’t have much of an appetite. We ordered soup for dinner. The garlic soup was yummy and after a long tiring day felt wholesome.
Today was Shrishti’s Birthday. We didn’t have any network to call/send her birthday wishes. We used someone’s hotspot to message her wishes and also sent the girls an update on our trek.
Even though the weather outside was still bad, inside the tea house it was cozy, warm and bustling. Sam checked with the group who were interested in doing the hike to Kala Pathar the next day before descending to Pheriche. Considering the weather, depleted energy levels and the long hike back to Pheriche, Pankaj and I decided not to do Kala Pathar. Only 3-4 group members were interested and most of the group decided to skip the hike to Kala Pathar. Sonam dai was to lead the hike to Kala Pathar at 5AM the next day.
Once done with dinner, AP team briefed us on the next day’s plan. After breakfast start descending towards Pheriche with stop over at Labouche tea break and aloo paratha place (after descending from Thukla pass) for lunch. Group planning to do Kala Pathar needed to be up and ready by 5am and join Sonam dai to see the sunrise over the Mt. Everest (Kala Pathar), come back to Goarkshep have breakfast and start descending to Pheriche. The water here is from the glaciers which carries a lot of sediments with it. With no adequate filtration, it is recommended to use bottled water. At higher altitude everything gets super expensive. So here we not only purchased hot water, we also brought 2 bisleri bottles of normal water each costing 500 NPR.
After filling our bottles with hot water, everyone dispersed to their rooms. Our room was cold and all I wanted to do was sleep. To setup the sleeping bag was a task. Bigger task would be next morning when we had to roll the bag back into its pouch. Imagine slightly settling into the sleeping bag and just about warming up and then you have the urge to use the washroom – WHHHYYYYYY. Having to use the washroom in this cold is a torture!!! Having said that, at this altitude, having washrooms inside the tea house is a luxury by itself.
With too many emotions running in the head - excitement, tiredness, accomplishment, slight disappointment and bitter cold all together it was very hard to fall asleep.
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