May 27, 2001: "Good-bye to Base Camp"
7:10 p.m. Pheriche
Today's hike to Pheriche was like no other trek thus far in Nepal - it
seemed to go in speed stages.
Stage One: SLOWEST - From Base Camp to Gorakshep Martha and I set a speed
record - slowest hike ever, I'm sure, at just over three hours.
There was a TINGE of melancholy as we glimpsed Base Camp one last time!
We sort of meandered to Gorakshep while the rest of the team was still
packing.
We met lots of other Base Campers descending - lots of, "good-byes!" and
"See you in Kathmandu's!"
As we rounded one corner, we saw two porters re-tying two huge barrels on a
yak. The yak was making distress sounds, almost growls. One guy was tying,
while the other had a firm grip on the yak's horns. When they finished, the
yak tore away up the hill.
When Martha and I got to the top of the hill, an amusing view awaited us.
One barrel was at the bottom of the hill, the other about 400 meters farther away and the yak, without its load of barrels, was already having a drink at the pond near Gorakshep! Ha!
Stage Two: SLOW-ISH - Fred caught up with us in Gorakshep, so I left him and
Martha having tea to climb Kala Patar.
It seemed ludicrous to be living at
Base Camp almost two months and not climb the mountain that offers the best
view of Everest's peak!
It's a VERTICAL climb up to Kala Patar - MUCH higher than Base Camp. Alas,
after all the sweat and (almost) tears, Everest was swathed in clouds! I did
manage some lovely shots of Lhotse, though.
Stage Three: FAST-ISH - Nancy and Dorjee met me in Gorakshep and we went at
a reasonable pace to Lobuche. And when I saw "reasonable" I mean Nancy has
just summitted Mt. Everest and isn't her usual super speed-queen self.
Aside: Dorjee, Ang Gelu, Saki, Lama Jangbu and Mingma went up the icefall to
Camp One at 3:30 a.m. and picked up the remaining supplies before trekking
today, so they weren't super fast, either!
At Lobuche, Nancy set off with Lhakpa to try and catch up with her Mom along
the trail. I met Inaki in a teahouse and waited for Dorjee to wake up from a
nap.
Stage Four: FASTEST - Dorjee woke up and the last portion of the trek was in
record "Sherpa" speed - an hour and ten minutes from Lobuche to
Pheriche. We absolutely ran down hills; I learned to follow Dorjee's
footsteps so I didn't turn an ankle! It was funny how all the members of our team lapped and overlapped each other, depending on where we stopped for tea.
In the end, we were all here by 5:30 p.m.
We just had our last "Lhakpa-prepared" meal - pasta! He cooked dinner at the
teahouse where we are staying.
Tomorrow morning, he'll start the long trek down to Lukla - he'll meet us in Kathmandu in two days - while we are choppered out!
It's all surreal - I can't believe we are going to be in Kathmandu tomorrow!
Heidi's 2001 journal
When Martha and I got to the top of the hill, an amusing view awaited us.
One barrel was at the bottom of the hill, the other about 400 meters farther away and the yak, without its load of barrels, was already having a drink at the pond near Gorakshep! Ha!
Stage Three: FAST-ISH - Nancy and Dorjee met me in Gorakshep and we went at
a reasonable pace to Lobuche. And when I saw "reasonable" I mean Nancy has
just summitted Mt. Everest and isn't her usual super speed-queen self.
In the end, we were all here by 5:30 p.m.
