22 May 2024
Finally, the day arrived… Something that I had waited for almost 2 decades. We were all up by 515 AM and putting things together. I checked our SpO2 again. Mine had gone up to 92 and Amruta’s was at 93. Gauri’s SpO2 was standing good at 96. This when I called Ngima to our room and asked if he could stay back with Gauri at Gorakshep on this day and Amruta and I return to Pyramid in evening. Gauri’s face lightened up with. I sincerely didn’t want Gauri or Amruta to miss out on anything. Before this conversation I think I had asked Amruta if she too wanted to stay Gorakshep, to which she had said she was okay returning to Pyramid. Ngima said he was fine with this idea too. He informed the lodge caretaker about change of our plans and made arrangements for us to return to the cottage for overnight.
So now Gauri had to pack again considering her stay at Gorakshep. That took up sometime while I cursed myself for not having thought of this last night. Anyway, instead of wasting more time on discussing that we started the hike little late at 615 AM.
First, we climbed the hill that houses this observatory. Everything was covered in a thin layer of powder snow. My phone was acting weird in that extreme cold weather. Also, my fingers were getting numb whenever I tried to click. I almost gave up on the idea. It was still cloudy and hardly any big momma was visible. We were traversing on the ridge of that long hill. At a very far point I spotted something that was bright yellow. I was pretty sure that’s exactly where Everest Base Camp was. We could see people walking on the way that was below the hill. They were walking parallel to us towards EBC.
Girls had pretty good pace and I was slow. I was counting till 30, 40 or 50 and taking quick 30 seconds breaks. I didn’t actually sit down anywhere just stopping and starting over again. Today, I didn’t want to pay attention to any of my health issues and just focus on fulfilling my dream. Thankfully, I was not breathless at all. Surendra kept me company all the while. He would walk some 200 meters ahead and stop until I caught up with him, then again move ahead. There was not a single moment when he let me off his eyeshot.
It took me about 3 and half hours to reach Gorakshep. We went to the Himalayan Lodge. In 2012, Giripremi a Mountaineering Club from Pune, my hometown has installed a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It was a moment of pride. We had some coffee and started our trek towards our goal.
Some 20 meters from the Himalayan Lodge is a small plain which was about some 250 meters. Then we climbed on a hill that looked small but was in fact part of glacier. Now we could see many many people walking towards EBC. It didn’t feel like it was crowded though.
About 500 meters from the plateau, we saw some stones rolling down. Ngima had said we should not be stopping much here. I tried to keep up with the girls but just couldn’t. They had moved some 100 meters ahead of me. Now that tiny yellow dot had become a big dome. Then I saw that famed Sign Board of EBC. All I was telling myself is that I have reach there and that’s it. My mind was completely free of any other thoughts. It was like a meditative state. I hadn’t felt like this for long time. There was not a single voice telling me that I can’t do it… The Entire Universe had conspired for me to reach there. And that’s it… I was slow but I was walking persistently…
There were at least a thousand people. Most of them were done with their today’s hike and some like me were still heading. A few tarns (glacial lakes) were seen. This was the moment when I realised how gigantic this Khumbu Glacier is. I am still in awe!
Then I saw a familiar figure going down from the ridge, that was Amruta and That was the route. Then I saw Gauri near the sign board. She was holding our National Flag. She had also climbed on the famous rock behind the board. I think Ngima was clicking her pictures.
Then Amruta reached the sign board. Ngima also clicked her picture. And now I was on my way to towards the board. The path was on the edge of yet another tarn. I was thinking how cold the water would be and how deep this tarn is. Just few minutes and I was there… at the sign board. Amruta was sitting there, Gauri was sitting there peacefully. I hugged Amruta and we probably had a group hug too. Then we got our pictures clicked. The individual ones, the group ones, with Ngima and Surendra… Plenty of them.
I was about to move away from the board when I saw that group of senior citizens from the US. Kathleen was there too. She had taken a horse / mule from Gorakshep to reach here. That was completely acceptable considering her age (74). Then her guide and a sherpa helped her climb the rock too. I just waived at her and congratulated her and went away to sit for few minutes.
Amruta offered me a bar of Chikki which I ate, then some dry fruits and probably some chocolates. It was time to start our hike back… All these days of treacherous hiking, All the days of daily exercise and long walks… Everything for this half an hour… somewhat true and somewhat false… True because we spent barely 30 minutes at the Everest Base Camp and False because it was not just the destination or the goal that mattered but also the journey, the people I met on this trail, the people who were rooting for me back home. Everything, every person, every moment mattered. I would do this all over again for more experiences like this… For me that’s what is the essence of mountaineering.
Return hike was pretty good. Now our first stop was at Himalayan Hotel at Gorakshep. We had soup for lunch. Since Gauri was staying back at Gorakshep, I spoke to the owner telling him to tend to her if need arrives. Thankfully she was in good health and also that Ngima was going to be with her.
Amruta and I along with Surendra started our return hike towards Pyramid. Time was 3 PM. It was still cloudy. Now that we were contained Amruta and I both were walking slowly. Surendra was probably bored with us but he just didn’t let go sight of us.
Around 5 PM we reached Lobuche pass. Surendra wanted to take different route which would have taken us on the hill where this observatory is based. Amruta checked the map on her cell phone and said we will just go down straight towards Lobuche and enter the small gulley from where we had approached the lodge. I just didn’t want to climb any hill today. So, I agreed Amruta’s map reading and coerced Surendra to agree with us. Poor soul…
We must have walked liked a kilo meter from Lobuche Pass when it started snowing lightly. Now there was no way to stop. So slowly we kept marching ahead. Amruta checked map twice and confirmed that we were on right path.
In about 2 and a half hours we had reached the mouth of this gulley. From here I suggested Surendra to hurry towards the cottage and order some tea for us. He didn’t leave till I reached within eye shot from the cottage.
Amruta reached a few minutes after that and her tea was already served when I entered the cottage. When I saved the days hiking data, we had hiked 15.41 kms in about 12 hours 7 minutes. It was a long fulfilling day. Amruta and I sat there in disbelief of what had happened throughout the day.
We decided we would have dinner and get in the room once and for all. We shared an aloo paratha and some soup and went to the room. We had an opportunity to sleep until late till Gauri and Ngima would arrive next day morning. Also, next 3 days were going to be demanding as we were to cover two days distance in one each. It was a good thing to have this privilege of clean bed and wooden cottage that kept us warm through out the night.
I was hoping for a deep, peaceful sleep for that night, but something was not right and I had to make some effort to get into slumber.
Stats for the day: 22 May 2024
End Time: 06:22 PM
Highest Altitude: 5274 meters ASL
Distance: 15.41 kilo meters
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