Welcome to Everest base camp.
At 5,364 metres -- 10 times the height of the CN tower -- the base camp of the world's highest mountain isn't a place to relax. There's 50% less oxygen, the surrounding mountains block any kind of view, and I'm pretty sure us tourists were sectioned off from the summiteers so we wouldn't bother them. After hiking about six-hours a day for nine days, we spent a total of 30 minutes there.
Still, hundreds of trekkers make pilgrimages to the foot of Sagarmatha (the Nepali name for Everest) every year. Some train for months before attempting the trek but I went on a whim to see if it's worth putting on a "bucket list."
Most guidebooks suggest visiting Nepal from late fall to winter because the skies are clear and temperatures are mild. As a result, the trails are also backlogged and the lodges are packed (imagine sharing a squat toilet with 50 strangers).
Instead I went in mid-May -- right before monsoon season -- and in exchange for one or two cloudy days I was rewarded with empty trails and lodges occupied solely by our tour group. It was almost 60 years ago to very month when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the top of Everest. Less encouraging was it was also 14 years ago that month when eight people died on a single day during a freak storm on the mountain, as famously retold by Jon Krakauer in his book Into Thin Air.
My journey started at Lukla airport, located on the edge of a cliff and reachable by a harrowing half-hour flight from Kathmandu. From there we hiked along the whitewater Dudh Kosi river to the village of Phakding (2,610 metres) where we got our first taste of mountain lodge cuisine: Delicious steamed dumplings called momos, interesting interpretations of Western cuisine such as pizza topped with yak cheese and canned tuna, and daal bhaat -- Nepal's national dish of rice and lentils.
The next day we spent two nights at Namche Bazaar (3,440 metres) to acclimatize to the height. This place is the definitive mountain climbers' tourist town with pool halls, shops selling knock-off North Face gear, a post office and a bakery, where staff made my cappuccino in a microwave. Here, we also got our first look at the legendary 8,848-metre-high Everest, a snowless mountain shaped like a circus tent.
As we ascended toward base camp, the scenery morphed from forests of rhododendrons to barren wastelands of rock and snowcapped mountains. The only signs of life were the colourful prayer flags draping the landscape and the occasional parade of yaks carrying supplies.
On day eight we reached the village of Lobuche (4,910 metres), which Krakauer describes as "grim," with toilets "literally overflowing with excrement." That description still stands. Our rooms had paper-thin plywood walls, no electricity and a floor that was essentially a cheap red carpet stapled onto cobblestones. Fortunately we didn't stay long, leaving around 4 a.m. to make the grueling eight-hour trek to base camp.
Base camp isn't the most scenic place -- no views of Everest here -- nor is it as isolated it once was. A group of chefs prepared lunch for their clients in a big yellow tent and there was cellphone reception. I fell on my rear four times while walking on paths comprised of loose boulders covered in icy slush.
But what I'll remember isn't just crossing that imaginary finish line at base camp, it was taking my first bite of yak cheese, the sound of rats scurrying in the walls of my room, the flight to Lukla, laughing at myself for almost falling into a squat toilet, and losing miserably in a game of pool with our porters at Namche. My conclusion: Trekking Everest is something worth doing before kicking the bucket, but not for the reasons you might think.
Nevada canyon all about the views
