Nepal 2017 - Everest Base Camp Trek - Day 1

Everest Base Camp Trek
Day 1 - Kathmandu to Lukla (9,317) to Phakding (8,562')
5/1/2017

Tik Toc!....Zaneho!

"For the stone from the top for geologists, the knowledge of the limits of endurance for the doctors, but above all for the spirit of adventure to keep alive the soul of man." - George Mallory

Deciding to Go

The moment one accomplishes an ambitious goal like a mountain summit, an interesting thing happens. After months or even years of anticipation and looking forward to standing on a summit, your goal has suddenly been realized. The future becomes past in an instant and the mental space that was once occupied by thousands of thoughts, hopes and fears dissolves into the ether while a void opens up in it's place. It is bewildering to have a goal that has been a part of your mental landscape for so long suddenly transform into a goal achieved. Now what?

Kilimanjo Summit (19,341') - July 2014

Such was the case when I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro in 2014 and made the turn to descend. A rogue thought emerged and embedded itself into my psyche. With every foot of descent back towards normalcy I found this thought gaining voice and definition until I reached the Kilimanjaro exit gate at Maweka ultimately transforming itself into an inconvenient question. Is that it? 

A void demands to be filled. I found myself asking our guide over the next few days on safari about other adventures I might take in the future. One that stood out was the trek to Everest Base Camp. I've always been fascinated by people that risk their lives to climb to the highest peak in the world. It took me a long time to actually to commit to it, but as with most of my adventures, once I decide to go, it becomes an inevitability.

An REI store recently opened up in Overland Park and I immediately became a member. REI Adventures hosts an expedition called Everest Camp Base Camp Trek. 19 Days in Nepal, 14 of which are spent trekking 93 miles in the Himalayas. My tuning fork pings and soon my mind is set.

My original plan was to depart in October 2016, but several factors weighed on my decision to delay until May 2017. October is my favorite month to be in KC. The crazy election was heating up.  What if the Royals made the playoffs again? I couldn't bare missing a possible 3rd run to the World Series. Mostly I wanted to experience Everest Base Camp while it was inhabited with the climbers from all over the world. October would have been a baron field of ice and stone devoid of the human factor that gives it life. Ultimately, I chose to delay for the sake of a better experience. Mid-May is the time the climbers are attempting to summit  Everest and that is why I decided to delay until May.

An Unexpected Setback

While training for the trip in March I was on my 25 mile bike ride as I am known to do most Sundays riding from Olathe to the Kansas River. I crossed over a bridge and rounded a corner that I've navigated dozens of times. On this occasion, I encountered another Sunday rider rounding the same corner in the opposite direction. Unfortunately his eyes were directed elsewhere and his path crossed mine before he realized his mistake. As our shoulders collided we were both thrown from our bikes to opposite sides of the trail. I laid on the side of trail in shock and pain not knowing the extent of the damage. We both were able to gather ourselves after a couple of minutes. He lost consciousness a couple of times before ultimately stabilizing. 

With 6 weeks between then and my departure the trip may be in jeopardy. Fortunately, neither of us sustained any broken bones confirmed by chest x-rays. I did lose a couple of weeks of training when I could least afford it. My knee sustained a glancing blow during the crash which left quite a large bump, but was undamaged. I was assured by my doctor that it would reduce in 6 to 8 weeks. On practice hikes I noticed that my left shoulder would seize to the point of pain. That was a concern given that I had 93 miles of Himalayan trekking ahead of me. I visited my chiropractor 4 times prior to my departure. On departure date I would say I was back to 90% with the hope that the remaining recovery would happen prior to starting the trek.

Other Side of The World

The trip to the KC airport with Laura was surreal. It wasn't the first time she would drop me to embark on one of my adventure quests, but this was 4 weeks on the other side of the planet. One reoccurring saying was that we're "letting this happen" a quote from the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". We're actually letting this happen. Yes, I guess we are.

After approximately 24 hours of flight time including a 2 night stop in Hong Kong and a 4 night stop in Bangkok, I finally arrived in Kathmandu. My desire was to experience parts of Asia during this trip since it's quite likely I would not be back this way again.

Kathmandu is the hub of Nepal. Anyone traveling to the Nepalese Himalayas will most likely go through this ancient city. I was picked up by one of the REI support drivers and transported to our hotel in the Thamel district. The first sight that let me know I was in an exotic foreign land was a cow laying in the middle of the street without a care in the world. The traffic would simply go around him. Thamel is a vibrant, condensed section of the city popular with tourist because of it's extensive restaurants, shopping and night clubs.

Upon my arrival at the hotel I settled into my room and met my roommate Vijay. Later was greeted by the rest of the REI trekking team. There will be 6 of us supported by 14 REI guides, sherpas, cooks and support staff. I don't know anyone in my every day life that truly understands my desire to take these kinds of trips. When you meet people that share that common ambition, it's kind of magical. It's a bit like being seen for the first time by someone that truly understands that heretofore unacknowledged drive in you. How can you not have affinity with a person when you share something so uncommon? We are all individual travelers which is fantastic. There are no preformed alliances.

My roommate Vijay is an anesthesiologist from Shreveport, LA. Richard is a gregarious retired vice president from the Weather Network and lives in Toronto. Elizabeth is a marathoner and Business Intelligence specialist from Dallas. Ahoo is a yoga instructor from Atlanta. She has worked with the documentary film maker Ken Burns. Davis is a doctor from New York. I immediately liked all of them. Richard had already dubbed us the "Dream Team".

As it turns out, I've done more adventure trekking than any of them. Kilimanjaro (19,341') established me as the "expert" and they had many questions about my experiences.

The Dream Team
Left to Right: Ahoo, Richard, Vijay, me, Davis, Elizabeth

The team spent the next day on a guided tour of three of the local Kathmandu temple sites and getting to know each other. What an amazing experience to be among people that share this elevated spirit of adventure. That night it was time for our briefing from the local REI representative. I remember feeling a little worried after this meeting and that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. There were lots of warnings about how hard this was going to be. Phrases like "very difficult day" and "don't under estimate the trek", forced us to re-examine our decision. Maybe they just wanted us to be prepared for some suffering. I think we all already knew that suffering is part of what we signed up for.

Aptly named Monkey Temple

Old gentleman sitting on a Temple in Kathmandu

Young Buddhist Monks on the streets of Kathmandu

The night before leaving on a trek like this, there are lot's of logistics to be dealt with. You have to separate your trekking gear from civilian gear and leave things unnecessary for the trek behind at the hotel. You're only allowed 25 lbs. in your duffle so hard decisions have to be made on what to leave behind. Although most of our expenses were covered by REI, we needed Nepalese Rupies to get us through two weeks. I took about $200 worth and still managed to spend it all.

Tik Tok and Zaneho

Wake up time is 4:00 AM to make a 6:00 AM flight to Lukla if all goes well. Lukla is considered the "most dangerous airport in the world". Why you might ask? First, the runway sits at 9,317'. Second, the runway terminates with a wall backed by a large mountain so there are no second chances or go around. Third, the runway is only 1,729'. Fourth, the weather is commonly difficult and changes very quickly. Fifth, the airport is not IFR equipped (Instrument Flight Rules), so all landings must be performed VFR (Visual Flight Rules). The week after we left Lukla, our airline crashed a plane at the foot of the runway because the pilot came in too low and could not regain the altitude he needed.

Most dangerous runway in the world at Lukla.

I'm happy to report that we made it into Lukla without incident or delay. The flight is more likely to be delayed than not, so we considered ourselves very lucky. We would start our trek on time! The flight was magnificent with views of peaks over 20,000' all around us. I was amazed by the number of small villages dotted all across the mountains as we flew deeper and deeper into the Himalayas. The villages were unreachable by vehicle and quite difficult by helicopter.

From Lukla Airport looking towards today's destination of Phakding.

We arrived in Lukla around 7:30 AM and trekked to a staging hotel next to the runway to prepare for our departure to our first stop in Phakding 5 miles away and 800' lower in elevation. It was sunny and reasonably warm in the low 50's. Here we begin our two week journey into the Himalayan wilderness. I'm so excited to get moving.

There are two words that we would hear at the beginning of every leg. "Tic Tok" was essentially your two minute warning to get ready and "Zaneho" was the command shouted to start the leg. There were many legs to come.

Departing Lukla

The actual trek to Phakding took us 6 hours. Even though we were losing 800' of altitude on this leg there was plenty of climbing involved. In the Himalayas you're ascending and descending regardless of which direction you're headed. This is rugged terrain. On Kilimanjaro if you were headed toward the summit you were ascending and after summit you were descending. That is not the case in the Himalayas where it is a mix of ascent and descent but dominated by one or the other. I felt like one of the hardest climbs was actually on the way back.

We stopped for lunch in a village called Ghat. The support staff had already arrived and prepped for us. We would be spoiled this way throughout the trip. We met many along the trail without such support, hiking from village to village and making their own way. How adventurous and intimidating that would be in this unforgiving landscape.

Towards the end of our hike to Phakding it began to rain. We arrived around 2:00 PM and the rain stopped around 3:00 PM. The rest of our day was spent drinking tea and wandering the area. Ahoo led a Yoga session for the team while I watched. It's just not my thing.

Phakding (8,562')

Local Nepalese children walking home from school

I spent the rest of the afternoon photographing the area and pinching myself to make sure I had really embarked on this epic journey.

Dinner was welcome and we retreated to our tents around 8:00. Our first day of trekking was in the books and we were on our way. Between the excitement, cold, snoring and worry, sleep proved difficult. If all goes well, in 8 days and 50 miles of trekking across some of the most challenging terrain in the world, we'll be standing at Everest Base Camp! 

Next: Nepal 2017 - Everest Base Camp Trek - Day 2