Leaving Pheirche we now had one day to go till we reached base camp. First we had to hike to the next village, Loboche, sitting at 16,100ft. Luckily on our way to Lobuche the mist Lingering above Pheriche had passed, revealing a bright and clear day, giving way to views that could melt even the coldest of hearts and bring them to a tear, for this land is special and its spirit is alive.
Awaking the next morning we were ready for Everest, we could see her in our sights, she was a short hike away. The higher we climbed towards the 17,000ft the thinner the air became. The altitude hit us and took over our bodies, sucking us dry. Altitude sickness symptoms started to stir inside myself and Johnny, so we decided to take the advice we had seen written so many times along the trek 'Don't ignore altitude sickness - DESCEND-DESCEND-DESCEND'. We listened to our bodies and the warnings and descended just before the official marker.
We had hiked the Base Camp Everest trek alone and we had made it out alive.
Meditation
We hiked four long hours from Pheriche to Loboche. We made it town at 1pm, tired and sore, we were ready for a lodge and a big bowl of Sherpa Stew.
We ate and rested, but the high altitude began to do very strange things to our bodies. The effects go something like this: when hiking at high altitude you start to walk like a much older version of yourself; breathing is harder as there is less oxygen; headaches occur; your mouth remains dry even when you drink water; you get tired, so very very tired; sometimes you get dizzy and fall down; and you have a tendency to go to bed very early, but remain awake and restless throughout the night, even though you are exhausted. Worse of all, altitude sickness can bring on death within 12 hours, and the only cure is descend as quickly as possible. You must always remember to listen to your body and walk very very slowly.
Awaking the next morning we were ready for Everest, we could see her in our sights, she was a short hike away. The higher we climbed towards the 17,000ft the thinner the air became. The altitude hit us and took over our bodies, sucking us dry. Altitude sickness symptoms started to stir inside myself and Johnny, so we decided to take the advice we had seen written so many times along the trek 'Don't ignore altitude sickness - DESCEND-DESCEND-DESCEND'. We listened to our bodies and the warnings and descended just before the official marker.
We had hiked the Base Camp Everest trek alone and we had made it out alive.
What went up must come down....
After nine days hiking up it took us three long days of hiking to get back to Lukla airport.
Our descent in pictures
16 seater plane to ourselves!
Love you forever BHW
xHMSx
1 comment:
So how I missed this post! :-( So beautifully written Hannah and I'm really really happy you came down. Such a fantastic achievement you must be so proud of yourselves!! Love you xx
Post a Comment