31 May SummitClimb Dispatch: Leaving Base Camp

Leaving Base Camp: Until We Meet Again – Our helicoptering members all made it to Kathmandu, and all of their bags made it to Kathmandu too!! Now they are enjoying the sweet comforts of our Thamel Hotel. The rest of us are trekking down. It's going to be fun. It snowed a little last night, but just a dusting, not a big deal. 

Our 24 yaks arrived at 7am and we took down our camp. When I say we, I am talking about a group of 27 people, working hard to get everything packed up into 25 kilo yak loads. These yaks are really amazing beasts. If you have ever seen a herd of them cruising along the trail with their huge bags, you would never forget it. They are a hairy species of cow and have been domesticated for at least 700 years. 

Yaks are huge and when they have enough food, they can easily carry 60 kilos all day long. It’s the dry season now, so the yak herders have to buy grass at these high altitudes, and their yaks can't carry as much. When you are hanging around large trains of yaks, the first thing you notice is their massive hooked horns. WATCH OUT. Yaks are generally very slow and docile, but they can swing those horns around, jab at things, other yaks, or people and run at high speeds for short distances. 

Another thing about being around yaks, is the racket. They all have cowbells around their necks, so when you are walking with them it sounds like you might be in some kind of massive moving Christmas Market. And the yak herders are special people. They shout at their yaks in high pitched yelps. They throw rocks at their yaks with surprising skill, even when on the move. The herders have to lift the yak loads up and down, and strapping/unstrapping an inconsistent bundle or slippery barrel onto the back of a shuffling, cringing, twitching great beast is no mean feat. A sizable percentage of yak herders are women and their accuracy with hurling stones and their vocal range used in cajoling and coaxing their charges is unmatched. 

We walked today through the highest civilized outpost to basecamp, known as Gorak Shep, a collection of 7 teahouses, on the edge of the Khumbu glacier, dwarfed beneath the massive Mount Nuptse, and squeezed up against a dry lake bed, along the flanks of the Kala Patar Viewing Ridge, perhaps the most famous place for EBC trekkers to get a view of Everest. Then we walked down to Lobuche Village, the home of 10 teahouses and the main jumping off point to the famous Lobuche Trekking Peak, which has superb views of Everest from its summit. Also, Lobuche is the location of the fantastical looking giant Italian Research Pyramid, which is funded by the Italian Government and NASA and highly involved in atmospheric chemistry and other Everest weather research. 

Just below Lobuche lies the Dughla memorial to fallen Everest climbers, where their loved ones have built memorials to honour their passing. It is a very moving place to be and it seems you can feel the spirits of the climbers here, and the power of Everest. Then we hiked down valley to Dughla hamlet, a group of 4 teahouses and restaurants located at the terminus of the Khumbu Glacier, where the Dudh Khosi river begins, and the Everest Glacier ends. Its an amazing place to see the river in its infancy, shooting out from beneath the rocks. We stopped here for a delicious dinner and a good night’s sleep in a soft warm bed, to the lullaby pitter patter of rain and sleet drops falling on the roof of our teahouse.

Source: SummitClimb