AWC Going Dutch Dec 2018

High Altitude Trekking (cont.)
Continued from page 43
The skies were white above, but clear down
below. It was quite exciting when the first helicopter
arrived even though we knew that it
was for one of the other two groups waiting.
We were relieved when we arrived to find
only ten other trekkers there before us, as we
were concerned that there might have been
dozens. As soon as the first helicopter left,
another was preparing to land; alas, that one
was also not ours.
pressed that Kent managed
the entire trek without hiking
poles – they were an
essential extension of my
arms at all times. Luckily,
we never needed any technical
gear such as ropes or
harnesses. I was also relieved
that we never had
to do any hand scrambling
like on my training hike to
Scafell Pike in England;
personally, I prefer to hike
with my feet rather than my
hands.
No sooner had the second one left than the
clouds closed in. Our hopes of escape turned
to worry that we might be stuck in that tiny
teahouse overnight (we learned later that
around 80 trekkers had been stuck there two
nights previously and many had slept on
the floor). By then another group had hiked
down from Lukla; one trekker from Chicago
said they’d been stuck in Lukla for five days
and had already rebooked their flights home
for an extra $1,000 each. It had started to
rain, so we hunkered down and ordered
hot drinks. Just as we were contemplating
ordering lunch (either dal bhat or stir-fried
noodles as they’d run out of all other options),
Ishor rushed in to stop us, claiming
that our helicopter was on its way. As we’d
heard that before and it was still raining, we
weren’t too hopeful, but were pleasantly
surprised about ten minutes later when we
heard the familiar whirring sound of the
blades and the helicopter appeared through
the mist.
As soon as the pilot had finished a cup of
coffee, we were told to grab our daypacks
and start running. Our porters were already
loading our duffel bags onboard. Unlike the
previous pilot, whom we witnessed briefing
his passengers before boarding, ours didn’t
bother. We chose Teresa, the smallest, to get
in the front and the rest of us piled into the
back after quick hugs with Ishor. I wasn’t
thrilled that I didn’t have a seatbelt (it was
stuck under the seat), but luckily it didn’t
matter.
Perhaps our pilot was a bit of a cowboy or
just a crazy risk taker, but he took off in
that rain without saying a word. Eventually
he tried putting on his seatbelt and needed
Teresa’s help. Luckily it didn’t rain for the
entire 51-minute journey. Though I wasn’t
by a window, the views were still incredible.
We followed the river for much of the way
and saw lots of waterfalls. It was 40 minutes
before I noticed the first road and cars; all
of the villages and terraced farms we saw
along the way had to be reached on foot or
by animal. Even with the drama, it was a
damn fine way to end an epic journey.
Nitty Gritty
For those of you who like details, it’s impossible
to tell our tale without including some
numbers. When it was all done and over,
we had been on the mountain for 15 days.
We had 14 days of hiking, of which 12 were
moving from village to village and 2 were
acclimatization “rest days” when we still
hiked for about 4 hours each. Eight of those
days were on the journey up to EBC and six
were on our way down. Most days we hiked
for six to eight hours, stopping for about
an hour around noon for a hot lunch. We
only had one actual rest day, which we spent
writing in our journals, reading and playing
cards. We also had one entirely unplanned
hiking day that was not on our original itinerary:
from the airport down to the helipad.
My total distance was approximately 80
miles (130k). Teresa, Carlin and Kent’s
totals were approximately 85 miles (137k)
each since they did the extra sunrise hike
plus one extra leg on one of the acclimatization
hikes. Our lowest point was the helipad
at 7,200 feet (2,200 meters) and the highest
we did together was EBC at
17,600 feet (5,364 meters)
for a net gain of 10,400 feet
(3,164 meters). Of course,
this doesn’t account for the
Nepali Flat factor, which
meant that we were always
going up and down on any
given day. Typical daily elevation
changes were 1,300
– 2,600 feet (400 – 800 meters).
Although there was lots
of snow on the peaks, we
didn’t hike through any
snow or ice. The worst
weather that we encountered
was some hail at EBC
itself. I was incredibly im-
All of our accommodations
had electricity and at least one shared
Western toilet; we slept in double rooms in
sleeping bags on top of beds. We had three
hot meals each day and the food was better
than we expected.
As difficult as the trek was, there was never
a day that I woke up and didn’t want to hike.
I’ve been asked several times if I’d do it again
and my answer is consistently no. However,
that doesn’t mean that I regret going – in fact
the opposite is true: I’m thrilled that I went
on this incredible journey. However, it was a
once-in-a-lifetime adventure, thus there’s no
need to repeat it. There are plenty of other
treks to do in Nepal and beyond. Wonder
what Kent will dream up for us next?
44 GOING DUTCH
DECEMBER 2018 45