From May 11 - May 22, I hiked a total of 105 miles (~169 km) from Lukla, Nepal to Everest Base Camp and back. I hiked up and down steep mountain valleys, across long cable bridges, and around really, really tall mountains. Every single day I was surrounded by absolutely huge snowcapped mountains like nothing I've seen before, and I met a lot of great people along the way. It was an absolutely incredible trip, and I highly recommend it (the company I went with was Access Nepal).
For those interested, I've included some of my favorite pictures below. At the highest point, I was at 18,500 feet (5,630 meters), which some people do begin to experience altitude sickness at even if they're taking the appropriate medication. Personally, I didn't run into any problems, but there was one guy I ran into who was experiencing absolutely terrible migraines. I also saw a few people I met take rescue helicopters back, but I think they were mostly just tired rather than sick.
Anyhow...
This photo was from the second day. All along the trek, you go through small towns that mostly cater to the hikers on the trail. However, supplies for these towns must be carried all the way from Lukla, which is the regional airport, because there's no roads anywhere nearby. This means that the further you get from Lukla, the more expensive everything gets. Past a certain point, you also want to stop eating any meat as there's no refrigeration.
Fifth day walking along the trail. This part was unusually well maintained -- probably because there was a steep mountain hillside to the right and they want to keep it safe.
Probably my favorite photo. This is Mt. Ama Dablam taken from a hill near Dingboche. I was at almost 5000 meters when I took this photo, and I woke up at a 5am so I could see it before the clouds rolled in later that day.
Another photo of Mt. Ama Dablam.
On the eighth day, looking out at a barren wilderness.
Another picture of the barren wilderness. This is well above the tree line!
Day 9 - Everest! This is taken from the top of Mt. Kala Patthar, which stands at 18,500 feet (5630 meters). Getting the top was the most physically exhausting hike I had done so far, but that's mostly because we also went to Everest Base Camp that day. All told, I did about 15 miles that day (~24km) and a whole lot of elevation changes.
Everest is the taller peak on the left hand side. The tallest peak in the picture is Nupste, which is actually a 1,000 meters shorter than Everest.
This is Goreksep, which is the last little town before Everest Base Camp. The mountain behind it is Pumori.
Panoramic view of Everest Base Camp.
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