Altitude Sickness on the final day | EBC Trek Day 10
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- Опубліковано 13 лип 2024
- #altitudesickness #everestbasecamptrek #himalayas
Day 10 of my Everest base camp trek. This big day. Typically people get up early in Lobuche and set off on the 2-3 hour trek to Gorakshep at 5,164m. They then drop their bags in the tea house and head onwards over rocky ground to Everest Basecamp at 5,364m elevation. They would then go back to Gorakshep and get up early the next day to climb Kala Patthar.
Our plan was actually to do Kala Patthar for sunset because apparently you get better views (if it's not cloudy). It also means that you don't have to wake up at 4am in Gorakshep when it was likely to be -20 celsius.
All well laid plans.
However, shortly after going to sleep in Lobuche, I woke up with a headache...one of the signs of altitude sickness. Whilst not incredibly painful it was bad enough to stop me from sleeping for most of the night.
We waited for a couple of hours in the morning to see if it was getting better but eventually, Ganesh (my guide) had to call it. Not EBC for me - we had to head down. Whilst it would have been nice to go to basecamp as that's the main purpose of the trip, I wasn't going to mess around with altitude sickness. Especially since we met someone who had what sounded like acute mountain sickness in Gorakshep and later heard that another had been in a very serious condition in Lobuche a couple of days before.
It was a long day trekking down the valley, feeling better and better the lower we got. The aim was to get to Tengboche, though 8 or 9 hours later we got all the way back to Namche Bazaar which meant it was around a 30km day.
I had quite a long time to reflect as we were heading down. Sure, basecamp and Kala Patthar would have been the icing on the cake. However, the whole trip had been so good that even if I did it again, and got altitude sickness in Lobuche again, I'd still do it. There wasn't a single day where I was bored, which is fairly rare on multi day trips for me!
As per the video, the only solace was the fact that it was the most cloudy day of the whole trip. So, even if we had got to basecamp and Kala Patthar, we wouldn't have been able to see very much at all.
0:00 - Altitude sickness on EBC Trek
1:05 - I'd do it again
2:50 - Route to Dingboche
5:40 - Cloudy day in the Himalayas
9:32 - Everest Region Foothills
11:36 - Arriving in Namche Bazaar
As the saying goes, it's not the destination, it's the journey! I And, base camp or not, this trek is an amazing journey!! Altitude sickness does not discriminate...so it's the luck of the draw. Appreciated your reflections and your positive outlook! I enjoyed following you along this journey! Best of luck on your next adventures!
@Murielle - it is indeed, can't believe I didn't think of that saying!! Thanks for the kind words
Beautiful video
Love your work, remember that discretion is the better part of valour.
The view is astonishing!
@Random Things! - the whole place is astonishing!
@@WiththeSparrows true 🙂
Remarkably cheerful considering how close you got.....super-wise decision. Well done!
Great video!
I've pondered doing the EBC trek and never understood the whole "touch the rock labeled Everest Base Camp even though it's not where the climbers camp thing". I'd like to think I wouldn't mind not walking to that EBC rock if I'd seen all the other, better views at similar altitude.
I'm headed to Nepal in the autumn and I'll find out if this is true.
@Nonaligned - I think you'll have an amazing time whatever the outcome. The Himalayas is just amazing, I loved it.
Over the last few weeks i have really enjoyed watching your videos. Im off to nepal in Nov 2023 so your videos have been a great source of infomation and advice. I was guuted that you were not able to get to EBC due to altitude sickness. Hopefully at some point in the future you will be able to finish it off.👍
@DC03 “Fourright” PAR - glad you enjoyed them and I hope they are useful. Hope you have a great trip in November......it's something else!
Hey
How many days accumulation you took ? And which camps ??
Great attitude !
Just wonder, do you take any diamox for your trip ?
@Antonius Ricardo - I didn't no. Hadn't even thought of it until someone mentioned it halfway up the trek! Still not sure if I would take it if I went back, though it might be worth a try!
Hi, thank you for the videos. Well done. I had an almost identical experience last year - solo trek (with guide and a porter) and turning back from Dingboche after a nightmare no-sleep night. Headaches were creeping in before that but that's where I pulled the plug for the sake of safety. I've been unable to shake the feeling of unfinished business since then. So, I'm going back with my wife and adult kids in October 2024 (my family needs lots of heads up to get time off work). We're adding 3 days to the standard itinerary and (I am) planning to use Diamox as well. Do you plan on going back? Do you have any thoughts how you would increase your "summit" likelihood if you were to go again? Regards, Geoff E.
@kiwifr00t2 - ah sucks that you had to pull out at Dingboche, even then it's still a great trip. I don't have any plans to go back anytime soon, though I could be tempted at a later date especially if I can drag a friend along. If I did, I'd definitely add the extra time again, and maybe think about Diamox. To be honest though, I can't imagine that having covid a couple of weeks before wasn't exactly helpful! One thing that I didn't mention in the video was that my room at Lobuche was right under the chimney - there wasn't much wind and so my room felt like it was just full of smoke all night.....again, can't imagine that's too good for the old blood oxygen levels.