Written in retrospect due to extreme fatigue, altitude sickness, and busy socialising with my new girlfriends.

Yesterday We made it to Gorak Shep, the highest elevation we will sleep in (5180m) and from where we go to Everest Base Camp (EBC) and Kala Pattar. Kala Pattar is really where it's at--a small summit (5550m) and where we get panoramic views of the Himalayas, Everest being only one of dozens of massive peaks. The majority of tour groups arrive to Gorak Shep from Lobuche (3hr uphill hike), rest an hour then head to EBC and come back to Gorak Shep to sleep, before waking at 4am and going up Kala Pattar. All the books we have read said Kala Pattar is actually better in the arvo rather than sunrise. Also guides neglect to inform their clients that walking up Kala Pattar at 4am is walking in -20 degree weather. To avoid the crowd and the cold we decided to do the opposite, which in the end I was glad but at the time I wanted to hang with my new friends and they were going the typical route.

We left Lobuche together (me, Damo, Alicia and her guide Sham, Maggie & Erin, and their guide Ari and porter they referred to as Buddy because they couldn't pronounce his name, and hiked most of the three hours together. It was fun and hard, but mostly fun. When we arrived they went on to EBC and we started the long ascent to Kala Pattar.

I'm not lying when I say that hike from 5180 to 5550 was the hardest two and a half hours I have ever hiked. It just went up and up, which was fine, but the last hour was complete torture. Blue skies overhead made it an enjoyable form of tortire but the foot deep snow we had to traverse up (no we had no crampons, they would have come in handy!) was arduous, slow, and undeniably exhausting. With the air so thin I had to stop every ten meters. I started counting my steps, which helped. I would go 32 steps without stopping (my age) and did a few consecutive steps for my brothers, sister, mom, dad, and grandmother's age (33, 44, 45, 49, 67, 71, and 90 respectively). As I got close to the top however it looked so near but took so long because I was only able to go 10-15 without stopping. Cutting through snow is difficult and slippery business without skis or snowshoes.

Although I can almost confidently say this was the most difficult hike I have ever done, It was SO WORTH IT. When we arrived at the top the only group there were leaving and we had 360 degree views, including Everest all to ourselves. We basked in the sun and shared a cup of tea as we lay up there for over an hour. Damo shared with me it was one of the best moments of his whole life, and I'd have to agree.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent with our friends Alicia, Maggie, and Erin. We laughed about everything and shared both superficially humorous, and intimate stories about our lives. We bonded in our fatigue, altitude sickness, and the disgusting toilets we had to all share. I was sad to part ways with them (they are headed back down starting tomorrow while we are going a different route, and planning to go down to 3700m before going back up to Gokyo Ri at 5350m) but I honestly believe we will reconnect sometime in the future. It is interesting how close you can become to someone so quickly in a situation like this.

Tomorrow we have a huge day, over eight hours. We will hike to Everest Base Camp (5364m) from Gorak Shep, which is about five hours return, then have lunch before heading back down to Lonuche where we were before Gorak Shep.

Till then.