1 whistle for yak attack, 2 whistles for yeti attack

Ok so....I am backtracking a bit here...and its hard....I don't know maybe you get some sort of altitude induced amnesia but I have lost bits and pieces. Where we were at this point I couldn't even remember where we had woken up the day before so bear with:)

I awoke in Lobuche to looking out my window to snow on the tin roof..mmmm...ok then. We had breakfast, my usual of porridge and boiled eggs and milk coffee. I put my gaiters on (I didn't even know what they were til the trek!)....had 2 pairs of long johns and pants and 4 layers on top. It was snowing...probably about 5 cm on the ground already. We walked up through what I would call "rock falls"...rocks ranging from regular rock size to the size of a firetruck. Gareth was unwell, the altitude was getting to him and I had given him a shot of maxeran the night before (I think). He is a tough "Whalian" though:) After climbing and climbing to the top of one of these giant rock waterfalls we came to a memorial to climbers and sherpas who had lost their lives in summit attempts...there were probably around 30 memorials spread out. I found the memorial to Scott Fisher, one of the expedition leaders who lost his life in the 1996 disaster on Everest and tied a prayer flag to the many already waving in the wind. Quite a moment for me. It was snowing wet snow and eventually we were trudging through maybe 10cm all morning til we arrived at Gorak Shep. We had lunch, put our duffles in our rooms and got prepared for the final ascent to Everest Base Camp.

The snow was still there but melting a bit as the sun climbed although it was cloudy. We walked through rocky river beds and around mountain paths until we saw the camp in the distance...the yellow and orange tents of EBC. Gareth was still unwell, vomiting along the way. But this trek is not for the weak and the Himalayas are unforgiving...like I said, he is a tough, but sweet Whalian and he knew that if he stopped we would go on without him...that's just the way of the Himalayas. I knew that we were on the final ascent into BC, so I turned the video on and HERE WE WERE....Everest Base Camp!!!...May 24 around 1515. To some it may be a little anticlimactic but for me this was IT!!! There was a big rock with a sign saying Everest Base Camp with a zillion prayer flags blowing in the wind and I added mine. I could see the tents in the distance and Khombu icefall below me, and a foggy area in the distance where the climbers started. The icefall has taken many in it were tragedy has struck and I thought of those people as I looked down. We could hear the glacier shifting and avalanches high above us...one never forgets a sound like that. It was just like I had read, and beyond words. The sun had come out for us and we were the only group there...the holy mountain was welcoming us! We were surrounded by the mighty Himalayas...what a sight. We were at 5364m, and each and every one of us had a smile. Gareth stepped away from his nausea for a few minutes and stripped naked to run through camp...it was planned but I think I was the only one who believed he would do it....I had 2 cameras ready to go:)

We didn't go to the tents as it was about another 30-60 minute hike, and we were limited in time...light was fading and you DO NOT want to be caught in the dark finding your way back to your lodge. We took pictures and took in what we would probably never see for ourselves again and what few have ever seen.

Down we went, had dinner, and went to bed preparing for a 5am "optional" departure for Kala Pathar....a "small" Himalayan peak.