Pheriche (Friday)

So the weather was very changable, and whilst at 0520h Kala Patar was clear, 10 mins later it wasn't.

We were "on watch" for the next few hours, but it was snowing and showing no sign of stopping, so we headed off from Gorak Shep, not attempting to summit Kala Patar.

The walk down was great, we dropped around 900m of vertical altitude, and it felt fantastic. The air was noticeably easier to breathe. I will wait till tomorrow morning to see how I feel.

I've had a nagging mountain-cough, and nasuesa for the last week, I'm hoping it'll disappear soon.

Tomorrow we head to Namche, it'll be a long hike, with more ups and downs, but clearly more downs than ups. I'm hoping we don't have to ascend into Namche, those stairs were a killer last time.

Fitness wise it's hard to tell how things are going. Without a doubt the lower altitude is improving things, but I also must be getting fitter too. Will be interesting to see how things are after I've been at (near) sea-level for a week or two.

Gorak Shep (Thursday Evening)

It's 7:30pm, and I'm tucked up in bed, my fingers are cold so I'm typing this with my head inside my sleeping bag, trying to warm up.

It's cold up here. I'm not sure, as I've run out of wifi again, but I've been informed it's definitely at least a 4 degrees below zero. This wouldn't be a big problem, but the teahouse isn't exactly up to grade with its insulation - none. 

Whilst the dining room is warm (ish), I've got a (possibly) big day tomorrow. The highest and toughest peak yet is Kala Patar. It's 5545m (18,200ft) (cf EBC is 5363m). This is the granddaddy of them all for this trip.

There is one caveat, which is we won't do it if the weather isn't favourable, aside from not being able to see anything, it makes it more dangerous, as it can turn very very cold very quickly.

I'm of mixed minds on this summit. Yes, it's the big one, it will be awesome, a big tick, but I only just survived Gokyo Ri. EBC was easier (that's agreed by all in our group).

Kala Patar is rocky scrambling terrain, where your walking pole is both a blessing (aiding in stepping up), and a curse (way too many places to get stuck and trip you up). It's a step initial climb, eases out for awhile, and is then a very step finish. It's a 3 hour hike up. To be honest, I'm not sure how I'll do. But I keep thinking - only one way to find out.

I told Prem last time, I'm gonna keep going until I either reach the top, or he tells me I have to turn back. I will do it on my hands and knees if I have to.

EBC (Thursday)

Woke up this morning in Lobuje, and we headed out around 7am for Gorak Shep, we arrived around 9:30am.

This was our stop for a short while to fill up, change out the contents in our daypack, in preparation for our final trek. 

10:30am we set off. As we were preparing to leave, there was much discussion around what to wear, how many layers? hard shell? Walking poles?

I set off with 3 layers (base, t-shirt, and lightweight hardshell), beanie and my buff around the neck. Before long most were stripping off layers.

No matter where I've been, I've always ended up in a base layer and little else. Today it was just long/sleeve base layer and my hardshell rain/wind jacket.

A couple of hours later, we made it. We stood on the ridge looking down into base camp, made our way down past the rock danger, scrambled over the boulders, and another 10 minutes later we were standing there.

It was an emotional experience, so many days leading up to it, so much struggle, so much effort, so many steps (about 246,000), but I finally got there.

Everyone was Hi-Five'ing everyone, hugs all around. The guides brought hot chocolate, and around 1,000 photos were taken.