Everest Base Camp Bound
Everest Base Camp Trek
Date: Nov. 10-24 2017
Guide: Ace The Himalaya
Upon request by the one and only Mariah Bridges, here is my experience with pre trip info, admin stuff and gear gather.
This would be cool huh?
Checking my email one day I noticed the headline, Trip to Everest base camp. This 14 day trek is popular and completed by hikers every year. I decided I would forward this email to Amber, my wife, because we always talk about epic adventures and toss out ideas to each other all the time. Little did I know she would end up researching the EBC trek for a few days then say, "I really want to go on that hiking trip."
I also did some research and found that many people suggested using a guide service based in Nepal verse say the REI adventures route. I stumbled upon ACE the Himalaya and read through reviews and trip blogs from people all over the world that used the company. I even reached out to a couple that live in the U.S. and completed the trek. I called their U.S. based office and talk with their representative a couple times and have had extensive and prompt email contact with the Nepal office. This company not only does guide service but also gives back to a number of remote villages in the Himalaya. They organize volunteerism and assist the Sherpa people in as they need.
Trip booked, now what?
We read through all the trip info and guidance that ACE had to offer after officially booking our trip. Lots of stuff and information that make you realize this trek is to be taken seriously. We have not done any special training or hiking to prepare for the trip yet. My wife runs 4 times a week and I am doing IMChoo in a couple weeks. The month of October will consist of hiking and gear break-in trips. Since we have been avid hikers since college, we both already own relatively new boots that are broke in.
Following both the companies packing list and individuals that completed the trip we have came up with a minimalists approach to the gear we will need for the trip. Learning about proper layering and waterproofing will hopefully allow us the be for efficient when packing, not bringing useless stuff that takes up space and weight.
We did invest in new day packs, trekking pants and waterproof pants, new light weight and mid-weight base layers, and gloves. Everything else we already own. Still need a power supply bank thingy, probably get one with lots of good reviews on amazon, I have already been looking. Gotta keep the gopro/camera charged.
The flight is how long?
This will be the longest flight either of us have been on so we are just along for the ride and hope the movies are good and seats are at least a little comfy. We will be jumping from Charlotte, to JFK, Abu Dhabi, then finally Kathmandu, Nepal. We are getting there a couple days early to get settled, do a city tour, and any shopping for things we are not flying with.
Hurry up and wait!
Basically this is where we are. If we were true over achievers we would have been doing some hiking and stuff like that but I will get in what we can when we can. I will continue to update this thread as things progress and departure nears.
Any tips or experiences are welcome and if you want/ have specific questions just let me know.
Comments
Hello Josh....you are absolutely going to love this trip. Julian, my husband and I did it years ago and after base camp...we spent several years after conquering other parts of the Himalaya. It was one of the best trips we have ever done. The people and the country are just wonderful. You and your wife will certainly be fit enough...just make sure you take your time and go slow. You don't really realize until you are there just how much the altitude gets you. Are you going with a company? Assume you are and if they are good, they will keep pace for you. As Julian is racing CHOO with you, and I will be there with the family, feel free to pull on us live to ask any questions if we see you there before the race in a couple weeks time!
2. Keep this resource going because its going to be epic I just know it!
3. Would love to see what gear you have, how you two are training, more specifically Amber since I know you have a good base with CHOO etc, she was doing some road races right?
4. Any links to the gear you got would help me over in kili I'm sure so once you sit down maybe add some links?
5. YOU TWO ROCK THE MOST
http://www.2clight.com (Made in New Zealand by a couple of US ex-pats; in the "why didn't I think of that" category)
http://www.goalzero.com/p/347/nomad-7-plus-solar-panel (make sure you get a battery pack) I researched a number of portable solar panels, this was the best combo of light weight, ease of use, and charging power.
You might also consider Intermittent Hypoxication Training for a couple of weeks prior (make sure to take Iron while doing it), to ease the acclimation. Google it, or read my blog post from eight years ago:
http://bikrutz.org/triblog/?p=242
Thanks a ton Al, those hats are awesome really like the headsweats type they have on there.
I have been looking at a solar panel and power bank, thanks for the recommendations.
Not sure if I can do the IHT, but that would be awesome. Altitude tent and generator is the only way to do to IHT correct?
@Josh Church
Al - you reminded me of the Dhal Bat....just this will make you want to stay and not come home again!
Josh - would you believe that when we were there....we did NOT worry about battery or charging station. We did not have connection to the outside world for the whole time..and it was the best thing around! Understand you may not want to do this now however think about just shutting off and enjoying what you are going to experience vs texting home what is going on. It's an amazing experience that is worth taking the time to enjoy.
http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Comparison_of_Altitude_Training_Systems
I've used many times prepping for IMs and marathons, but not for pre-trek training. Much better IMO is the standard method of gradually increasing altitude exposure, say, takin 5-7 days to get up to 5000 meters.
Like Dawn, we did not connect to the inter webs for two weeks, but I still found the GoalZero solar panel charging system invaluable for keeping the cameras, iPad, garments Felix topped up nightly.
@Dawn Cass our main thing is keeping our cameras charged and hopefully my watch. I would love to have the trekking data to look at later. We will connect to Internet a few times but not much more.
First of all, it feels like we have been getting amazon packages nonstop for a month. We already had decent hiking clothing and base layer stuff so we mainly focused on the gear needed. Electronic things, chargers, solar stuff, water treatment and luggage organizers.
Gear Bought
We both opted for 36L packs, as far as I could tell this is plenty to carry your extra layers, snacks, camera etc. Packs are personal so I wont put any links you just need to go to a local store and get fitted and advice.
*I will admit I order both of our packs online but this isn't our first hiking backpack and we can figure out what will work after a few trial runs.
My wife got the Hydrapak http://www.amazon.com/Hydrapak-3L-100oz-Shape-Shift-Reservoir/dp/B005SQEHS2/ref=pd_sim_468_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AFDRA0TKG0WP8754HGVN&dpID=41XlljR-UXL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail , awesome bladder. I already had a camel bak but would go with the Hydrapak if your buying one.
We opted for the Anker 21w solar panel http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-PowerPort-iPhone-Galaxy/dp/B012YUJJM8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1509771900&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+solar+21+w and 20000 mAh power bank http://www.amazon.com/Anker-20000mAh-Portable-Charger-PowerCore/dp/B00X5RV14Y/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1509771953&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=anker+powercore+210100 to keep things charged up. Both had good reviews on amazon and were recommended by others that had used them on treks.
Also got a universal power converter with outlets and usb ports.This one http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012ERZ7B8/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1 This way if we do have power or decide to pay for it, we can charge all of our devices at the same time. Ill let you know how it turns out.
Water treatment wise we got the Steri pen http://www.amazon.com/SteriPen-Classic-Purifier-Pre-Filter-bundle/dp/B00V7P1R86/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1509772484&sr=1-1&keywords=steri+pen+classic+3 and I also bought the Sawyer http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-SP140-Personal-34-Ounce/dp/B005SO8VAE/ref=sr_1_11?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1509772726&sr=1-11&keywords=sawyer+mini+water+filter bottle locally, these things are really neat and universal so i hope it works well. For emergency we have tablets http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Micropur-Purification-Tablets-30-Pack/dp/B06X3SQ5ZB/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1509772813&sr=1-3-fkmr0&keywords=katadyn+water+treatment+tablets
The other neat things we got are these Gonex packing cubes http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCVHY4S?ref_=ams_ad_dp_asin_img&th=1 These will be put to good use in the large duffel bag that our porter will carry so that it stays organized so we can easily find things when we need them. **Quick note: we are lining our duffel bag provided by our guide company with a thick trash bag for extra water protection. I have been dong this for awhile doing thru hikes on the AT, I learned a lot from the old trail guys.
That actually sums up most of the gear we bought. We also took this trip as an opportunity to update alot of our treking clothing, which is probably the reason for so many packages. lol. We really wanted merino wool stuff but it was more than what we wanted to spend. So we opted for a couple new sets of polyester type base layers.
My wife stuck with her Merrel Moab Gortex boots, I tried to get her a pair of Salomon boots like mine http://www.amazon.com/Salomon-Backpacking-Iguana-Asphalt-Titanium/dp/B00KWK2IY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1509773793&sr=1-1&nodeID=7141123011&psd=1&keywords=solaman+hiking+boots but she wouldn't go for it. That surprised me too, she loves shoes!!
This is for @Mariah Bridges and other ladies curious as to what my wife did leading up to the trek.
Really simple and consistent exercise. Her last race was the Disney Princess Half in Febuary, I think it was. The Disney magic makes me forget dates. lol. Anyways she continued running 4 days a week pretty consistantly. Since Oct she has been adding in lunges, squats, core work all with weights like kettle bells and dumbbells. That's basically it.
The Time is Now
Our trip has finally come and we fly out Nov 7th. I will give an update when we return and let you know how our gear did and what we would have done differently.
Apologies for the ridiculous gap in time. So all of our gear worked great and you can reference the important items in my previous post above. Also checkout the podcast Amber and I did with Mariah and hopefully that covers all of the bases. Never felt like we were lacking anything or would have taken anything more.
A Couple Things To Do Differently
- Wear your backpack rain cover all the time. The trails were so dusty that everything was layered with dirt, but the rain cover can help with that.
- Use the water flavoring you bring with you. We took some propel like flavoring but only used it a couple times when I felt bad and needed to drink. I should have used it at least once a day to help me drink more water.
A couple neat things I didn't Mention
We met Jamling Norgay one of the sons of Tenzing Norgay, the first to summit Mt. Everest alongside Sir Edmond Hillary. Really neat to talk with him and we hiked down from the Tenzing Norgay Statue above Namche with him. He was very chatty and was telling us about when he visited Tennessee for the IMAX Everest Movie, small world.
I didn’t come back a die hard dhal bat fan but I did return with a love for tea. Pain black tea, green tea, ginger honey lemon, masala tea and the spicer the better. It’s always good to broaden your horizons.
Having issues with photos at the moment but will upload some below ASAP. @Mariah Bridges