Everest Base Camp Trek – Day 7
Date: 18 November 2017
Walked to: Lobuje
Distance: 5 miles
Altitude: Sleeping at 4,930m

Today was properly tough. Every step uphill (and we gained 580m in height) was hard won, and the memorials at Chukpo Lari to the many climbers who have died on Everest were poignant beyond words.

After a steep climb, post-breakfast, out of Dingboche, we followed the glacial valley as it climbed slowly up to Dugla, where we stopped for a hot drink before the trek up to the climbers’ memorials. So many people, from all over the world, have died following their dream to conquer Everest. And in the majority of cases their bodies are left on the mountain, frozen in the place where they drew their last breath, like fossils preserved in Amber. This climb up to the Base Camp seems tough enough; I simply can’t imagine the personal drive that would get someone all the way to the top of one of these Himalayan mountains. That said, our group met a guide this morning who has summited Everest an extraordinary seven times.

The hardest part of the day for me was the gradual but relentless climb up the valley to Lobuje, which seemed to go on forever, with the end very much hidden from sight. When we got to our tea house for the night (in time for a late lunch) the best I could do was to force a plate of steamed rice down my throat before heading out of the door for an hour long ‘acclimatisation’ walk up another sodding hill. Since we got back I’ve been huddled around a fire, dressed in almost every item of clothing I own, and day dreaming about hot weather.