Day 13 cont. - Continue On to Everest Base Camp
A few more hours of arduous meandering up the glacier and I catch up with the others, then finally we’re there! Where? At a barren pile of rocks below the Khumbu Icefall, otherwise known during climbing season as the Everest Base Camp!
17 Photographs
1
Descending from Kala Pattar, and forging onward up the glacier towards Everest Base Camp, a frozen lake gives a rare spot of color on the otherwise monotonous dirty tones of the glacier.
2
The summit of Mt. Everest remains in view behind Nuptse (on the right.)
3
Nuptse is now the dominant landmark across the glacier, and avalanches noisily roar down its steep Western face every 20-30 minutes. Here, you can see one in action near the base, just at the edge of the rocks on the left.
4
The Khumbu glacier leads up to the left, to the base of the Khumbu Icefall coming down from the right.
5
The view of Nuptse changes rapidly from so close up as I skirt its base up the glacier.
6
The Khumbu glacier seems to continue down the valley forever.
7
Fissures and small crevasses appear even on the more gently sloped areas of the glacier.
8
I catch up to the rest of the group, and having them in the photo shows the enormous scale of the obstacles and features on the glacier!
9
Hiking on the uneven terrain is slow going at best...
10
... but the terrain itself can be the focus of interest with these peculiar pillars of ice and rock!
11
This one’s as tall as a person!
12
Here the glacier itself forms sculpted ice “waves.”
13
Getting very close now, the Western Cwm and the full Khumbu Icefall come into view. The summit of Mt. Everest is not visible from this low vantage point. (The peak in the center is its Western Shoulder.)
14
And here we are! All right, so it doesn’t look like much - just another pile of rocks on the glacier! But during climbing season, this place would be swarming with expeditions. For now, we’re enjoying the unpopulated scenery.
15
Dik and I celebrate with the icefall behind us.
16
Time for all the group photos with timer and tripod ready to go.
17
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here! Everest Base Camp on New Year’s Eve, 1999!