We decided to hike to Nepal’s Everest Base Camp in October / November 2016 for my 40th birthday. The track conditions were something I was a little worried about before leaving because I seem to have the ability to slip on rocks, dirt or any other forms of loose ground coverage that everyone else doesn’t even notice!
So, I was really surprised when we got there and discovered that the track and paths were in good condition. They were dusty and dirty but for the most part solid and not too many loose stones or dirt. For full disclosure, I did not slip at all on the way up…… coming down I certainly destroyed my poles which were used regularly to stop my foot sliding too far forward. Naturally I was the only person on our trip who appeared to struggle with the concept of walking hahaha. I never fell for the record.
Villages
The “roads” within the villages are really quite good. They don’t require any fancy footwear to walk around in and are all pretty consistent. The villages lower down are probably a little more developed in this area but that is also because they are much easier to get to. As you get higher and higher it is harder to get things in and out of the villages as it is mostly all carried in by humans or animals.
Suspension Bridges
There are a few suspension bridges to cross and you cross them on the way up and again on the way down. They are a little rocky but they seem to hold a large number of Yaks that will cross all at the same time so I had my fingers crossed they’d hold our group without issue. It was almost an adventure in itself but (assuming you aren’t completely terrified of heights) it felt safe and exciting.
Path from Lukla to Gorak Shep (your last stop before heading to Base Camp)
The path up the mountain from Lukla to Gorak Shep is well developed in my opinion. There can be a lot of people on it, especially in the busier months and you will often have to allow Yaks and Mules to pass along the way. The mountain can drop off sharply to one side so you need to ensure you are always against the mountain side when being passed to ensure you remain safe in the event of a knock. Our guides called it “Mountain side” and “Sui-cide” (e.g. standing on the open side of the mountain and letting an animal pass against the mountain was not going to end well). Whenever our guides yelled out mountain side, we were quick to push up against the mountain.
The hike itself is quite pleasant though. There are countless steps that you will encounter along the way, the mountain goes up and down like a yoyo but the actual track feels quite safe and I didn’t feel at risk of falling off the side to my death at any point (always a positive), even at the more narrow points.
Track from Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp
As you climb higher up, the trees will disappear and it becomes more icy. We were extremely fortunte on our trek to have good weather every day. When I say good weather, I mean at Gorak Shep it was -29°C but when the sun came up it stayed up all day. It wasn’t overcast, snowing or exceptionally windy. So, freezing cold but with sun.
At some times of year it will snow and it can be overcast. Snow on the higher parts of the mountain will make the hike more challenging than what we encountered (as you will notice we did not walk through any snow). We met someone on the tour before ours and he said that they never even got to see Everest on the whole trip because it was overcast every day. So, you get what you get with the weather and we know how fortunate we were.
The last part of the hike was different to what we had been hiking in so far. We were crossing glaciers and climbing rocks to get to our final destination. At one stage, we thought we were resting on a rock to discover a beautiful shimmer of blue just off the side. On closer inspection it was ice which was dirty on top. It is a truly amazing place.
Back to the track though, the track still felt safe. I did put my hands on rocks to climb around at one point (while everyone else just walked on through) but never felt like I would fall and hurt myself. The pace at this point is also very slow due to the altitude so lots of opportunity to be careful.
My overall opinion is that the track was in really good condition for just about anyone to be able to walk on. Altitude is obviously harder and different for everyone but the track itself was great.
