A hike to Everest Base Camp is probably the most legendary walking trip to do at least once in a lifetime. The place is the symbol of superlative things related to the Himalayas. On the hiking trail, hikers can experience the world’s highest and most extreme places and things. Therefore, the trip is one of the most popular hiking routes in Nepal.
The blog tries to highlight the major reason for the hikers while hiking to Everest Base Camp. Some people think that sweating and risking the lives by traveling the high-altitude places is futile. However, it is an understatement. The hike to Everest Base Camp endows countless tales of intrepidity and Himalayan wilderness. It is surely the most sought-after and never-to-miss-out journey to do!
Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain of the world. To reach the top of the mountain requires immense physical endurance and technical mountaineering skills. Everyone can’t reach the summit. However, it doesn’t stop people from reaching the foothills of such a mountain. Everest Base Camp (5364 m) is the place from where Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay embarked on their first-ever successful ascent of the gigantic mountain back in 1953. Therefore, leaving your footprints on such a place can be the most adventurous thing that you did in your lifetime. Get ready to shower the power of intrepidity to your soul. Raise the spirit and worship your ego by doing the Everest Base Camp Trek.
On the Everest Base Camp Trekking trail, trekkers can experience the superlative places. The hike to Everest Base Camp starts with the flight to the world’s most extreme airport the Tenzing Hillary Airport of Lukla. The world’s highest-situated national park the Sagarmatha National Park falls within the trekking route. Moreover, there is the world’s highest-situated hotel the Everest View Hotel on the route. Interestingly, the route also encompasses the world’s highest-altitude village the Dingboche Village at an altitude of 4400 m from sea level.
While doing the hike to Everest Base Camp, trekkers traverse through various villages of the Sherpa people and their monasteries. Major villages that fall within the Everest Base Camp Trekking trail are Khumjung, Khunde, Phakding, Benkar, Namche Bazaar, Pangboche, Tengboche, and Dingboche. These places have huge settlements of Sherpa people and also have various monasteries. These monasteries are centuries old and are the venue for the major festivals of Sherpa people like Mani Rimdu and Dumji. The most popular monastery in the Khumbu region is the Tengboche Monastery. Stroll around the farmlands, villages, and shrines of these people and get to know about them in their own backyard. Sherpa people are known in the world as the competent and expert mountaineers. In fact, they are the pillars of the mountaineering expeditions.
Do you know that hiking to Everest Base Camp can provide you the chance to experience three different vegetation styles? Yes, during the course of trekking, trekkers can experience three vegetation styles and they are temperate deciduous, alpine, and tundra vegetation. Nowhere in the world will you find a hiking trail that goes through such diversity in terms of vegetation. Until the trekkers reach the Namche Bazaar area, the vegetation is of deciduous temperate type. Therefore, the kind of wildlife found in the section is also different. The places between Gorakshep and Kyangjuma have alpine and sub-alpine vegetation. The presence of wildlife is also different. Finally, the places beyond Gorakshep have Tundra vegetation. So, while doing the hike to Everest Base Camp, trekkers can experience the environmental wonders too. This is also one of the reasons that you must hike to Everest Base Camp.
The location of Mt. Everest is debatable between China and Nepal. However, people across the globe and technically, the location of Mt. Everest summit are in Nepal. But the base camp of this world’s tallest mountain is located in both countries. The most famous base camp of Mt. Everest is its southern base camp which is located in Nepal.
In the Solukhumbu district of Nepal inside the Sagarmatha National Park and within the Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, the Everest Base Camp is located. There are no human settlements in the area and only accessible either by helicopter flight or by walking. However, the North Everest Base Camp located in the Tibetan side of the People’s Republic of China can be accessed via road. The trail leading up to the Everest Base Camp from Gorakshep (5180m) is rocky and rugged. Similarly, the route is over the moraine and melted glacier.
The difficulty level of doing Everest Base Camp Trek depends upon the ability of the trekkers. However, careful planning and well-organized trek operations make it easier for the trekkers to do the trekking. Normally, the grade of Everest Base Camp Trek is moderate. The trail is easy to walk on as there are not many straight vertical uphill sections. The major hurdle of the Everest Base Camp Trek is the altitude. Therefore, trekkers need to take lots of precautions. In order to avoid getting caught with altitude sickness or AMS, you need to follow the instructions of the guide and perform the acclimatization activities seriously. Having the proper dietary plan and drinking lots of liquids to keep the body hydrated is also the best way to make the Everest Base Camp Trek easy to trek on. Additionally, getting a travel insurance plan that includes emergency helicopter rescue, accidents, and medical expenses can be assuring to uplift the confidence level.
Don’t miss out on creating the legendary memory of traveling at least once in your lifetime. Brag with your friends and family by doing the trip to the foothills of the world’s tallest mountain Mt. Everest. The word Everest is definitely associated with greatness. Therefore, a hike to Everest Base Camp can be the most fulfilling thing that you have ever done in your life.