Everest Base Camp Trek Dispatch

May 2, 2010 – Keeping Our Balance Between Lobuche to Gorak Shep

This is Leila Silveira reporting from Gorak Shep. Everyone slept really well last night, even though we had a big jump in altitude.

Today we had the same usual schedule, 7/8/9 a.m. and were excited about moving higher to Gorak Shep. It's not a huge altitude gain, only 755 feet/230 metres, but the higher we go, the more we need to be careful and keep a close eye on each other. We learned a lot at the Pheriche Himalayan Rescue Association talk. One of the things that we play around with during our trekking days is testing ourselves to see if we have good balance. Right after Lobuche, when we got to the top of the hill, the girls did some yoga moves and their balance was perfect.

We enjoyed hiking with Pumori in the background and soon we had our first close-up view of Everest, which is always a magical experience. We arrived at Gorak Shep around noon and had lunch there. The goal is to climb Kala Pattar in the afternoon. The weather is great for climbing.

Stay tuned over the next few days as we attempt to achieve our goals: Kala Patar and Everest Base Camp.