Bakhim to HMI base camp via Dzongri

Even with the cold wind coming in from broken panes, I slept peacefully - the institute issued down sleeping bag was amazingly warm. However, I woke up earlier than usual because there were no closed loos here at Bakhim for either gender - just two separate yellow flag areas. Considering I had never used the natural open surroundings for my morning ablutions, I wanted to get out there before rest of the crowd woke up. So I stepped out with a head lamp and an ice axe. Former because it was completely dark outside and latter because the protocol is to dig a hole, do your business and cover it up! Digging holes at 4 am in pitch dark with shivering hands...what had I signed up for!!!

~11000 ft. End point of acclimatization hike from Bakhim

Today was the acclimatization hike on the same route that we would take tomorrow to Dzongri. We started at 8 am and reached the end point of today's hike (~11,000 ft high) by 10:15 am or so. We didn't have our backpacks on and the terrain was pretty flat but it still left me breathless.  I started to worry even more about the next day's hike. If without backpack, on the easier half of the trail, I was so tired and breathless, how would I manage the whole hike with 12 kilo backpack the next day?

We came back to Bakhim around 12:30 pm or so, had lunch and attended a class out in the open. By the time we finished the class my anxiety over next day's hike had reached new levels. The last 2 hours of hike from Yuksom to Bakhim had shook my confidence completely. I was just looking for another person to say that s/he will go back and I would have joined him/her. In the meanwhile, an interesting thing happened - I noticed that one of the American girls was carrying the boots on her own. Women had the discount on same - our boots were 'shipped' to base camp using the yaks. When I asked her for the reason, she said she wanted to make the hike count...I told her, carry my bag too if that would help your cause :)

Anyway, I made a deal with her - since she was finding it tough to carry the boots - that I will get the boots offloaded to the yaks and she can carry a portion of the load reduced for me instead. It took some work on my part and her part but the instructors finally relented. And that's how she and I both lightened our loads a bit.

Dzongri - women accomodations, kitchen & a shop

Next day, with this lighter backpack and armed with a precautionary pain killer (a suggestion from my Czech friend), I got ready for the toughest day of our hike - 11 km from Bakhim (~9000 ft) to Dzongri (~13,200ft). I don't know what it was - lighter backpack, painkiller, or the half day rest that we got on the acclimatization day or simply that I could get some breakfast inside me - but I was amongst the first quartile to reach the destination for the day. It wasn't easy - after all we climbed 4000 ft in one day - even without any backpack it's a really tough hike but I didn't feel close to dying as I did on way to Bakhim. I was elated at having made it without incident because we were told that last day's hike isn't too tough.

Acclimatization hike from Dzongri

In the evening, post lunch we went for a short acclimatization hike to about 14000 ft of height. Both the altitude and the approaching winter had made the weather really cold. The exhaustion hit me after this acclimatization hike and I crashed pretty early without dinner. The accommodations for women were again wooden quarters (limited space but warmer than tents) and men were again in tents.

On the last and final day of the hike, we were all very excited about the hike as we would get to see the base camp - our home for next 8 days. The first 2 hours of this 13 km trail were not too bad in terms of terrain but the altitude gain definitely started to cause problems - air got thinner and weather got colder. We first had to gain 1500 ft to Dzongri La (14,500 ft), lose almost all it and gain some more - the destination for the day being HMI base camp at height of 14,600 ft. So while net gain was 1400 ft, gross climb would still be close to 3000 ft - not an easy task given a tough hike the previous day plus acclimatization hike and limited rest.

On way to Dzongri La, I got to meet Jamling Tenzing Norgay - son of Tenzing Norgay and author of "Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest". We exchanged pleasantries and he thanked me for reading his book! Given I had missed him when he had visited our camp at Bakhim, I was more than delighted to have run into him here.

 

Weather started to worsen as soon as we left Dzongri

The weather continued to worsen and half way into the hike, the snowfall began - we were cold and tired and journey seemed endless. Again around 1 pm, I hit my wall - I was completely devoid of energy as I hadn't had dinner the previous night and the breakfast just wasn't enough to keep me going from 7 am to 3 pm in this cold weather. Instructors sensed frailty of our minds and tiredness of our bodies - they kept pushing us by saying that base camp is just 20 minutes away.

Around 2:20 pm, we were greeted by advanced course students, who had come down to help us. At first, I refused the offer of having my bag carried by an advanced course student thinking that we are there, but then I learnt that we are still "20 minutes away" and I almost broke into tears when another student offered to carry the bag. Gratefully, I handed her my bag and followed her to the base camp.

 

Finally, at 3 pm I reached the base camp - I had completed the toughest hike of my life so far with atleast 10 kg on back at any given point of time. Of course, I had help - a lot of help - both in form of motivation and in form of actual help in carrying the load.

 

But even with that help, there were numerous occasions where I would ask myself, "this is real suffering, why are you doing it? you are the oldest in the batch, 10 people - some of them less than half your age have turned back, why are you still at it?"

 

There were many times when I had to focus hard on just putting one foot in front of another. There were multiple moments when I wouldn't take off my backpack to rest, for the fear that I won't be able to lift it again. In spite of all this - I made it to the base camp. No it wasn't to prove any point - I was ready to go back on day 1 itself - I think it was because at some level, universe conspired for it to happen. I got help whenever I needed it - mostly without even me asking. It had to happen - my love for mountain made me overcome all physical and mental hurdles and complete this really tough hike.

Trek Map - from Dzongri we took left trail to HMI base camp,
the right route one is part of the famous Goechala trek