“The Strenuous Life” On Top of the World

The Harsh Terrain of Nepal

“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”

These are the opening words of Theodore Roosevelt from a speech he gave in 1899 in Chicago.  His speech about the merits of the ‘strenuous life’ came to define Teddy Roosevelt throughout his Presidency and life.  A perfect example is, after his Presidency, he led an expedition to the Amazon in search of the source of the Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt).  Between the potential for disease, mishap, and head-hunters; he knew that the journey would be extremely difficult and could very well kill him (in fact, it almost did). But he went anyway, he pursued an interesting life at all costs.

I did the same when I trekked to the Mt Everest Base Camp.

However, unlike Roosevelt’s expedition to the Amazon in 1913, you can quit the trek to Everest Base Camp at anytime. All you need to do is wave your credit card in the air and a helicopter will come and take you back to Kathmandu. Over the three weeks I was in Nepal I was never tempted to do this, but every morning you would wake to the sound of helicopters collecting fellow hikers for whom it had all become ‘a bit much’.

Namche Bazaar where one of our comrades quit the trek

Our trek started with 3 of us hikers and 2 Sherpa guides.  The first day was a helicopter ride to Lukla, then an easy hike to Phakding (8,560 ft).  The next day, however, was a long and grueling climb to Namche Bazar (11,286 feet). The climb from Phakding to Namche absolutely broke one of the other trekkers, Brian. Joe, my other comrade in walking uphill, and I knew he was done when we were having lunch at a lodge along the trail: the look of despair was written all over his face.  Brian called his doctor, told him he was out of breath (no shit), the medical insurance clicked over, and the next morning Brian was flown out of Namche Bazar never to be seen again.

Although I never contemplated quitting, I do remember a moment when I was genuinely worried I may not be permitted to continue.  

Pheriche sits at 14,300 feet, and this was when the altitude hit me.  I was waking up throughout the night gasping for air, which I can tell you is quite terrifying.  The next morning at breakfast I told our guide Geshi Sherpa, a trained medical professional, of this thinking he would tell me I would be unceremoniously shipped back to civilization.  Instead, he smiled and said, “Altitude is weird. It affects everyone, no matter what, and in many different ways. Don’t be concerned about this at all, you are doing much better than most people”.  

View from my room in Lobuche

To hear this from Geshi was an absolute bloody relief! But I couldn't help but wonder: if I am taking this so well, what are the other hikers experiencing? I found out the following night in Lobuche (16,210 ft). The villages of Lobuche and Gorakshep, the last two stops before Base Camp, are quite primitive with no showers, flushing toilets, and the walls are paper thin. Every night until we returned to Pheriche I would hear fellow travelers in the other rooms either hacking up a lung or crying themselves to sleep. The next morning the helicopters would take many of them away.

Still want to do the trek to Everest Base Camp? Other symptoms you will experience at altitude are splitting headaches, loss of appetite, and dehydration.  Due to the incredibly dry air, you are constantly drinking water.  What this means is that, whenever the altitude hits you, which for some people is as early as Namche Bazaar, you will be waking up every hour of the night either gasping for air or desperately needing to have a pee…  

Danger. Hardship. Bitter Toil.

Roosevelt would have loved it!