ABC

I’m about 120% positive that my least favourite part of the trip up to ABC is the section of the Moraine Superhighway following the stay at interim camp.
Interim Camp is situated at the top of a steep section of moraine which then falls away into a serac-filled jungle and a fast flowing stream and then a steep uphill climb onto a lateral moraine which lies adjacent to Everest. These are the first three obstacles that one faces first thing in the morning after leaving camp. Breakfast was served on Tibetan Time which means that it was 2-hours earlier than expected… unfortunately it was left over noodle soup from the previous evening and certainly didn’t set the solid base for the 4-hour hike up to ABC. I was not looking forward to the walk….

And for good reason…it dragged on and on and on and on and on and on and on…. By the end of it I was so bored that I began to video-tape my feet walking ’fast’ and then ’walking slow’… and the a few hours later singing a rendition of the song, “All By Myself” into a Mars bar… I was incredibly relieved when at 3:30pm one of the sherpas from ABC came down to meet me with a drink of hot tea and some moral support. Then the final painfully frustrating hour passed when you constantly think you’re close to camp or you think, “it’s just over the next moraine” only to be disappointed time and time again by a frustratingly endless series of hills and fruitless climbs. I was incredibly relieved to see ABC and dive into the comfort of the warm and entertaining mess tent and ready for dinner courtesy of Ganu, the chef.