THE JOURNAL
Everest Base Camp, One Step at a Time
By Hayley Goodall
There’s probably something mildly concerning about willingly signing yourself up to hike to Everest Base Camp for fun. Yet somehow, that’s exactly what I found myself doing alongside my 16 year old son and a group of teens and adults from Mercury Bay.
We were away for three weeks in total, spending thirteen days hiking through the Himalayas. Ten days climbing up, including acclimatisation days, and four days making our way back down again. Before the trek began, we spent time exploring Kathmandu, taking in the chaos, colour and energy of the city before everything slowed down to mountain pace.
The trip began with the tiny flight into Tenzing-Hillary Airport, often called the world’s most dangerous airport. Tiny plane, tiny runway and mountains everywhere. Not exactly for the faint hearted. Looking back now, it feels like a pretty dramatic way to begin the adventure.
The days quickly became a rhythm of hiking, eating, sleeping and repeating. We walked through tiny mountain villages, crossed suspension bridges hanging impossibly high above the valleys below and regularly gave way to yaks, donkeys and porters carrying supplies up the mountain. At times, the stairs felt endless and at that altitude, every step took your breath away.
We hiked through every kind of weather imaginable. Some days were clear blue skies with the most incredible views, while others disappeared into thick snow and freezing temperatures. There were moments where the mountains felt magical and peaceful, and others where they felt genuinely intimidating.
The altitude is something you feel long before you reach Everest Base Camp. As we climbed higher, even simple things slowly started becoming harder. Walking uphill took more effort, sleep became patchy and every day you could feel the air getting thinner. By the time we reached Everest Base Camp at 5,364 metres, everything felt like it required twice the energy. There were definitely moments where I quietly questioned every life decision that had led me there and felt like I was right on the edge of breaking.
But then somehow, you’d turn a corner and see something so unbelievably beautiful that your brain almost forgot how exhausted you were.
That first glimpse of Mount Everest is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Our Sherpa described Everest as a “shy mountain” because she hides behind clouds so often, only revealing herself in little moments. When she finally did, everything just stopped for a second.
Along the way we visited monasteries, met locals and learned more about Sherpa culture. As the days went on, our whole group slowly settled into mountain life and the simple rhythm of each day. I was so incredibly proud of everyone, especially the teens, who pushed themselves through some really tough moments along the way. There was also something really special about getting to experience all of it alongside my son. Sharing the hard days, the incredible views and the disbelief of where we were together is something I know I’ll never forget.
Eventually, after days and days of hiking, we reached Everest Base Camp itself. I think I expected some huge emotional movie moment, but in reality it felt busy, exciting and slightly chaotic with trekkers from all over the world all arriving at the same place. We lined up for our turn at the iconic EBC rock, took the obligatory photos and looked out over the colourful tents set up for the climbers preparing to begin their summit attempts. After spending so many days hiking towards it, it felt surreal to finally be standing there.
And then just like that, it was time to turn around and make our way back down.
The whole experience was hard, beautiful, humbling, exhausting and completely unforgettable all at once. It’s the kind of experience I know I’ll carry with me forever. More than anything though, I just feel incredibly grateful that I got to experience it with my son. Out of everything I’ll remember, and there’s a lot, I think that will always be my favourite part.
Hayley xx