The morning after the earthquake came early. I slept in my full clothes, with my boots just beside me for a quick leap out the window if needed. No need. My Japanese-American friend was a bit down from my feet, and the first to shuffle awake at 5:30. The light was starting to rise outside, and a few of the Nepalese were already getting up and ready to prepare some food and drinks. Venn slept behind me, with just a hotel blanket around him, so I took my extra and put it over him. The dedication of these guys was truly amazing. The previous day, Venn was able to confirm his family was safe, but his family homes had been badly damaged along with most of his village. Still, he smiled genuinely, and asked how I was doing with sincere concern. This kindness was the norm for these people. A true, caring, beautiful spirit was prevailing among them even with the uncertainty that lie ahead.
We all slowly awoke, and mulled about as one usually does, but pondered what this day would hold. I spoke with two friends from Chile, whom I had talked quite a bit with the night before. Fernanda and Andres were a 28 year old couple who had hiked 10 hours from Gorak Shep on earthquake day. They saw the damage in the above villages. The day before, they completed their trek to base camp just 24 hours before it was hit by the devastating avalanche. They were strong, confident, and we decided to hike together today. Not to mention, they had lived through the insanity of an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile. Experts as far as I was concerned!
The decision was to head down. Almost all agreed. Down the trail we would find more information, and the only way out of the region, whenever that might occur. We were fearful of a mad rush to Lukla, where it could be overrun with people, and possibly short on supplies after a few days. However, we were also well ahead of many people higher up, so 2 days to Lukla was the plan. Today we would pass through Namche, evaluate our options, and possibly continue down to Phakding. Facing another 7-8 hours of hiking was not ideal, but nothing about this situation was.
We ate what we could, packed up, and said our well wishes to each other. Almost 24 hours together had already created a bond between us that is hard to describe. Around 8 am, Venn, Fernanda, Andres and I began our hike back to Namche. It went smoothly for the most part. The weather was clearing, and as we descended in altitude it got warmer. The bitter dampness of Tengboche becoming a fading memory. It was hard to believe just one day ago, I was hiking up this path struggling with negative thoughts about relative trivialities. How quickly things can change.
We made good time, but we were forced to take a longer route to Namche, through the town of Khumjung. The main path runs along the side of a steep mountain, and some Sherpas who were hiking down from base camp told us that boulders the size of houses were still falling down the mountain, and it was very dangerous that way. Ok. No need to get crushed to oblivion. We can take the longer route over the top of the mountain. This would add 1.5-2 hours. Safety first. This group also shared some horrible stories. They were just off to the side of the avalanche at base camp. They had some injured friends on horses, attempting to get them to a hospital. The state of shock was apparent as we all stoically traded our stories like any other day. I told them I was glad they were ok and we parted ways.
Also along the way, we would pass groups still heading up the mountain. In awe, we would ask them, “where are you going?”. They were naively attempting to continue their trek. The lack of information from village to village now quite clear, I explained to them the state of things above. People had come from far away, and spent alot of money to come live what to some is a life’s dream to hike to Everest. They would not so easily abandon their dream. I gave them what information I could, encouraging them to be safe, and continued down. We had to look after ourselves.
It was a tiring hike, but I shrugged it off, knowing that my Chilean comrades had 18 hours under their belts the previous two days. If they were fine, I was certainly fine. We eventually came over the top of the mountain pass and saw Namche below us. Namche is a town built on the side of a mountain. Each row of hotels stacks up on top of the other, terraced pieces of land zigzagging up the mountainside. At first glimpse, the buildings looked ok. Certainly some had taken serious damage, but it was far from the pile of rubble our worst thoughts had imagined. We did quickly notice that most people were up above the village, on some flat ground. Clearly they were seeking safety, and were fearful of aftershocks.
We made our way to the top hotel row, and found the hotel I had stayed at. It had some walls shaken loose, and didn’t look great. The hotel directly above-behind it was 1/2 destroyed. The hotel crew were out on a blanket, passing the time on the small flat area out side the hotel. We joined them, and I suddenly realized I had wifi internet access for the first time. I was overwhelmed by the incoming messages I had missed. My phone only had 20% battery left and no way to charge, so I had to get down to business.
First up, I messaged Tina. We had a very emotional conversation, as she had not heard I was ok for some time after she knew about the earthquake. It was quite intense. It did make it a bit hard for me, as now people that I care about are almost right there, but also have never been so far away. It broke my focus. Made my emotional, and was not good for my survival mode. At the same time, I got a chat going with my sister Margaret. I knew she would be my base of operations to get shit done. And, well, she already had gotten shit done. She’d called the embassy to register me, hired a global rescue company to work on getting me out, contacted my insurance, and was pushing for a helicopter to remove me. I informed her to prepare that I might be here a while. The only helicopters were removing the injured from base camp. I also managed to post an update to facebook, and watched as people liked the status. What a mind f$%# being so connected to the world and in such a dangerous situation still.
I had to wrap things up, the battery was dying and I needed to be fully present to make decisions. I told them I would be ok, and I’ll message them when possible. The plan was uncertain to stay in Namche or head down. I said my goodbyes. Little did I know what was about to take place. No exaggeration, my conversation with Marg ended as the 6.8 massive aftershock struck near Namche. The now familiar feeling of the ground moving began. But unlike other aftershocks, this one got very strong. I was in a horrible spot. A giant hotel near me was losing some bricks and sounded like it could come down. Just behind me was a stone wall that could collapse on us. Above us was an already collapsed hotel that could release stones. Worst of all, I just stared down at the ground anticipating that at any moment this terraced piece of dirt could release into a giant landslide burying us all. The screaming was horrible, coupled with the sound of the earth shaking and the building walls grinding and collapsing. For the second time in 2 days, I stood helpless waiting to see if I would die. This moment worse than the first as I had nowhere to run, and also was very aware of what was happening. All I could think about was, I can’t die here. I can’t leave my sisters and Tina with more grief. I just told them I was ok. I don’t want to die, there is still so much to see and do. As the shaking stopped were heard a roaring sound that I’d never hear before. The mountains on the opposite side of the valley had released a massive rock slide. The cloud of dust just crushing anything in its path. A truly awesome display of nature.
Just before this I had parted ways with my Chilean friends. They wanted to go down, and Venn thought we were safer here. I had to go with Venn’s advice. But, where were my friends now, they could not have gotten far. I turned my head and saw them over a wall. Fernanda had her head buried in Andres chest. Tears welled her eyes, and she saw me. She said with such anxious desperation that we all felt, “what are we supposed to do, where are we supposed to go? Nowhere is safe”. It is a moment deeply ingrained in my mind. We had a false sense of safety and we now know, that at any moment, the next big quake could strike and we might die. It was horrible.
The next 45 minutes would be a chaotic time filled with indecision and anxiety. We agreed, we must now stay together. But where do we go? Back up the trail? Maybe it was safer in Tengboche. We were exhausted. We had not eaten anything more than a chocolate bar for now almost 6 hours. The 3 of us gathered our focus as best we could. Andres said something that hit home with me. “We cannot not make a non-decision. We can’t just sit and let things happen. We must make a firm decision and execute on it.” That was it. We had to decide. First we needed more information. Let us get some food, settle ourselves for 15 minutes and then we will make a final call. We asked about food. Nope. Nobody is serving food as nobody is going inside. Too dangerous. Ok. Where are people sleeping tonight? On the ground outside was the response. I had a moment frozen in time. For one minute things moved in slow motion. I turned my head scanning the landscape. This town was a deathtrap. Unstable buildings built on a mountainside. Everybody here was sitting in shock, staring off into the distance. Sitting waiting to die. There was no food or shelter, and it was 1:30pm. Were we going to just sit and wait for tomorrow for another 24 hours of just sitting, staring, thinking and fearing. The energy in this village was the worst feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. The anxiety was all consuming.
There was no decision anymore, we were facing that path below and finding a safe spot. Fernanda and Andres agreed. We bought some water, and headed on our way. First I had to talk to Venn. He felt it was safer here, and we went our separate ways, promising to meet up the next day down below. I gave him a firm handshake and hug, and wished him well. It was very, very hard to leave him there. We wiggled our way over ruble and collapsed buildings to the main path that heads out of Namche. This was not an easy call but it was the one that felt right. The path was fraught with danger. 4 feet wide, and steeply descending in some parts around an overhang of rocks just waiting to release on us. If another aftershock hit, would the path even hold? In many places you could see cracks in the earth where it was already separating. Our biggest relief being other groups still coming up, telling us that the trail was intact, and the bridges were still there. Oh yeah, the bridges. Just 5-6 high up cabled suspension bridges to trust.
All three of us felt good to be moving. Hiking was so much better than sitting. We agreed to just keep a steady pace, make a plan of defense if the earth moved, and just put our heads down and hike. The time passed by, and each time we crossed a section that was scary, we just continued, accepting our fate. The goal was Phakding, 3 hours below, which we may hit before dark at an ok pace. No more shocks came, and we stumbled across a hotel about 2 hours in, which had some other tourists, was in a flat open area, the building was in great shape, and had only one floor of rock walls. Brilliant. We asked and they had rooms, food, and a wood furnace going. It was here that we would settle in. The fatigue of it all now taking hold. We gobbled up some dinner, chugged some water, and went to bed early. Again, we set up so that we could hop out windows if need be. I took my boots off my weary feet. 6 toenails were black, and at risk. I hadn’t even felt a thing all day…. At around midnight that night, we sprung awake to another shock, but it faded quickly with no damage, and we slept, in spite of our fear.
The next day would take us the final 5 hours to Lukla, the gateway to the region. Hopefully we would know more, and have an idea how to get out of Nepal.
See you in Lukla…