Local hiker and traveler Bailey Braun decided to take on the base camp Everest as her next adventure.
“I previously backpacked South America for three months. I did some trekking in Peru, in Chile, and in Argentina, which was quite phenomenal, to say the least.”
Braun says that during her travels she met an old man who encouraged her to go to Nepal and take on Everest.
This 12-day trek went up 5500 meters or 18,000 feet in elevation and includes 8 days of climbing upward through valleys.
“As you get higher up, the air gets thinner. So a lot of people are getting sick quite easily. And then it only takes three days to get back, but it's 10s of kilometers that you're hiking every single day. Yeah, it was a crazy experience.”
With negative temperatures at night and decreasing oxygen levels, the trail posed many challenges.
“We were sleeping in –15 degree temperatures some nights and then after 4000 meters, the trees no longer grow. So, it gets very dusty. And it is very thin. And we often have to wear a face covering to make sure you're not inhaling any dust.”
She notes that the days in the Himalayas averaged at about 10 degrees and the sun shines hard. But overnight, the temperature drop was noticeable, as the group slept in small teahouses without insulation.
Braun says that the closer she got to the top, the more she felt altitude sickness. She notes that she began the journey with two others and a guide. The duo was helicoptered down because one experienced such severe altitude sickness.
“I want to say on day seven, that's when it kind of got the worst. I got very sick. Sleeping became very difficult. Just breathing felt like I don't know how to explain it, but your heart is constantly racing. Like when I was eating supper, I remember vividly my resting heart rate was above 115 beats per minute, or around 110 and my oxygen levels got down to 68 percent and we're just sitting there doing nothing.”
Braun took on this adventure alone and says that having support from home was encouraging.
“I didn't really realize how scary it was until I was up there. I can definitely say that I had a lot of people back home praying for me, which was amazing.”
Braun persevered through the struggles and made it to base camp. She is now home safe in Manitoba and says that this was an amazing experience.
“I can definitely say Nepal will be seeing me again. This type of experience is like, we call it ‘type two fun’. You may not be having fun while you're doing it, but afterward, it's the most fulfilling experience I've had.”
Braun says that her next adventure is starting school, but she is not giving up travel forever, and Europe is waiting for her next year.
With files from Kenton Dyck