A Mount Everest Adventure

from Coronado Magazine

by Coronado Magazine

Yesteryear

They Say The Best View Comes After The Hardest Climb

Story - Maria Simon

with Natalie Bailey and Richard Bailey

With travel all but shut down in 2020 there is plenty of pent-up energy in the adventure travel community. Coronadans Richard Bailey and Natalie Bailey (matching last names...pure coincidence!) definitely fall into the ‘adventurer’ category, and the pair was eager to get another check on the bucket list as worldwide travel restrictions began to lift this spring. They decided to go big. This past March they flew to Nepal to hike to the legendary Everest Base Camp at the foot of majestic Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth.

“When I was 8 years old my mom took me to see the IMAX movie ‘Everest’ in Balboa Park. Ever since then I’ve had the desire to summit,” said Richard.

Natalie added, “We both love hiking and outdoors and this has been something Ricky has wanted to do as long as I’ve known him.”

Generally there are two seasons for trekking in the Himalayas, post-monsoon in the fall and pre-monsoon in the spring. Originally their trip was planned for last fall, but was postponed due to COVID restrictions.

Both Baileys are well-trained and experienced hikers and felt physically prepared for the six day, forty mile trek through the fabled Himalayan highlands. What they couldn’t prepare for were the unexpected challenges of adventure travel, such as crazy airplane rides.

“It was a trek just to get there and start hiking. We flew from San Francisco to Doha and then to Kathmandu. That’s where the real adventure began, when we flew on a little puddle jumper to Lukla - that was the scariest part of the entire trip,” said Natalie.

Considered the gateway to the Himalayas, Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla is consistently rated the most dangerous airport in the world.

After a scary but safe landing in Lukla, the pair were ready to hit the trailhead with their guides.

“When I was 8 years old my mom took me to see the IMAX movie ‘Everest’ in Balboa Park. Ever since then I’ve had the desire to summit.” - Richard

“Because of COVID, Nepal would only grant a visa if you went through a trekking company and part of the deal is the guide was with you the entire time,” said Richard who also noted that they had to have negative COVID tests to enter and leave the country and protocols were strictly followed. “Our guides told us that on a typical day thousands of people would be on the trails we were on, which were in the national park which is maintained by the local government. We saw about six people.”

The tiny country of Nepal shut down all trekking for almost one year and was economically devastated by the pandemic. The government reopened Mount Everest and its seven other 26,000-foot-plus peaks in March 2021, hoping for a mountain climbing and economic rebound. For many Nepalis the three-month climbing seasons are their only opportunity for work.

Richard, Natalie and their guide hiked an average of 6-8 miles per day through spectacular terrain that included forests, mountain passes, valleys, meadows, suspension bridges, and trailside villages on steep mountain slopes. “The hikes weren’t long or strenuous, pretty much anyone can do it, but it was the altitude that made it tough,” commented Natalie.

In six days the trail ascended over 2,500 meters. The trailhead at Lukla is 2,850 m (9,350 ft) and Everest Base Camp is at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). For comparison, the highest point in the City of San Diego is Cowles Mountain at 486 m (1,593 ft).

For the first three nights they bunked in village teahouses. The accommodations were sparse, dormitory style with shared bathrooms, no heat, “hit and miss electricity,” and a common area where hikers gathered around a tiny stove to keep warm.

“It was absolutely freezing. At night it got so cold you didn’t want to go to sleep, so they have these tiny stoves in the middle of the communal room where we would try to warm up.” - Natalie

Richard pointed out a fun fact that because most of the terrain was above the treeline the natural fuel source was primarily dried yak dung.

The trail took them through small villages that primarily service the trekking industry. Many stores were closed and the ones that were open had meager, often expired, goods. “It was really sad to see these poor, closed up towns,” said Natalie.

With minimal supplies available to purchase, hikers had to rely mostly on whatever was offered at the teahouses. “We ate a lot of vegetables and carbs. No meat,” said Richard. There are no cars and everything in the region is flown into Lukla and carried to the villages by yaks, donkeys, or people. Locals recommend avoiding any kind of meat due to the unrefrigerated transport conditions.

The lack of meat was one thing, but Natalie began to feel the effects of the lack of oxygen at the high altitude as they neared base camp. “I thought I was prepared for altitude issues. I had medications and was hydrating, but about an hour before we got to base camp I got a massive altitude headache. Ricky really wanted to see the Khumbu Icefall, so I tried to ignore it,” recalled Natalie.

The famous and dangerous Khumbu Icefall is a constantly moving ice mass with crevasses hundreds of feet deep. It sits at the bottom of the Khumbu Glacier which is not far from base camp. “It was spectacular,” remembered Richard.

They had originally planned to backtrack the hike but realizing that Natalie was very ill with altitude sickness, they quickly organized a helicopter ride back down to Lukla. “Strong storms come through there very often so we had to wait out the weather but eventually we were able to get out... and that was another absolutely crazy scary ride,” said Richard of the extremely turbulent, but gratefully short, helo ride from base camp to Lukla.

“Natalie was so sick, but she was such a trooper. She was amazing.” Richard said.

They decided to fly back to Kathmandu to spend a few days before their flight home, but zero visibility conditions left them in Lukla for a couple days until the weather cleared.

What’s next for the energetic and adventurous couple?

“I have it on my bucket list to do Mount Whitney so I think I’d like to do that next,” said Natalie.

As for Richard, “I’m looking at Aconcagua. It’s in the Andes in Argentina and is the highest mountain in the Americas. I’d love her company and am trying to convince Natalie to do it with me.”

Eventually they got back to Kathmandu. “It was interesting… terrifying traffic, wild monkeys, and a lot of knock-off goods like down jackets for sale,” laughed Natalie.

“And we spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how and where to get our COVID tests,” Richard recalled.

Despite the Kathmandu chaos, the two enjoyed great food and visits to Buddhist and Hindu temples before heading home. Natalie commented that the trip and the trek to base camp was “a great way to see that part of the world up close.” For Richard it also served as somewhat of a scouting trip for an eventual Everest summit. “But don’t tell my mom,” he laughed.

In fact, Richard waited until they were on their way home before telling his mom about the trip. “I didn’t want to worry her. She would have been very nervous,” he said.

Natalie’s mom on the other hand was not worried at all. “She was actually jealous, and wanted to go,” laughed Natalie.

Back at sea level on terra firma both Baileys are very active members of the Coronado community. Dr. Natalie Bailey is a partner with her mother, Dr. Suzanne Popp, at Advanced Dentistry in Coronado, and a member of the Coronado Rotary Club. Richard Bailey is the Mayor of Coronado (first elected in 2016 as the city’s youngest mayor, he is now serving his second term), and a member of the Coronado Optimist Club.

The trailhead at Lukla is 2,850 m (9,350 ft) and Everest Base Camp is at 5,364 m (17,598 ft). For comparison, the highest point in the City of San Diego is Cowles Mountain at 486 m (1,593 ft).

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