>>2709452>anything I should know before I go?Not really. I did EBC as an 18 year old with no real prep and no experience doing any hikes longer than 2 days. It was fine. Super fun.
Didn't bother with a guide or a porter. You don't need either, they might be nice to have for comfort and company but the path is extremely obvious.
Expect it to be busy. Extremely busy. Literally queuing up to get a photo on front of that rock busy. Very different experience to hiking in the backcountry but nice in its own way, everyone is just super stoked to make it to base camp so there's a very celebratory atmosphere.
If you want a more isolated experience then continue on to the Three Passes or something, once you're off the main EBC route you might only see a couple of other people a day.
Bring hiking poles. I didn't and regretted it. Even in days with only 100m net elevation gain you'll probably do 500m at least with all the up and down. My knees were killing by like day 4 from all the descents.
>>2709483You'll fucking wish you were walking uphill nonstop.
