ASSINIBOIA — As kids growing up on the farm in southern Saskatchewan, Don Borgerson and Mick Bakke were the best of friends. They had big dreams.
Being farm boys, their feet were planted “mostly” on the ground, but their heads were often stuck in the clouds. Their minds were filled with shenanigans, schemes, and grandiose dreams of adventure. “Go BIG, or go HOME” was their motto. They were boys, and boys eat, breathe, sleep and dream of adventure.
Their biggest dream was to one day scale Mount Everest — a lofty ambition.
As the years passed, Mick and Donny married the girls of their dreams, had families, and embarked on the journey of life. Mick became a conservation officer in Saskatchewan's north, and later, in the south of the province. Don became a firefighter in the forests of Saskatchewan's far north. Both admirable career paths for a couple of feisty farm boys.
“Feisty?” quipped Don's younger sister Judy in a recent interview. “You have no idea! Those two are just a couple of ruffians, rascals, scoundrels, and scalawags! They're hooligans. That's what they are. Just a couple of hooligans!” She laughed as she rolled her eyes in jest.
Over the years, Mick and Don remained best friends. Their conversations often drifted off to the majestic Himalayas of Nepal and the clouds that cover Mount Everest. But their dream to conquer this daunting peak faded with each passing year. Family happens. Life happens. Cloud obscures the view. The urgent trumps the important. Dreams surrender to the happenstance of life, and fall quietly by the wayside.
After nearly 35 years of dedicated service, Mick retired in 2016 from the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of the Environment. He was just 57 years of age.
Don retired from active Saskatchewan Fire Management in 2019, receiving the Saskatchewan Protective Services Medal of Honour that same year. Don continued serving the department as a senior safety instructor and advisor until the end of 2021. Early the following spring, he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away on Aug. 12, 2022.
Upon learning of his best friend's passing, and his last dying request, Mick Bakke rose quietly to the challenge. That's what best friends do.
Choking back tears in an interview, Mick said, “At Don's celebration of life, I first learned of his dying wish from his niece Stefanie. Steffi played such a huge part in all of this. She's the one who promised to see Don's dream fulfilled. She's the one who promised to see that he'd be laid to rest at the foot of our beloved Everest! When I heard this, I knew exactly what I had to do.”
Mick went home, and with Stefanie's blessing, picked up the phone and called his eldest son Brad in Halifax.
“You up for a quick trip to Mount Everest?” he asked.
After months of training
In late October of 2025, after months of serious cardio and heavy weight training, after miles and miles of hiking and hill-climbing, after months of careful planning and relentless, meticulous preparation, father, son Brad, and Caro — a close family friend — were buffed, pumped, packed, and on the plane to Kathmandu. Mick's best friend Donny was tucked away safely in the corner of his backpack. Destination? Base camp at the foot of Mount Everest.
Their journey began in Regina, then on to Vancouver, Hong Kong, and finally to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. Kathmandu is a large city with a population of some 846,000 people. Another four million people reside in the surrounding metropolitan area. Not including layovers, Mick and company were airborne for an exhausting 22.5 hours, before landing.
Once the crew finally hit the ground in Kathmandu, dark clouds and heavy rain cast an eerie pall over the expedition. There, the trekkers met their guide, Subodh Tamang, for the very first time. After an agonizing eight-hour delay, the trio, plus their guide, finally hopped a chopper bound for Lukla. There, they met their two porters, Bichon and Basnet, also for the first time.
With the deepest of admiration, Mick said, “These two gentlemen walked 85 kilometers from their homes just to meet us there in Lukla. They faithfully did their job, then walked another 85 kilometers home again after their work was done.” He continued, “They carried all of our gear for the entire trip. They carried everything but our backpacks. No fat on those bodies!"
Lukla is the gateway to Mount Everest. It's a small village of some 230 people. Its tiny airport is known as the most dangerous airport in the world. Lukla's altitude is 2,860 meters (9,383 feet) above sea level. The elevation at Everest base camp is 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) above sea level. Base camp trek is a tough 65-kilometre hike from Lukla. Round trip, in and back, of course, is 130 kilometers (80.8 miles).
Upon leaving Lukla, heavy, dark clouds continued to pour down rain for a solid three and a half days, making the narrow, rocky, and well-travelled path slippery and potentially dangerous. Still, the Bakke party persisted. Despite the challenges, Mick said in an interview, “… the moment the clouds lifted and the skies turned bright blue, the journey became real. Caro and I looked at each other and said, ‘Man … this is for real. This is really happening. This is why we’re here!’”
Fortunately, the trail into Everest base camp is dotted with rest stops and numerous tea houses offering sustenance, refreshment, and respite for its trekkers. There are also designated areas set aside on the trail specifically designed to help trekkers acclimate to the higher altitudes.
“These elevated acclimatization zones are mandatory stops for all trekkers,” noted Mick.
Into thin air
Hiking at such high altitudes — above 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) — reduces necessary oxygen, potentially causing headaches, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, fatigue and insomnia. The body compensates by increasing heart and breathing rates and producing extra red blood cells. Proper acclimatization and slow ascent to base camp is necessary to prevent such severe conditions. Nearly every trekker experiences some form of altitude sickness – some minor, some more severe.
Occasionally, trekkers need to be airlifted off the mountain because of poor physical conditioning or altitude sickness. But not this crew. Mick, his son Brad, and friend Caro had spent months training for this very moment. Even so, they still experienced minor discomfort and mild symptoms from altitude sickness.
“We thought we were in shape [for this trip] and we were, but eventually the altitude catches up to you,” confessed Mick.
It plagued them and slowed their progress – more like a nuisance, really — but nothing that would prevent them from finishing the trek and the mission they were on. Mick was determined, come hell or high water, to lay his best friend to rest at the base of their beloved Everest. And nothing was going to stand in his way.
While it's true that some 40,000 hikers make the arduous 130-kilometre round-trip trek from Lukla to Everest base camp each year, the overwhelming majority of trekkers are young people. And, while there is no official age restriction for the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek, the average hiker is typically a physically fit adult between the ages of 20 and 50. Mick was 66 years of age when he made this trip; his son Brad was 41, and Caro was 35.
To put things into perspective, Regina's elevation is a mere 577 m (1,893 feet). Everest's base camp elevation is 5,364 m (17,598 ft.). That's a huge difference of 3,471 m (15,705 ft.). One mile is 5,280 ft. (1,609 m). Hence, the difference in elevation between Regina, Saskatchewan, and Everest base camp is a few meters shy of three miles; 2.97 miles (4.78 km), to be exact!
It's also interesting to note that the average round-trip trek in and out of Everest base camp requires 12 days to complete: 10 days hiking at approximately 14.5 km. (nine miles) per day, with another two-day “bad weather buffer”.
The final rest
Mick said the trek was difficult on many levels – physically, mentally and emotionally. But it was also gratifying and meaningful, knowing that he helped fulfill his best friend's dying wish, and honoured the man he knew so well and shared so much with.
“Laying Don's ashes to rest at the base of Mount Everest was very emotional for me,” said Mick. “When we were kids growing up in the south of Saskatchewan, we did everything together. We had this big dream. We were determined to climb Mount Everest. But we never did. Donny's last wish was to be laid to rest at the base of Everest. So I did it. I hauled him up the mountain, and laid him to rest there. He never got to CLIMB Everest, but now he can see it every single day! The skies are so blue up there. And that's really something … This was a very big deal for me. Too bad it's the last trip Donny and I will ever make together …”
Friends are friends forever, right? The preceding is the story of two best friends. Both of these men are, and were, close friends of this humble photojournalist. Mick is a longtime close personal friend. Donny was also a friend and a dear cousin. — Wes Bloom
