Photo gallery: Kempsey man Greg Babbage treks to K2 Base Camp at age 69

In fact, he made it to base camp of K2, the second highest mountain on earth after Everest.

This great feat is nothing new. Not only has Mr Babbage also reached Everest Base Camp, he's seen twelve out of the fourteen 8000m peaks in the Himalayan Region.

The Macleay Valley man is an adventure advocate through and through.

Mr Babbage joined Scouts from a young age where he discovered his love for adventure and the outdoors. He started trekking as a teenager and was known to disappear on week-long walks in his twenties.

Mr Babbage spent 25 years teaching horticulture and landscaping, but always found time to pack a bag and set off to explore somewhere new. And now as a retiree, his adventures are getting longer and wilder.

A hip replacement in 2000 meant he had to hang up his hiking boots, but as 2004 rolled around Mr Babbage said he couldn't sit still any longer and so he set off on his first long-distance trek in Nepal.

The most recent visit was his fifth time in Nepal, and first experience of the Pakistan region.

In July Mr Babbage was joined by eleven other adventurers between the ages 40 and 69.

The group travelled with World Expeditions to K2 Base Camp which sits at 5,100m above sea level.

It took a return trip of 17 days of walking, which was "not long" for Mr Babbage.

In 2011, Mr Babbage walked for 155 days across Nepal. At age 57 he and one other woman were the first people to do this trek commercially. It's known as the 'Great Himalayan Trail' and is over 1,700 kilometres.

In 2013 he finished the Snow Man Trek in Bhutan which included 28 days on foot.

Mr Babbage says K2 was more difficult than going to Everest Base Camp.

"It's harder because it's more remote and it's harder to get to. It's a stark environment," he said.

Yet he wasn't stretched to his limit.

"I felt like I had more in me."

Mr Babbage said this had a lot to do with the extremely competent crew who pitched tents, supplied fresh drinking water, and cooked meals.

"I'm confident of doing my own walks in Australia, but not over there," he said.

"You are paying for the porters and the guides otherwise you just can't do it."

His group included four guides and six people in the cooking crew, plus "thirty odd porters and 30 odd donkeys."

"The logistics get pretty huge," said Mr Babbage.

The visitors to the region had to carry 8-10 kilograms on their backs for day-use while the porters and donkeys handled the rest.

Despite the nights dropping to minus-five-degrees-celsius, during the day Mr Babbage trekked up the mountain in shorts, surrounded by snow.

"There was one other guy, he and I had shorts on," said Mr Babbage.

Mr Babbage has visited Nepal on numerous occasions however there are still parts of the region he is keen to explore, inspired by his most recent trek.

"I thought I ticked off all the boxes, but I couldn't get to Pakistan in the past...but now that they've started doing it again the past couple of years, I'm keen to get back.

"I've scratched that itch but it's still itchy."

Mr Babbage says trekkers are always thinking they've done what they set out to do, until they meet other trekkers.

"This one whet my appetite again," he said. "You do one trek and you come back with another four you want to do."

Mr Babbage is already thinking about travelling back to Nepal next year to explore more of the mountain ranges, for quite possibility his last expedition in that part of the world.

He is planning to return to the Mustang region to see the peaks and villages he's yet to visit.

In the meantime, he will continue to walk Macleay Valley tracks and paddle along its rivers.

Exploring his own backyard is something Mr Babbage has been doing since he was a young boy.

"It's nothing for me to head up bush for ten days," he said.

He likes nothing more than to be exploring areas that you can only access on foot.

"A lot of people would love the bush but are scared to take the first step."

Mr Babbage recommends the three-day walk in Guy Fawkes River National Park for anyone wanting to do just that.

He guesses he has walked approximately 10,000 kilometres worth of treks in his lifetime and is keen to keep counting his steps.

During the pandemic Mr Babbage took up long distance paddling and spent 40 days on the Murrumbidgee River.

He paddled an average of 30km every day, caught fresh fish for dinner and slept by the river bank, making friends throughout his journey.

"You meet some characters along the way," he said.

By the end of this year Mr Babbage will be back on the Lachlan River where he expects to be paddling for 41 days.

"I'm aiming to paddle 1,200 kilometres in total."

These days you might spot Mr Babbage out to sea with the whales. He loves to join what he calls the 'humpback highway' on his kayak where he comes within metres of the whales.

Or perhaps he will be fishing for snapper.

Mr Babbage calls himself a trekker, long-distance paddler, and keen gardener, but the Macleay Valley knows him as the adventure man.

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