Life of Wry

Trip Day #15, Trek Day #9

This will be the single most challenging day of our trek.  Before traveling to Nepal, this was the segment of our journey that had the scariest stories.  Depending on weather (and of course one’s fitness) it can be just a hard day’s hike, or it can be a death march.  I read it ALL prior to the trip and was plenty apprehensive.

I couldn’t find a simple hike profile graphic, but the hike today goes something like this:

Thaknak (15,584′) to Cho La Pass (17,782′): approx 2-3 miles

Cho La Pass (17,782′) to Dzongla (15,846′): approx 2-3 miles

Dzongla (15,846′) to Lobuche (16,109′): approx 4 miles

So, the task before us: rise before dawn, ascend about 2200′ to the pass, descend another 2000′ to Dzongla for lunch, and then, if we have anything left, press on another 4 miles or so to Lobuche and arrive in time for dinner.  A 9-10 mile day with a 2000′ pass in the middle.  Not outrageous by Sierra standards, but seriously challenging at elevation.  Plus the cold.  Plus the snow.  Plus the rain, wind.  And the ruggedness and slipperiness of the terrain.  But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself…

We got up around 5:00am for breakfast.  It was cold and very frosty outside.  The yaks in the yard were again covered in ice.  The sky was clear, however, so spirits were (relatively) high.  We got a pretty good start on the day (around 6:00), heading up a shaded, cold, but pretty manageable canyon, a little ice and snow on the rocky ground, but firm footing.  Here’s a shot Leslie took of Karen, looking back down canyon, with the sun starting to light up the mountain tops to the west. Thaknak is waay back there…

After a couple of hours, we got to a saddle.  It wasn’t THE saddle, but it was an encouraging first step.  It was sunny and sparkly and we sang and danced.  Really.  We did that.  This is Homnath, striking a pose.

From here, it gets slow, as we have to scramble through snow covered rubble–boulders the size of large kitchen appliances and small cars.  Very rolling, up and down numerous mini-valleys.  Here’s a shot Rick took; you can make out some of us on the bottom right. In the (quite far) distance, a few more rubbly ups and downs away, you can see Cho La Pass, the low spot on the ridge.  It had just come into view and was startling–it is a very steep slope we’re going to be climbing …

Here’s a closer view of the approach to the pass on the final ascent, lots of snow covering the rocks and fairly slippery.  The trail is marked with cairns, otherwise, it’s faint, at best. You can see it’s clouding up.  Rick shot this.

Here’s another shot that Leslie took looking back. Hard to really get a sense of the terrain, but it’s very moonscapish hereabouts:

And….. we made it! About 10:00am: From left: Rick, Karen, Leslie, Laura, Pradip, Homnath and me.

But, we have a very long way to go, and it’s getting really cold, so we ate a bunch of Mars bars (thanks, Rick!) and started down.  Here’s Rick’s view down the backside, looking east, and a snow covered glacier/snow field we are going to cross.. way down there:

And a couple more of shots of the initial, somewhat treacherous, icy descent.  The guides rigged a system of ropes to make it easier (and it helped a lot).

Here’s a shot that Leslie took from the snow field, looking back up.  There were probably 3-4 parties that day that also crossed the pass, so the ropes helped others as well.

Me, relieved, to be past that part and ready to descend:

And now we’re on our way.  It got increasingly steep after this and I actually wished I’d had crampons.. but other more snow-experienced hikers were comfortable enough.  Rick shot this one:

Here are another couple of Rick’s that show the trickiness of the descent.  We were dealing with a very wet snow as we came down.  You can see trekkers, maybe five of us, in this pic.

For the next couple hours, we slogged through this weather.  It got gentler and easier to walk, but it was still wet, and increasingly windy.  There was no visibility, so we missed some of the grandest views of Ama Dablam.  I think in the sunlight, it would have been a spectacular valley with walls of mountains on all sides… but we’ll just have to return for that!

Well.. I just found this image, taken by this guy.  If the skies had been clear on the descent, we’d have seen this..

We finally got to Dzongla in time for lunch.  Totally, totally exhausted and weather beaten.   I remember having great trouble imagining we would continue another 4 miles to Lobuche.  It wasn’t so much the elevation gain en route to Lobuche (none to speak of), but I just felt so tired.  After eating a hot lunch, however, it seemed doable… so on we went.  Rick flew ahead with Pradip to make sure we could get accommodations in Lobuche; I think they got there in 90 minutes.  The rest of us took 3 hours, I think.  Laura was sick.  I was slightly nauseous.  Not sure why… perhaps just the exhaustion.  I was just eager to get where we were going. It was too bad, because the valley we were gazing out at, from a precarious and steep slope far above, was spectacular.  Here’s a shot Leslie took.. may as well have been taken in black and white!  You just can’t appreciate the scale here.. the valley below is probably 3000′ down.

We got to Lobuche finally.  Not a terribly attractive place, but in gorgeous surroundings, of course.

Arriving in Lobuche signified our return to the main Everest Base Camp trail, which meant the end of six days of relative isolation.  I was too tired to really take note of this, but it was a whole lot more crowded. The tea house was a bit spread out, the rooms were in a separate building, up some stairs (uggh!) and down a long hall.  All four of us slept in one room; that was a first.  (Rick bunked with somebody from another party, I believe.)  Accommodations and services get pretty modest at 16,000′, though I must say, our room looks quite cozy, if freezing:

Laura was feeling awful and, as I recall, just went to bed.  She did manage a smile before passing out!

Pretty soon I was feeling awful, too.  I buried myself under my bag and whimpered for a while (I’m gonna guess exhaustion and elevation).

I may have felt queasy and lousy and not fit for public appearances, but I hear it was a gorgeous sunset.  Rick captured these two shots before dinner, and yeah, the skies started to clear, revealing breathtaking mountains all around.

I eventually made it down to the dining room, which was packed and very lively. The walls were covered with posters and signs and pictures from countries all around the world.  I wished I’d have been feeling better, but instead was just emotional.  I think the others (except Laura) were doing okay.  I don’t remember eating anything. Lonely Planet says, “the effects of altitude will really become apparent. Few will sleep comfortably and many people start to suffer headaches and other mild symptoms of AMS.”

The next day, we were going to be getting up early (you don’t say!) and heading for Everest Base Camp.. a couple more thousand feet up!  Needed to get a good night’s sleep.