Gokyo: 4752 m
Gokyo Ri: 5350 m
High camp: 5132 m
Distance: 4.5 km (61.1 km total)
We planned (with Rishi’s permission) to try to get a 10-15 minute head start on the rest of the group, so we were all packed and ready to go by 6:15 am. Breakfast was at 6:30 and we could already see some trekkers starting the long, slow climb up Gokyo Ri. Breakfast was cornflakes or porridge, toast, and a fried egg. I couldn’t stomach all of mine so had to hope I would have enough energy to make it through to lunch.
We did manage to get away about ten minutes early, again with Luk guiding us up the zig-zagging trail. From the lodge it looked like the gradient eased off as we got higher, but in climbing it didn’t really feel like it! We passed 5000 metres, then 5100. The view looking back at the lakes, the glacier, and of course the mountains just got more and more spectacular. Everest started peeking out from behind a ridge. We struggled through 5200 m. It was aim for that rock, that zig-zag, that cairn, where that guy is standing. Up to 5300 m, and the top was close. Finally we made it and were rewarded with a 360-degree view of mountains, all clear of cloud, hardly any wind (but still bitterly cold). Everest was majestic, also Lhotse, Makalu, Cho-oyu (all over 8000 m) plus others we have been seeing including Tabuche, Cholatse, Kangchung, etc. We took our time taking photos, and after a while were the only group up there.
From the top we started heading towards our high camp. This involved descending 500 m to our lunch stop, which was tucked away in a valley across from Gokyo village. It was not easy going – basically Nepalese bush/rock/snow-bashing. Lunch was a picnic affair with cooked food: spicy noodle soup, curried veges, sausages, bread rolls, boiled green beans, salad. Then it was another tough 300 m climb up to our high camp. The cloud was starting to obscure some of the mountains, but Everest was still in view for a lot of the time. There was a lot of fresh snow, and ice in some places, but we made it up without incident.
Being a ‘wilderness camp,’ the tents are ones the porters have carried here and are smaller than the ones we have been sleeping in at the permanent campsites. The tents are erected on snow and rock, including the mess tent, which means our feet froze during meals. We also have the joy of a toilet tent, which looks like a vertical coffin, erected over a hole in the ground about a foot deep with a chair over it that has a hole in the seat.
About half the group are now taking Diamox and some (including Raewyn) are feeling the effects of altitudes, with headaches, a couple are nauseous or have lost their appetite. I was feeling ok.
We were in bed by 7:30 due to the cold, with our sleeping bags full of things that needed to be kept warm – batteries, electronics, clothes for tomorrow.
Back: Dilip, Sham, Rishi (trek leader), me, Pasang (sirdar)
Front: Raewyn, Lok
Next day
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