Although the ascent up Kala Patthar was tiring, it was not on the scale of Gokyo Ri. It was bitterly cold when we left at 0700hrs and two members of the group opted to stay behind, as they had caught a stomach bug that was doing the rounds. It didn’t last long, roughly 24 hours, but almost everyone in the group had contracted it. Thus far me and Pete had escaped it; we were very religious in using alcohol gel before eating or touching our faces.
In fact if you go back to my post from Day 9 and in the picture of me on top of the pass, you can see the dispensing top to the bottle in my side pocket to my trouser leg. I kept it there all the time so it was easily accessible, granted it was a large bottle and was extra weight, but I never came down with the stomach bug; a worthy trade off.
The route up was steep and full of false summits, but we eventually made it. The temperature was low and my hands were in pain again, but nowhere to the extent as Gokyo Ri. I had taken two pairs of gloves, the warm ones that weren’t warm, that I used previously and a thin pair of work gloves. This day I wore both pairs. I didn’t find the climb difficult until around the 5400m point, where I felt the lack of Oxygen. By the time I reached the summit at 5548m, my lungs and legs were burning.
The wind had whipped up something fierce and windchill was uncomfortable and proved difficult to operate my camera. I fired off a few snaps and didn’t bother with the tripod. I had wished I packed my down jacket. The skies were clear and the views of Everest were second to none; looking down the Khumbu Glacier was breath taking.
I didn’t stick around long on account of the windchill and began to make my way back down to Gorak Shep. I raced back to the teahouse for a hot drink of black tea. Once warmed up, we set off to Dingboche, passing Lobuche for some lunch.
The descent was gradual and easy to walk. We came to the Cho La Pass turn off and I shuddered at the direction of Dzonghla, as I recalled our stay there. We came up to a graveyard of cairns, erected to honour those who had died on Everest. The likes of Mallory, Rob Hall and Steve Fischer. There were prayer flags suspended between them. As we entered the graveyard the wind dipped giving a very eerie atmosphere. We spooked ourselves and moved on quickly.
As we descended further, the air was noticeably thicker. The little steep hills on the route that would leave me out of breath only a few days ago, were nothing now as I skipped up them. The sun was getting low, casting long shadows and shrubbery began dotting the surroundings. It felt like a lazy autumn afternoon, adding to the peaceful enjoyment of the walk into Dingboche. Perhaps it was the richer Oxygen levels, but I felt so relaxed and happy. A perfect end to the day.
Stu's Camino 