Category: EBC 2019

Blue skies, snow capped mountain views, smiling faces, daily reports, positive mental attitudes…so what was so tough about this trek to make it a worthy challenge for our fundraising causes, and did we really make it look so easy? What hardships did we actually suffer, how did we deal with them and was it such a big deal?

My experience and recollections of previous long challenges has taught me that the good memories are the ones that tend to stick. Extreme hardships also remain, but mainly because of the sense of achievement that overcoming them brings.

Ok let’s start with the picture painted by our photos, reports and comments. Yes, skies were very blue, especially in the mornings, we had one dismal day, and mostly we had finished walking for the day by the time cloud cover and stronger winds arrived. Overall could not have hoped for better weather. Yes, the photos and videos showed smiling, positive faces, but when was the last time you posed for a photo and were not asked to smile? Equally it is massively important on a multi day challenge to maintain positivity and block out negative thoughts – it keeps spirits up. And yes, the scenery was stunning, spectacular, amazing and any other superlative you could come up with…but you have to get there to see it!

So there’s a good number of reasons why followers may have got an impression of not too much discomfort. Add to that the fact that of course we all took it very seriously and prepared ourselves physically and mentally to different extents. We did not set out to kill ourselves, on the contrary we knew it would be tough but wanted to enjoy it at the same time, so failure to do any training would have been a big mistake.

And the hardships and challenges? Firstly the physical part:

Walking uphill is tiring – fact, I’m sure you’ll agree. Walking uphill from 3400m to 4000m and then to 4800m and to 5600m on very uneven terrain is even more tiring when you throw in the altitude and jack if oxygen to breathe. You have to go slower and it takes much longer. You become breathless more quickly and have to stop more often to control the level of physical exertion. These are not really the moments that lend themselves well to photo or video.

Walking downhill is also tiring, the stress on joints is exaggerated and the tendency is to try to go faster, which means higher energy and also mental focus to avoid making mistakes.

The effects of altitude are varied, but the most prevalent were lack of quality sleep, reduced appetite to eat, development of coughs and blocked noses, all resulting in lower energy levels, fatigue and mental barriers to overcome. We all suffered these effects, it did not help either that the schedule meant some days we were getting up at 3 or 4am and others not until later. It becomes an endurance test both physically and mentally – not something we discussed too much other an acknowledgement of how we felt at certain times as a way of supporting and encouraging each other, and not something we would make too much of in photos or videos. Maybe it’s just another man thing!!

Travelling in foreign countries off the beaten track is often hazardous from a health and hygiene perspective. We had to be careful what we ate and drank, but despite the best intentions none of us fully avoided “tummy troubles”. This presented a different dilemma – starve the bug to clear the system or continue feeding it because of the need to maintain energy levels. I won’t dwell too long on this particular issue – I think we all can appreciate the level of discomfort under normal circumstances, let alone half way through a 16 day trek in the Himalayas. In a couple of cases antibiotics were the only solution.

This has taken a couple of days to complete – distractions of the return trip to Kathmandu, shopping and a bit of sightseeing. Apologies for that but here is the final day…

After the events of the previous evening – some of which I was not aware at the time – it was interesting at breakfast to observe the behaviour of various members of the rowdy “commonwealth” group as we had decided to refer to them. Disputes over bar bills in a couple of cases, silent, hungover looks from others. I decided to have a chat with their guide to inquire about what powers he had to take action in cases of out of control client behaviour. The answer was basically none – it later transpired he thought I was blaming him!!

So the commonwealth group left – one or two made sure they had stocked up on more beer for the day’s hike.

We had a civilised breakfast and left at leisure knowing we had no more than about 5 hours walking time today so could relax and really enjoy the achievement. We didn’t really see much of Santosh, a very well known personality on the trek route, also still suffering badly with toothache, as he stopped quite often to talk to people he knew – this is his last guided trek until the autumn season starts in September after the monsoons.

The path was gradually downwards at first – with plenty of activity along the way, longer and longer mule trains to dodge and people out farming, building, going to school and busying themselves in the small settlements we passed through before arriving in Phakding where we had spent our first night. A brief stop to shed a layer of clothing before crossing the river once again on the now familiar style of swaying bridge.

The path started to rise again and we had a stop scheduled in Ghat. Our decision to carry on walking was to a larger extent influenced as we approached. From probably 200m away we could hear, and then see, the aforementioned commonwealth group, sat outside the tea house, making a lot of noise and continuing their crusade to support the local economy by severely depleting its imported beer stock. Once again, I want to stress that I have no issue with people enjoying themselves and maybe I am getting too old and wise, however, I believe that the overwhelming majority of locals, trekkers, mountaineers on their way to climb, and others would all expect and prefer a more cultural experience than what you could get sat outside a pub on a Sunday afternoon. I’ll leave it at that – there were words exchanged as we passed but nothing of any consequence and not initiated by our group.

So we kept walking to the next main village of Cheplung and stopped at a place which had artisan bread tools and yak cheese. It was superb – just a glass of red wine missing.

We saw the commonwealth group go past outside on their noisy way and after a short while resumed our own journey. Next stop was a small cafe we had stopped at on our way up. They roast and grind their own coffee, which was cause for some interesting discussion and a sample purchase.

A short while later we left on the last hour or so up to Lukla. I really didn’t remember the path and at one point actually thought we may have taken a wrong turn as we had left Santosh behind at the cafe. Jacek was more confident of the route than me and sure enough all of a sudden we went up a stepped path, around a corner and we were suddenly in Lukla at the tourist checkpoint – Tomek already waiting having left the cafe ahead of us. We celebrated briefly and strolled the last few yards through the town to our lodge for the night. The commonwealth group were not around, they made it shortly after us. There were one or two words spoken, I will not trouble you with any more details.

We cleaned up, ordered dinner and had a meal with our porters. A slight mix up over the tip calculation was resolved later to everyone’s satisfaction.

As we were tired and reminded we had another early start next day for the flight back down to Manthali, the celebration was a little subdued. I think my own personal Everest had happened at Cho La pass, so no real overwhelming emotion, just a massive sense of achievement and pride and I suppose relief that I got through it all in one piece.

So all done – just over 150km trekked in 16 days according to my GPS tracks – minimum altitude 2500m and max altitude 5640m. I will put together a summary of the highs and lows to post separately and hopefully clarify some reasons why, at least to some observers comments (good humoured or otherwise), this has looked like “a walk in the park”, which could not be further from the truth.

A long day divided up into some interesting sections as we left the high mountains behind for good and descended into the greener valleys, wider trails with villages more frequent along the way. To start we followed a steep winding track down and down from the monastery, losing 400m height in almost no time. We then started to gain height again as we followed the trail around the edge of the mountain on our way towards Namche Bazaar from where we would retrace our steps along the route all the way back to Lukla. It was an easy walking track but a lot of dust was being blown into our faces at times by the wind. There were several “stupas” or bell shaped monuments providing good market points along the way. After a stop at a nice tea house on the trail below Khumjung we continued along before descending on a familiar path into Namche for lunch. As with many countries in this part of the world, informal relationships are a very important part of making things happen so it was no surprise when our guide explained we would be having lunch in the same lodge where had stayed some 12 days ago.

Also there were the rowdy group from last night – it seems we are following a similar schedule back to Lukla (more of that later). After lunch we began the long descent out of Namche and found ourselves crossing the wobbly “suspension” bridges again over the crashing sound of the river below. Another familiar experience was the non-human traffic, mules and “yaks” which always seem to be coming towards you. By the time we got to another place we had previously stopped at for tea in Jorsalle, it was starting to rain. We sat inside and prepared for the worst, waterproof jackets and back pack covers were put on as we listened to the sound of the rain on the corrugated plastic roof. We drank our tea, went outside and realised immediately that it was not raining at all, what we could hear was the sound of the river!!!

It remained cloudy so we decided just to crack on and covered the last few km to our lodge at a good pace. No surprise again that this was where we had had a tea break on our outward journey, and equally no surprise that the rowdy group were already in situ…and this is how it went..

The group is with another well established trekking company, there are 10 trekkers and 3 guides. The group is comprised of 2 older men from Australia, a young Canadian couple (I thought they were Americans), 2 English guys, a pair of well built young men from Australia (one of which is actually Irish) a lone Australian lady and a guy on his own from New Zealand. Their group had left Tyangboche before us in the morning, one or two of the guys already drinking beer, packing more cans in their bags and bragging about whose bar bill was the largest from the previous evening.

So when we arrived in Chumoa the alcohol was already flowing and the music was loud, and everyone was in good spirits. We checked into our rooms, ordered dinner and watched again as the evening unfolded, this time in the form of card based drinking games orchestrated by the Canadian chap. We politely declined offers to join in (I have learned from past experiences not to mix too much alcohol with a long hike next day – unnecessary suffering!!).

Now, as anyone who knows me will hopefully agree, I’m not a killjoy nor averse to seeing people enjoy themselves over a few drinks, however as the noise levels increased, music was turned up louder, it became clear there was no control over what was going on (in fact the party guides and the lodge owner seemed to be powerless to act – bottles of local rum were being consumed and arguments were beginning. Fortunately my room was upstairs and shielded from some of the noise, so I retired to bed. I fell asleep but was woken at some point by shouting outside the building, arguments and looked out of my window to see a guy stand on a plastic table which promptly collapsed underneath him.

Finally the noise abated, earplugs were in and sleep returned. It would be interesting to see how events unfolded in the morning…final day back to Lukla.

OK let’s start today with a quick bit about my GPS device and some of its “issues”. I have a SatMap Active 10 which was a birthday gift back in 2011. It has served me really well over the years, mainly as a means of recording details of my walks, but also on a few occasions as a guide in bad weather to establish my position and keep me on course. Other than a couple of problems a few years back where it just froze and I had to get the manufacturer to fix it, I have had no cause for complaint at all. On this particular trek however our altitude readings have taken on more importance than distance, and again generally the readings appear to have been quite accurate – which they should really because my position is given to within 5m in the cross hairs of 7 or more satellites. At each destination, signposts tell us the altitude which I have checked against my GPS reading, and found them to be pretty close. Everest Base Camp, however, is a real dilemma. All the signs there said 5364m, so how come my GPS trip log for that day showed a maximum height of only 5272m? That’s almost 300feet different!! The following day on Kala Patthar normal service was resumed. I don’t have the answer but will be doing some investigation when I get home.

Anyway, back to today’s trek, overall downhill from Pheriche on the main EBC path with a couple of river crossings and a noticeably warmer breeze. Following the Dudh Kosi river down the valley, we descended below the tree line again into the greener, more humid type of walking we had experienced at the very start of our adventure. We passed through several villages, stopping a couple of time for tea/coffee and some lunch. We made good time but had to remember to pass to the left hand side of the Manni prayer walls scattered along the route. (More about these cultural things in a later post). Our final break was in Debuche before an unexpected final half mile uphill to Tyangboche where there is a famous monastery at the top of the hill. After a quick checkin at our lodge and an amazing espresso (first proper coffee for 2 weeks) we went over to look at the monastery and witnessed the monks in prayer. Quite an experience. I’m pleased to say my appetite appears to have returned (tonight we were allowed meat, so I went for Spaghetti bolognaise, even though the sizzling chicken steak looked very appealing. Resisted the beer again – getting irritated by a large group of Irish, Aussie, American, British becoming louder and louder as their alcohol takes effect. I suspect one or two of them will suffer tomorrow. Suffice to say the earplugs will be in use tonight and I may be making a bit more noise than usual at 7am tomorrow when we are up for our final long day and the penultimate day of the trek. Our guide, Santosh, has developed a bad toothache so we are making sure he has painkillers and hopefully it won’t disrupt tomorrow.

I was already awake when my alarm went off at 3.20am, having gone to bed early but not slept terribly well – I’m blaming the altitude. I got dressed by the light of my iPhone torch as the batteries had died on my head torch and there was no functioning light in my room. Packing a minimum of items in my backpack and dressing for the dark and cold I was ready to leave. The lodge restaurant was in darkness and porters were asleep on the benches as a number of people gathered for the ascent of Kala Patthar – aiming to see the sunrise behind the peak of Mount Everest across the valley. Jacek lent me his spare head torch and we set off just after 4am, following a path of lights winding their way up the steep hillside. We had about 500m to climb which would take about 2 hours. After the initial steep shock I got into a decent slow pace rhythm, not over exerting but periodically interrupted by rocks to negotiate. Across the valley to the right we could see the lights of Everest climbers scaling the Khumbu icefall on their way up to Camp 1. As the path got higher the lack of oxygen supply began to tell and my pace slowed further. I took a number of opportunities to rest and catch my breath – the sun began to rise over the skyline and warm the air as the view of the peak of Mount Everest became clearer – the closest view yet but still 2 miles vertically higher than our position.

So with the sun on my back I negotiated the last rocky scramble to the top, already occupied by a number of people and a small group of Chinese photographers who had spent the night up there in a tent – I checked my GPS which showed an altitude of 5640m (more about my GPS in a future post). We sat for a while and had the amazing view of Everest silhouetted against a whispy white cloud, it was quite spectacular. A few photos and a video later and it was time to get back down to the lodge for breakfast, bag packing and setting off for the 13k hike back down the EBC trail.

We left at about 10.30am and completed the estimated 2hour return to Lobuche in about 90 minutes. After a brief tea break we then had a further 3km to go before lunch at Thukla, passing the point where numerous memorials are standing to remember climbers who have lost their lives in the high mountains including some of those involved in the 1996 disaster, the subject of the movie and the book I am reading. We descended rapidly, taking only one hour for this section and had a decent lunch before setting off again to cover the final miles to Pheriche. This began with a river crossing on a very suspect bridge ( in fact we found a bag of rusty nuts and bolts on the other side) and then a long descent initially down a valley before eventually a long flat flood plain took us through a yak farm as the low clouds and increasing winds threatened some rain. Pace was good – we are now benefiting at lower altitude from the time spent starved of oxygen higher up. Feels good! So another long day done and I have to say I feel stronger and looking forward to the next 3 days. We have not succumbed to the temptation for a beer, how disciplined is that? Still working on my appetite – managed to force down half a plate of egg fried rice tonight. Will sleep well – a shorter, more relaxed day awaits tomorrow as we continue to descend. Today we went up above 5600m and finished over 1300m lower.

Today was the third major milestone on the trek, reaching Everest Base Camp at last, but it was going to a longer day with at least 6 hours trekking above 5000m. We left Lobuche just after 6.30am and the initial height gain was gradual as we approached the path running alongside the Khumbu Glacier which effectively falls off the southern slopes of Everest. The terrain changed and suddenly we were on undulating rocky paths as we headed towards Gorak Shep, the last village before Base Camp. The sun was up and very soon I was so uncomfortably warm I needed to stop and shed my jacket, gloves and woolly hat. I felt strangely lethargic and lacking energy in my legs but plodded on with regular stops before eventually we crested a ridge and there, right in the distance, were the clusters of yellow and orange tents, our first sight of Base Camp. This raised my energy level and after one or two more ups and downs we descended into Gorak Shep for a breakfast stop at the lodge we are staying at tonight. I took the opportunity to rid my bag of some unnecessary weight for the walk to EBC, making sure I had enough water and snacks.

We left Gorak Shep on an initially flat path before gaining and losing height in a similar way to the earlier part of the day. The rest stop had done me good (2 Mars Bars and a Coke) so I felt stronger as we continued to gain height before reaching a narrow flatter ridge path with Base Camp ahead and below to the right. There were a couple spots along here where we had the closest views of the Everest summit yet. We could see the path below leading into the Camp and hear the cheers of trekkers celebrating their achievements. In next to no time we descended off the ridge and were there ourselves, congratulating each other, filming videos, posing for photos and trying to take time to really savour the experience.

Base Camp is really in 2 parts – the “tourist bit” where we arrived, which had a helipad, and the business end of the Camp right at the far end where the climbing expeditions are co-ordinated. The latter is strictly off limits to trekkers.

We had amazing close up views of the glacier and icefall which have to be crossed first by anyone climbing the mountain via the southern route. Sadly we saw no real activity, although it is likely that some climbing teams are out of view higher on the mountain having already summitted or getting ready to take advantage of the good weather and go for the top on the next couple of days.

We stayed for about an hour and then turned round to retrace our steps back to Gorak Shep. At one point on the return hike we were halted by the angry noise of what could only be an avalanche and turned to see the snow sliding down part of the lower Nuptse slope on the opposite side of the glacier. I managed to grab my phone and quickly film a short piece of the action as the white cloud mushroomed downwards. The path was still very busy with trekkers going in both directions along with the the mules and yaks that we had seen so much of in the first few days after leaving Lukla.

We got comfortably back to the lodge as the winds started to pick up and had a late lunch before starting the prep for tomorrow which will be our longest day yet and begins with an early morning climb up Kala Patthar, to see the sunrise over Everest. It will be the highest point on the trek and the final major challenge before we begin the 4 day journey back down to Lukla.

This is the busiest lodge we have stayed at, probably 70 people crammed in so very noisy in the restaurant – may need the earplugs tonight – alarm set for 3.30 am!!

In my opinion the tea house yesterday was the worst so far. No WiFi, mice in the corridors, no indoor washroom and they refused to charge my power pack. Jacek and I spent most of the afternoon in a nearby lodge using their WiFi and drinking coffee. I also succumbed to the temptation and bought a tube of Pringles! We returned to our own lodge to update our altitude checks and go to bed. I was tired and had a good long sleep getting at 7.30 and casual preparation for the half day hike to Lobuche.

The walk began with gentle descent to a river crossing at which point we noticed a number of very large birds circling around. Santosh advised they were vultures, 7 in total however it was impossible to get close enough for a decent picture.

We then started to gain elevation following the path up and around a couple of relatively small hills as we approached the main Khumbu valley where we would eventually link up again with the much busier traditional Base Camp Trek route at the foot of the Khumbu Glacier. We stopped at one point and watched a small avalanche cascade down one of the slopes on Cholatse. Once again the scenery is almost beyond words to describe and as we turned north into the Khumbu valley itself a completely new panorama revealed itself. From our track high on the hillside we could see trekkers, porters, mules and yaks on the busy trail below which ran parallel to ours. Our paths crossed again with an Argentine girl and her dog who we had encountered in Namche last week and stopped to chat for a while, briefly comparing experiences. After that we dropped down off the hill, over a small snow covered glacier and merged into the traffic heading north. A short time we had climbed gradually back up to about 5000m and arrived in Lobuche where we stay tonight. In total contrast to yesterday WiFi is decent and my room has an en-suite of sorts, basically a WC and a basin, neither of which is plumbed in.

A relaxing afternoon catching up on a few things, spoke to some Colombians in Spanish briefly, not forgetting to apologise for beating them in the World Cup last year!!

Will be in bed quite early as we have a long day tomorrow, making it all the way to Everest Base Camp – we may even be there when people are actually reaching the summit of the mountain itself.

Today was the day I had been constantly thinking about from the moment I received the trek itinerary back in February and did the obligatory Google research. The crossing of ChoLa pass was going to be high, steep, exposed and dangerous.

We were awake at 3am and left just after 4.15 in the dark after a quick snack and hot tea. It was so peaceful as we ascended gradually up the valley in the freezing cold with our headlamps lighting the way. After about 2 hours we came to the top of a ridge and checked the height. Already we had climbed 450m and the sun was just appearing over the range of mountains in front of us. Spectacular! The downside was that we now had to descend again to cross a valley before the serious climb up to ChoLa pass began. As we progressed the landscape became increasingly boulder strewn and it was apparent that my trekking poles were more of a hindrance than a help. Tomek suggested I pack them away and use my hands where necessary to maintain balance. Sound advice, as before long we had crossed the valley and were starting the steep (understatement) climb up to the top of the pass and we could see the fluttering prayer flags marking our target some 700 feet above. Time to gird the lions and suck it up!

Progress was slow and at times my nerves were severely tested as we scrambled up icy gullies and loose shale, manoeuvring around boulders and narrow ledges. Exerting this much energy combined with the amount of mental effort meant I just had to keep stopping for breath, my heart pounding and remember we are at around 16000 feet! I just struggled onwards not really thinking about anything in particular, just making painstaking advances up the mountain. At one point, around 300 feet from the top, the snow and ice forced Tomek and myself to stop and fit our mini ice spikes onto our boots, while up ahead Jacek and Santosh seemed to be managing perfectly well without. My experience of using these mini crampons amounted to test fittings and a few steps on the concrete floor of the garage at home, so the initial steps on snow were very tentative but soon the benefit was evident. A couple of rest breaks later I looked up and suddenly the prayer flags were almost touching distance away. Resisting the temptation to go quickly I continued to focus on my pace and footwork and then that was it. I was there at 5420m along with a small number of people going in both directions. I filmed a quick video, which I have still been unable to upload, then after trying to savour the moment I sat down and failed miserably to fight back the wave of emotion that hit me. It was the same feeling I had when I reached Lands End 2 years ago, a sheer release of tension, elation, sense of overcoming a challenge. I just had to let it all go and this time it was Jacek instead of Cath who took the hug.

We stayed at the top for a while taking photos – I even got to speak some Mandarin with a couple from Beijing who I offered to take a picture of!! Soon enough and still feeling a little euphoric we set off for the long descent to our destination. Immediately I had to take off the ice spikes to scramble down a steep tricky section before we got to the snow field below which descended alongside the glacier. So the spikes went back on for a while as the slope levelled out and the breathtaking scenery opened out in front – the mountains now starting to become even bigger. The sun was extremely hot and I had to take off some clothing layers for comfort, not forgetting the sun cream to protect face, neck and hands. We came to a point where the snow stopped and the spikes were taken off for the final time – another steep tricky descent through boulders brought us to an area of more level ground where we could see the path snaking off in front us down through moorland and streams towards a destination we could not yet see. We had already been going for over 7 hours and the easy terrain buoyed my spirits further – I am used to walking for a full day and was really enjoying myself for the last hour or so. At last we rounded a small hill and the village came into view, bringing the toughest part of our trek to an end. No WiFi at the lodge so we ventured to a neighbouring tea house to give them our custom and use theirs. Although I’m tired as I write this I decided to not take an afternoon nap, hoping I will get a great sleep tonight. Another shorter day tomorrow where we will rejoin the busier main Base Camp trekking route. Massive respect to our porters today – it’s just incredible what they do.

After almost a full day recovery spent fighting for WiFi connection, sleeping, eating and drinking tea, today was to be a pretty short day crossing east over the Ngozumba glacier (the largest in the Himalayas). Having been able to view the route yesterday from The top of Gokyo Ri, I had some idea of what to expect.

Firstly back to the lodge/tea-house and some more detail on how they work. In essence they are closest to a Youth Hostel in the UK, offering simple bedrooms (2-4 share) with no electricity points, just a light. The beds have quilts but I have been using my sleeping bag anyway. The rooms are locked with bolts or key operated padlocks. Wash facilities consist of one or two basins with cold water only (you can pay for hot water if you want it). Water supply is gravity fed from tanks to taps feeding basins and outlets for toilets, which brings me onto this often sensitive topic. So how do the toilets work? Mostly they are Arabian squatting plates, like you find in most countries in the Asian region, although occasionally there has been a western style pan, most likely with no seat. You need your own supply of toilet paper which when used must be thrown in a waste bin, not down the trap because the human waste is put to good use as fertiliser in this part of the world. The tea house will sell toilet rolls if you run out, or even if you don’t! There are no cistern tanks so each toilet has a large water butt filled with water and a handy blue (always) jug which is filled to use as a manual flush. There are hot showers which must be paid for – call me stingy but I have my own personal hygiene system which will save me about $80 on the trek and make the one when I get back to Kathmandu absolutely awesome and something to look forward to.

The other main purpose of the tea house is to provide food and drink. There is generally a wide range of dishes including soups, various types of bread (Tibetan is my favourite) and eggs, pasta, rice, noodles, pizzas and dumplings or momos. We have been advised to avoid meat although tuna is acceptable. They do some simple desserts but our appetite has not really stretched past a main course. There are numerous types of tea and soft drinks can be bought also. I’ve given up the poor black coffee and stuck now to the ginger lemon and honey tea. The dining area is usually heated by a stove in the centre (often powered by yak dung) and tables mainly around the edges. There is a counter where the charging facility and other sale items are kept and behind that is the kitchen which is a hive of activity at busy times. Electricity is solar powered, most places have roof panels, but where we are today has large solar dishes which generate enough heat to boil water outside.

The tea houses stock a variety of items that trekkers may need, snack bars, biscuits, spare batteries, alcohol (off limits for us) and they operate a very lucrative device charging service usually from $3 an hour.

Anyway, back to today’s hike. At just over 2 hours the shortest day of the trek. We climbed up away from the lake at Gokyo over the ridge to the glacier. This first part was longer and steeper than it had looked yesterday. As we got to the top, we could see the glacier spanning the valley in front of us like some enormous moonscape, we estimated at least a mile to the other side. First we had to descend steeply from the ridge and keep moving as there was a danger of rockfalls. The path then wound up and down around mounds of rock debris sitting on top of the glacier below. There were occasional pools and every so often the sound of the glacier creaking as something moved. It felt like being inside a very large quarry despite the absence of heavy machinery. Eventually we approached the far side and another steep climb to get out onto terra firma again. The terrain reminded me again of Scotland as we descended gradually down a valley to be greeted by grazing yaks at Trangnag. WiFi seems ok here so a light lunch, rest before dinner and an early night as we start at 4am tomorrow for the hardest day on trek going over ChoLa pass.

Well the skies cleared overnight and the alarm was set for 4.30am. Santosh knocked our doors shortly after and it was a quick dress and bag pack for the first 5000m+ experience of the trek. A quick cup of tea and a couple of cereal bars later we were off. Initially across the stream feeding into the lake then straight onto the zigzag path up the mountain. It was a hard 150 minutes, counting off steps to take the mind off the tedium, dealing with a couple of steep rocky sections and several stops to take on water and get the heart rate back down. Due to the early hour we started in shade and had dressed for the cold, in fact my first water sip from the bladder contained ice where it had started to freeze in the exposed tube. Very soon, however, as we plodded upwards, the sun caught our backs, raising the temperature by a few degrees and bringing an extra level of discomfort. As we ascended the views of the surrounding mountains became staggeringly better in the sunshine, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and Cho Oyu, all over 8000 metres high and all visible at the same time. The cloud inversion in the valley had disappeared by the time we reached the summit, already occupied by one or two groups of people who had left ahead of us.

We spent some time at the top enjoying the stunning view at 5360m, taking photos and filming videos before sadly having to begin the journey back down. This had been playing on my mind as we were going up, but was actually far easier than I had expected and I quite enjoyed the long descent, taking my time, still admiring the views and feeling the buzz from what I had just done and seen.

We returned to the lodge for what was effectively brunch and I took advantage of the lack of people to get some of social media stuff up to date before having a mid afternoon nap.

We have just had dinner and have a short day tomorrow crossing the Ngozumba glacier moraine to Tragnag.