EBC Day 8 Gokyo Ri

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.