Nepal: Windswept Ridges and Helicopters

For April 11

After staying in Dingboche for 2 days it was time to be on the move again.  It was day 7 on the trail and we were heading to Lobuche (16,109 ft).  When we reached Lobuche for the night, it would be the highest I had ever spent the night.  Our highest sleeping camp on Kilimanjaro was the Barafu camp at 15,330 ft, and let's be honest, I didn’t really sleep there; I laid down in my sleeping bag, but barely slept.  I’ll give you a brief preview about how I slept in Lobuche…except for getting up to go to the bathroom a few times, I slept like a log, like I did on pretty much every night of the trip.

Clear view of the mountains up valley from Dingboche, with a porter carrying 7 planks of wood...yes, there is someone under there carrying these up the mountain.

I managed to get some food down for breakfast.  A weird mix of raisins, peanut butter, and porridge (not all together).  Basically my goal was to get whatever I could in me, and the raisins and peanut butter were two of those things that I could manage to eat. And really overall, I felt in a better mood on the hike, so maybe the two nights in Dingboche helped.

We started our hike up and over the ridge that we had climbed the day before.  We took a different route to get up there than the day before, but we ended up in the same spot.  It was windy on the ridge and the wind pretty much never let up.  I had a thin gaiter up over my nose and mouth to keep the dirt from blowing in. Between my clothes, hat, gaiter, and sunglasses, there wasn’t much skin left uncovered, which was probably a good thing because the sun was bright and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  I had developed the allergic reaction I sometimes get to the sun on my hands so I was also trying to protect them with gloves.

We had reached the Khumbu Valley which mainly meant we saw a lot of helicopters.  The Khumbu Valley is the valley leading to Mount Everest. It seemed like there was always one flying past.  They were probably a combination of tourists who would rather see Everest in a day instead of hiking for 12 days, or supply missions up to Gorak Shep or EBC.  

I'm channeling my brother in this picture.  The double thumbs up is totally his thing. 
That's Tobuche and Cholatse in the background.

After hiking for a bit we stopped to take in the amazing view before us.  Ama Dablam was out in all her glory.  Tobuche and Cholatse too.  We couldn’t see Everest or any of its surrounding mountains because of our location on the trail.  The morning part of the trail was actually fairly easy once we got past the first ridge.  We were on a slow, steady ascent which was perfect for taking in our surroundings.  There are just so many mountains with snow capping them.  It was all so pretty and totally worth the trip to see them all.  

At one point we stopped for a snack break which was good, because I had a knot in my back.  I managed to find the perfect dirt clod to use to massage out that spot.  I’m sure I looked ridiculous laying down, moving back and forth to work out that knot…but it worked.  I offered the dirt clod up to others, but I guess I was the only one who needed it.  

Just me and my dirt clod, massaging out that knot.

Just before lunch we had to drop down and cross the rocky mess that is brought down the valley during the rainy season, as well as the river formed by the melt-off of the Khumbu Glacier.  From up high the rocks didn’t seem that big, but once you got down among them, you could see how big some of them really were.  On the other side was Thukla, basically the one place to grab food between Dingboche and Lobuche, so everyone stopped there.  It was busy as people were coming and going.  It was a good lunch day.  I was able to eat almost the entirety of my garlic soup, which was good because we had a massive uphill coming.

Amy pointing out the way we're going.  We followed the path down, then across that whitish rock.  And then up that lighter path on the other side.

In the matter of about ¾ mile, we ascended approximately 650 feet.  I slowly, but steadily made the climb.  I think I only had to stop maybe 3 times for a break.  This is what being able to eat does to you!  It gives you energy!  Up at the top was Thukla Pass and the view from up there is amazing.

At the top of Thukla Pass, looking towards Ama Dablam.

But if you turn around from the viewpoint, there is a solemn reminder of the risks people take to climb Everest and the other mountains of the Himalayas.  There is an area full of memorials to those who have died climbing.  Some memorials are for a single person with a plaque noting who they were and their accomplishments.  Others are memorials for climbers from a single country, such as Russia or China (these were two of the country ones that I remember, though I know there were others).  Probably one of the best known names that I came across was a memorial to Scott Fischer.  If you’ve read Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, or are familiar with the 1996 Everest Climbing Disaster, his name is one you will recognize.  Refresher – 12 people died on Everest on that day in 1996 after getting caught in a blizzard during their summit push.  Fischer was a lead guide for one of the expedition companies that day, and died on the mountain. Many mistakes were made that day.  

The memorial to Scott Fischer at Chukpi Lhara at the top of Thulka Pass.

After taking some time to walk through the memorials at Chukpi Lhara on top of Thukla Pass, we continued on with a steady uphill hike that seemed almost easy.  We passed by the base camp for Lobuche (the mountain, not the town), which had about 25 tents set up in it.

Lobuche Base Camp

When we got to our tea house in Lobuche, we found a spot at a large corner table and played UNO with the guides and Ian.  I was feeling quite tired, probably due to low oxygen levels, which isn’t all too surprising due to the altitude being almost 2,000 feet higher than the day before.  And of course there was the whole Covid thing too, which might have also affected oxygen levels.