Everest Region December 2003 - Day 16

Gokyo Ri, Gokyo to Luza

You can see a slideshow of my best pics from Everest on flickr.
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The father of the household which runs Cho Oyu View Lodge returned from Namche that evening, with yaks laden with wood for the winter's heating. His smiles and laughter added to the already great good humour of his wife and daughter. They were really a delight to stay with. He is also a tuneful whistler when herding his yaks.

About twelve to eighteen inches of snow fell over night. The only trail that was clear was the one trodden to the outside toilet (there were several parties at the Cho Oyu View Lodge - including John and Gayle, who had caught up with us again the previous evening, having crossed Cho La and the Ngozumpa Glacier before the snow hit). It was still snowing on and off the next day. Despite the capricious weather, and the effort needed in pushing a path through fresh snow, Helen and I decided to have a go at climbing Gokyo Ri.

120° view left to right: Peak 5940m (surrounded by Gaunara (Gyubanare) Gl, not visible), Cholo (6089m, snow above the black face), Peak 5655m directly in front of Everest / Chomolungma (8850m) and Lhotse, three dark peaks leading to the prominent Jobo Lhapshtan (Arakam Tse, 6423m) and Cholatse (in cloud), Kangtega and Thamserku are in the south-south-eastern distance. Snow is coming in from the direct south over the flanks of Pharilapche. To see a QTVR panorama of this, click here.

The climb up Gokyo Ri through the snow was really hard work, and we'd skipped brekky, and I was now feeling absolutely stuffed. I didn't quite make it as high as Helen, but still managed to snap a few brilliant close ups of Everest/Chomolungma in a very rare showing through the cloud. Behind Peak 5655, the South Summit is clearly visible, as is the steepness down to the South Col. The Nuptse Ridge is leading to Lhotse.

We got back to breakfast, hot tea, cards and an hour's rest and recuperation before heading off. Gayle and John had been teaching new card games to the boys, which we made great use of for the rest of the trip.

Right: Nabin, Glen, Gayle, Andrew, Helen, John, and Joseph.

The stream that runs into and out of the Dudh Pokhari and onto the second and first lakes becomes the Dudh Koshi. Here, we are crossing the bridge over it before it descends about 200m in 1km at the end of the Ngozumpa Glacier. Whilst it snowed on and off most of the day, it made for quite novel trekking for us, so we sort of enjoyed it. Our gear stopped us from getting cold, and we felt smug at spending so much money on acquiring it. All the trekkers had abandoned Gokyo at the start of the day, stamping down the snow to make quite a track for us. So whilst we enjoyed a relatively painless (though at times icy) descent, we marvelled at the ability of the first party to find the exact path through at times deep snow.

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As seen on Andrew Purdam's Bushwalking Treasure Box blog.