(Bet you can’t tell which photos in this post are mine and which are Dustin’s….)
Four days ago, Weather moved in over the airport in Lukla, and apparently all flights have been canceled since. That means the hundreds of hikers who would have been arriving every day have not been arriving. For four days in a row.
In totally unrelated news, we had such an awesome hike today.
- Starting location: Lobuche, 4,910m (16,109 feet)
- Ending location: Dzongla, 4,830m (15,845 feet)
- Elevation change: 80m (264 feet) lost
- Distance traveled: 4.3 miles in exactly 3 active hours, 3:08’ total
- Oxygen: 88/89
We got an intentionally late start today, arriving for breakfast at 7:30, which we’d totally earned after our last three days of crack-of-dawn mega-hikes. It was 8:30 before we got onto the trail to Dzongla, jumping-off point for our next high pass, and an easy 4-mile hike from Lobuche.
Of the three passes, the second – Cho La – is the most highly trafficked, since it lies between Everest Base Camp and the not-too-difficult peak of Gokyo Ri. It’s a fairly popular trek for people looking to do just a little more than base camp.
And yet, we were on the trail essentially alone. We encountered a few porters going the same direction as we, and about 20 total people going the other direction, and that was it. Not even a single yak train. It was glorious.
Beyond that, the elevation was calm and kind. A little up, a little down, a remarkable amount of level. The clouds were playing hide-and-seek with some nearby peaks, but leaving us with plenty of sun to warm our backs and more mountains in-view than out-of-view.
Cholatse (6,335m/20,779f) and Arkamtse (6,423m/21,067f) were the stars of today’s show. They are both so beautiful and pointy! As we came around the bend to where we could see Arkamtse’s foot, we were treated views of a lake the most stunning shade of turquoise.
This wasn’t the most magnificent hike we’ve done, nor the most interesting, and it definitely lacked plot, but it was simply enjoyable the whole way across. Pure Type-1 fun.
We pulled into Dzongla (say, “Jongla”) at about 11am and promptly set ourselves up in the courtyard of our hotel to bask in the sunshine and immensity of Arkamtse, who takes up almost all the sky space to the south of town. To the north, though much farther away, we had lovely views of Lobuche East and West.
It really felt like we were nestled into a mountain roost, obviously high ourselves, but dwarfed by our geologic neighbors. I loved it so much.
We took advantage of the sun and the early hour to get a little sink-laundry done, then finally caved in and bought access to the local wifi, with the intention of getting some photos sorted and putting some of these blog posts up. Also, I missed my mommy.
When the clouds finally won the battle, we moved into the cozy dining room and carried on with these quests until dinner arrived.
My interest in dal bhat has persisted, though Dustin has been hit harder by altitude-induced lack of appetite, and has been searching menus for variety within the tum-safe range.
And then early to bed, because tomorrow we start for Cho La pass at 5am.
Thither & Yon 