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Day 21 Thugla to Gorak Shep |
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The path to Gorak Shep and Everest Base Camp
The mountaineers' memorial site above Thugla
The Alex Lowe memorial
Memorial detail
Scott Fischer who died in the 'Into Thin Air' disaster
Michael Mathews died aged 22.
This mountaineer left a wife and 4 children
Lobuche has a first class hotel with carpetted rooms
The boulder marks the Korean Pumo Ri memorial
Crossing the Changri Nup Glacier - don't slip
First sight of Gorak Shep
Gorak Shep
Pumo Ri is amazingly symmetrical
Everest from Kala Pattar
Nuptse
The author on Kala Pattar
You can just about see Everest Base Camp 'EBC' from Kala Patta. Don't visit. In my opinion, you'll be met by a lot of people lying around in tents and whingeing about the food, the weather, their bowels and their feet. |
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Today's trek passes through possibly the most beautiful Himalayan landscape that exists.
It doesn't get much better than this - Pumo Ri with Nuptse on the right Take the path above the top lodge on the left hand side of the moraine. Ascend steeply until the path levels out. Here there is a memorial area containing cairns and carved boulders in remembrance of climbers who have died on Everest and the surrounding mountains. There are an awful lot of them. Perhaps people starting a mountaineering career should come here before they begin. Two notable mountaineers who have memorials here are Scott Fischer and Alex Lowe. The view north is indescribably beautiful, symmetrical and peaceful. The large symmetrical peak is Pumo Ri, 7,145 metres. It means 'unmarried daughter' and was named by George Mallory for his young daughter, Clare. George Mallory disappeared along with Andrew Irvine on the 1924 Everest Expedition. Mallory's body was recently found high on Everest. The search for Irvine's body and the camera he carried continues.
Mountaineer's memorials above Thugla From here the path contours and then crosses to the left of the moraine. Reach Lobuche [27° 56.92N 86° 48.78E 4,938 metres] (2 hours). Lobuche has an impressive, high standard hotel Hotel Lobuche - almost the standard of a western motel and about twice the price. You can pay by plastic! The rooms have carpets. There is an inside toilet. It is often used by mountaineers seeking refuge from Everest Base Camp. There are several other more typical lodges here:
Continue up the path by the stream. In places the stream is buried beneath the boulders, you can't see it but you can hear it. The stream looks beautiful and clear, but is polluted by all the mountaineers and trekkers who pass by. Don't drink the water. By a large boulder [27° 58.09N 86° 49.42E 5,138 metres] (3 hours), below a short climb, is a memorial to the 1992 Korean Pumo Ri Expedition. Climb steeply upwards to reach the top of the moraine. Then climb more gently upwards and cross a boulder field. The path descends a little into an area at the beginning of the glacier. There's a large, mysterious red boulder at this point. A broad panoramic view of the Khumbu Glacier can be seen here (3 hours 30 minutes). Begin the crossing of the Changri Nup Glacier. There is a well defined path, although at one point you will inevitably have to cross the actual ice, despite the mounds of glacial rock rubble all around. Do be aware that this ground is very unstable. Be careful where you stop and rest.
Panoramic view of the Khumbu Glacier Gorak Shep (which means 'dead crow') comes into view on the far side of the glacier (4 hours). Gorak Shep (4 hours and 10 minutes) lies on the edge of a small dried lake bed. It's even got a beach! From the western edge of the sandy beach you can see the summit of Everest.
Gorak Shep is the place for 'haute' cuisine There are three lodges here:
The food at the lodges is enlivened by the presence of so much ex-expedition food from Everest Base Camp. Check the date on the tin. There would probably be a shortage of accommodation here in high trekking season.
Morning view from Gorak Shep The ascent of Kala Pattar 5,638 metres Ascent 562 metres Descent 562 metres Time 3 hours
Everest and Nuptse from Kala Pattar
Mount Everest summit close up To get the great view of Everest, climb early in the morning, you should start as soon as it is light. Cross the beach and follow the path - steep at first and then more gently. The final section is quite steep. The summit is very different to Gokyo Ri, as the summit of Kala Pattar [27° 59.73N 86° 49.86E 5,638 metres] (3 hours) is tiny and can only hold one or two people at a time, so you'll have to take turns. There are loads of prayer flags. The views of Everest and Nuptse to the east are magnificent, at much closer range than at Gokyo Ri. You can see Everest Base Camp in the distance on the Khumbu Glacier. For many people this is the ascent of a lifetime.
The Everest view from Kala Pattar The first person to ascend Kalla Patar was the English climber HW Tilman, who was looking for a suitable site for Everest Base Camp. He climbed the 'little hummock' to get a better view of the entrance to the Western Cwm. The reason for the climb was that in 1950 he was as baffled as I was in 2002, for it is impossible to see the entrance into the cwm in the mountain wall. The Khumbu glacier passes between walls only 300 metres across and Tilman 'failed to see any break' and was 'baffled by the apparent continuity of the rock and snow wall linking Nuptse with the west ridge of Everest'. Tilman knew the entrance was out there but thought it was concealed by a trick of the light. Sir John Hunt, the leader of the 1953 Everest Expedition, also experienced this effect. 'No one making his way up the Khumbu Glacier to Everest Base Camp could divine the presence of the icefall. The ice-stream seems to spring from a valley head'. Hunt reported that each time he saw this view he would try to pick out Nuptse's west ridge but found that it was simply invisible, a freak of mountain architecture. So if, like me, you too find that you cannot see the ridge or the entrance to the cwm, you are in very good company.
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© Ian Johnson 2003 |
