Chukhung Ri

Today is Wednesday, October 23 and we're up early for our climb of Chukhung Ri.  I peeked out of my window at 5:26am from the comfort of my sleeping bag and saw a couple of stars.  This was great news since poor weather was predicted for today.  Excited for the climb, my pack and I are ready early!

Chukhung Ri is a mountain just outside of town, which tops out at about 18,200'.  Right behind it looms the broad ridge of Nuptse and at the furthest end on the right even higher is the summit of Lhotse, Mt. Everest's closest neighbor.  Today's foray looks to be 5 or 6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of of at least 2,700'.  By itself, those stats aren't impressive but climbing up over 18,000' brings a new level of acclimatization.  It's expected that everyone will feel poorly at some point today.

We're off just after 8:00am and are immediately faced with the crux of the day, crossing a partially frozen glacial creek about 8 feet wide.  Most of our team make it with dry feet but a couple aren't so lucky.  The next two hours are basically an uphill slog on a rounded mountain with few features to help pass the time.  Reaching the ridge and a saddle, we're greeted with a sea of cairns.  It's not clear whether these are memorials to those who have passed on or just creations by hikers passing this way before us.

Above the saddle and to the north, the mountain takes on a completely different look.  Instead of a rounded hillside,we're presented with a crumbling rocky ridge line extending to the summit 700' above us.  It's a fun scramble with lots of heavy breathing as the elevation takes its toll.  We reach the summit around 10:35am, and congratulate ourselves on a strong pace.  A few selfies and our focus turns downhill and the cappuccinos waiting for us at the bakery in town.

Tomorrow morning our group will split up.  We climbers will head directly to Ama Dablam base camp, and the trekking group will remain in Chukhung for one more day before continuing their adventure.  The climbers are all ready to transition from trekking to expedition climbing.  We've looked at, studied, hypothesized and are generally in awe of this beautiful mountain called Ama Dablam.  Now we want to begin the serious business of climbing it!

Chukhung

We awoke to a bluebird day in Pheriche and the mood is high among our team.  We'll be leaving town this morning and hiking over a ridge to Chukhung.  I get up early after a great night of sleep and go outside to walk around town with a hot cup of coffee.  The yak dung fires are cranking and smoke drifts around town.

Up and over the ridge and we're in the Imja Valley now.  Dingboche is just below us, and we traverse down into town.  Continuing our walk north, we pass homes and fields and then we're on the open trail again.

After a couple of hours on the trail, we rest at a nice open spot in the sun with a fantastic view of the north face of Ama Dablam.  The seven person climbing team has been coalescing this week and our collective excitement continues to grow as we study the mountain from various perspectives.

We arrive in Chukhung just before 11:00, and the first order of business is finding a cup of coffee.  This is a serious coffee drinking group and cappuccinos are our favorite!  It's a long-shot at 15,500' but Chukhung is located on two popular trekking routes so we remain hopeful.  After an exhaustive search through town taking at least five minutes, we find a suitable looking establishment.  The crux appears to be getting past the 600-pound doorman.

Freshly caffeinated, a few of us head back to the "resort" for lunch.  After eating, we receive our room keys.  Hauling my duffel upstairs, I feel at least a 10 degree temperature difference.  The building is warm and seemingly well-constructed.  Opening the door, I'm greeted with an amazing wall of windows looking directly at Ama Dablam!  Another room with a fantastic view.

After getting settled in, I couldn't stay inside with such a beautiful day waiting for me outside.  I grabbed my book and went for a walk along the trail which leads to Island Peak.  Gaining about 500' on the trail, I found a great little side ridge on which to sit in the sun and read.  What a magnificent place to relax, surrounded by huge mountains in all directions.  Gradually relaxation takes over and I decide to take a power nap enjoying the solitude of this place.

Pheriche

A leisurely three hour walk brings us from Pangboche to the town of Pheriche on Sunday, October 20.  The town sits adjacent to a huge glacial out wash and is surrounded by massive peaks.  We're well above tree line now, and the clouds are moving in which brings even more of a chill over this normally cold settlement.

Lunch is the usual French fries and rice with vegetables.  It's amazing how much food we're eating now after moderate exercise.   Except for evenings in the tearooms, the tea houses are unheated so our bodies are continuously making heat just like when tent camping.  At 14,000' our bodies are not only working hard to keep us warm but also to acclimatize to this elevation.  

Our afternoon is spent quietly reading, resting and hydrating in the tearoom.  Eventually the wood stove gets lit and the burning yak dung eases our chill.  We slowly peel off layers as the temperature inside increases until it's warm and we're down to shirtsleeves.  I'm enjoying this reprieve from the cold, all the while knowing the trip to my room and speedy sleeping bag setup will be done at a temperature around 30 degrees!  Dinner and conversation done, I'm off to bed at 7:40 zipped up and cozy within ten minutes.

On Monday, October 21, we wake up to a fresh coating of snow.  It's still lightly snowing and pretty darn cold, probably 25 degrees or so.  We've got a casual morning schedule with late breakfast and an acclimatization hike up to the ridge behind the hotel.  At this elevation, it's helpful to hike or climb up higher than where we sleep.  This effort makes the body think it must survive at the higher elevation, and therefore makes more red blood cells to scavenge as much oxygen as possible from each breath of rarefied air.

We begin our day hike up the hill above Pheriche and quickly gain elevation.  Within an hour we've reached 15,000' and the views are opening up.  The snow has mostly stopped, and the clouds are thick overhead.  Fortunately there are still great mountain views in every direction.  We can see way down the valley toward Pheriche and Tengboche.  The views up the valley include Lobuche Peak which, at 20,000', is commonly used as an acclimatization climb prior to an attempt on Everest.  To the right of Lobuche is the terminus of the Khumbu Glacier, and beyond that is Everest Base Camp.  Looking east, we get a fantastic view of the west face of Ama Dablam with the Dablam glacier in profile just below the summit.  The north ridge is a less frequently traveled route to the top and we discuss how "sporty" it looks.  

Tomorrow we head up a valley to Chukkung where we will spend two nights and hike up to Chukhung Ri's summit at over 18,000' for further acclimatization.  

Within a few minutes the fog rolls in and engulfs us in a white cloud.  We continue to climb up the ridge to a final elevation of 16,144' before calling it good and heading back down.  Before long we're in a tearoom drinking coffee and talking about our hike.  It was a good morning, and the remainder of our day is spent lounging around reading, writing, eating and drinking.

Pangboche

The hike from Tangboche to Pangboche is a short two hours with the route continuing up the Khumbu Valley.  We traversed through the woods down to the river and back up the other side into town.  Pangboche is situated at just about treeline with many juniper bushes scattered on the hillsides.

We're staying at the Highland Sherpa Resort (!) which has a great tearoom with windows on four sides providing views up and down the Khumbu as well as a unobstructed view of Ama Dablam.  Displayed within the tearoom is a wooden gear crate from the 1953 Everest expedition.  Also displayed are oxygen bottles from 1952, 1952 and many other succeeding years.  It's a great a place to spend a few hours during an active rest day.

In the afternoon we made a visit to the local Lama to receive a blessing for the climb.  This is an important traditional event that I really look forward to.  We climbed way above town to a small house where he lives, and filed in to the main room.  Our group of 18 filled the space and we listened quietly as he prayed over the prayer flags which will hang at base camp after the Puja ceremony.  After the general blessing we each approached the Lama in turn offering a donation and receiving a blessing.  We also each had a colored string tied around our necks to wear as a talisman for our adventure. 

Tengboche

It's Friday, October 18, and we're headed to Tengboche.  I'm pretty excited for this village because we skipped it last time.  There's a large monastery, and rumor has it a good bakery as well.  The trek is a few hours to the river and lunch then another couple of hours up a steep hill to town.  When we get into town, we're greeted by an amazing view of Ama Dablam.

The village is dominated by the large monastery, and we had a chance to attend a ceremony inside.  The story panels, decoration and colorfully painted interior is absolutely amazing but unfortunately no photos are allowed.  The exterior entrance however can be photographed and it's really amazing in person.

Namche Bazaar continued

Late in the afternoon of Wednesday I went out of the Khumbu Lodge for a walk around town, and saw a friend from 2017.  Tsering's mom own the shop directly across the road from our lodge, and we got to know each other during the time when I was waiting for a clear summit window on my Everest expedition.  He's been studying in India ever since then and only just came back to help mind the shop and then move it to a new location.  It was great to see him, and we spent a few hours visiting, eating cheese and drinking rum in the shop.

The evening was relaxing, with a nice dinner in the Lodge, and a beer at "the first bar in Namche Bazaar", where we met the new owner; Dawa.  Of course, Dawa is a friend of Tsering's so we got the local's discount.  Even in Nepal, it helps to know people!

Thursday, October 17

Today is an active rest day with a day hike up to the Everest viewpoint where a statue of Tenzing Norgay is framed by the Himalayan giants Everest, Lhotse and our objective, Ama Dablam.  It's a bluebird morning and the mountains are out in full force.  Looking at Everest now is somehow different than when i stood in the same place 2.5 years ago.  The mountains look the same but I'm the one who's changed.  I've been up there, breathed the rarefied air, felt its chill and felt the warmth of success on the summit.  The noise and talking around me fades away as I look at that beautiful mountain replay memories of the times we were physically connected.  I was living on its flanks and climbing on its shoulders, all the while knowing how tenuous that relationship was and that my existence mattered not to this massif which will stand for eternity indifferent to the will of man.

Coming back to the present, my focus returns to the task at hand.  The other climbers and I begin to study Ama Dablam, looking for the route and admiring the amount of snow on it this year.  More snow means easier and more secure traveling as we climb.  We all start getting excited to see more of it as we get closer during the next few days.

The rest of the day is spent hiking over to the village of Khumjung where we will eat lunch at the home of our trekking guide Pasang.  After lunch we visit the local monastery and take a look at the Hillary School which serves children ages 4-16 from Khumjung and surrounding villages.  Last time I was here, the monastery was being repaired from damage due to the 2015 earthquake.  Now it looks like the work is finished.

Clouds roll in and our walk over the ridge to Namche Bazaar takes on an eerie look.  We're walking on the trail through fog and mist when out of the murky air rises a large stupa (Buddhist shrine) with penetrating Buddha eyes.  It's one of the more interesting moments of our day and a good way to end the hike.

Namche Bazaar!

Wednesday morning started with a bright blue sky and a big breakfast.  Today we have a long hike from Phakding to Namche Bazaar.  It's about a 3,000 foot elevation gain with a big part of that on Namche Hill leading into the village.  We pass through small villages along the way as we settle into the rhythm of the trek.

We made great progress up the hill and rounded the corner to see the beautiful town of Namche Bazaar.  This is one of my favorite places in the world.  Such a stunning setting and a fun place to spend a couple of days.  We'll hang out here until Friday morning, and the first stop I want to make is the German bakery for some chocolate carrot cake and a latte; two of my favorite food groups!