Everest Gokyo Ri Trek - Hiking to Machhermo
I worried I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, but I passed out quickly only to wake at 12:30 AM. Not able to fall back asleep I listened to my MP3 player and tried to read.  However, with it 30 degrees outside my sleeping bag, I really didn’t want to let any cold air in and there was no room to bring my book inside my mummy bag. To top it off my neck was screaming at me and I really needed to pee. So at 3:00 AM I braved the cold and got out of my warm and toasty bag and went to take care of business. As I did, I noticed that the view outside was magnificent. The moon had lit up the entire valley of granite peaks as if it were a dimly lit day out.

If we were going to hiking the Cho Lo pass at night, it certainly would have been possible, a sharp contrast to our nighttime pitch black climb of Kilimanjaro. Eventually, I fell back asleep and we all got up at 7:30 AM. It was the latest we had gotten up, but we didn’t have far to walk. The guide book said between one and two hours. Since it was so close, we decided to skip breakfast and eat it when we arrived in the next town, figuring the warm sun would be comforting during breakfast.

We started down the “trail” and Chuck stated he was going to take it easy. I worried that meant he was feeling the effects of the quick altitude gain. Shortly after we started we lost total track of the trail and had to plow uphill, of course, to the right trail in knee deep snow. It knocked down our enthusiasm quite a few notches as we started sucking up air quickly.

Once back on the main trail, it was hard to tell anything had changed. Our feet sank anywhere from six inches to multiple feet with our legs buried above the knee. It wasn’t light fluffy fresh powder either, but heavy wet snow that locked your leg in its icy grip. This was very unsettling especially while struggling to breath the rarified air at over 13,000 feet.

We worked as a team, each taking a turn to break the trail. I couldn’t help parallel our experience to the mountaineering books I had read, but they were over 10,000 feet higher than ourselves. It was quite humbling.

The sad thing is the valley we walked through was stunning and we were under appreciating its beauty. One granite peak after another surrounded us as we progressed, but instead of taking in all of their beauty we focused on our feet. I used to bitch if when I climbed my foot would slide back a step for every two I progressed, this put a lack of progress to a whole another level.

As the hours passed on, I started to worry about making the final push to Gokyo. The book estimated the last day's hike was about 5 hours. However, we estimated if we progressed at the same crawling pace through unbroken snow as we were today, it might take us eight to ten hours to get there. This assumed the conditions wouldn’t be worse. I suggested maybe we should turn around and just hike the more heavily traveled Kala Pattar path, but we decided to roll the dice.

We marched forward slowly, for fear of ending up like the mini avalanches and snow balls we sent cascading off the ridge. Even with our concentration, we once again lost the trail, this time under Padam’s lead. Knee deep in snow, it was quite frustrating to have to have to retrace steps. After a few more rises, we did eventually find Machhermo. It was a beautiful site, solar panels reflecting off the roof. We slid down the trail to the guest house, one of only two that appeared to be open.  We were immediately greeted by the operator who questioned “Who would come here in weather like this?”

Apparently we were once again the only guests to arrive. The dining room was heated by the sun and it was really warm. It was amazing how quickly you can go from freezing pain to total comfort sitting just on the other side of a pane of glass.

My new gaiters did not work and neither did my toe heaters, so once again started the ritual of drying out.

We worried about Joseph, because although we saw him far in the distance he had not shown up for some time. Joseph did eventually make it and in good spirits.  Another trekker also made it, Hector, a young guy from England. We hung out all afternoon, enjoying the relative warmth. I read more of "Into Thin Air" and played some chess with Hector while the heat of the sun was replaced by a yak dong fire. We ate late, since we didn’t have to get started early and generally relaxed knowing there were no perils tomorrow.

The story continues...