Everest Gokyo Ri Trek- Hiking from Onward to Namche

Back at lower altitude, I was able to sleep through most of the night for the first time. We got up and headed out for what would be a very long day. We headed to Dole and then Mongla and finally to Namche. We hoped the snow cleared so that we could cover a lot more ground.

When we first started out, the trail was fairly clear. Although there was some snow, it was packed down to the point it looked like someone had shoveled a path for us. However, after a while, we came across intermittent areas of trail that were covered by avalanches. While they weren’t huge, it wasn’t a particularly comforting sight.

We quickly made it to Dole and kept on going as we had no desire to end up there again. In contrast, the next town had one of the best views and we wanted to get there by lunch. One minor obstacle, a major climb to get there. As we approached it, my GPS batteries started to die and I couldn’t find my battery bad. I thought it was with my main luggage, which the porters had and they were probably waiting at the top of the rise in Mongla.

So I started swapping our dead batteries, trying to eke a little extra power out of them. To maximize the GPS tracking ability I hustled up the trail hoping to map as much of the area as I could and then rested as I swapped out the batteries. Climbing up fast at about 13,000 feet was brutal, but I made it before all my batteries totally died.

When I finally got there, I searched the luggage to no avail. It was either in Machhame or in Chuck’s bag. When I suggested I look in his bag, Chuck very possessively said no he would look. Then while no one saw him, he pulled the battery bag mysteriously out of his bag and cried for sympathy. Pointing out how cruel I was to make him carry the bag up the hill. By the third time he cried for sympathy, the bag weighed 12 pounds. Knowing how Chuck loves to be the center of attention, does anyone believe he didn’t place the bag there himself?

After a quick lunch, we cruised down to Namche on a trail that actually looked like a trail, most of the snow was gone.

Back to Lukla
I was hoping to take photos of Namche at night, but alas the weather didn’t cooperate. The entire village was a fog bowl. When we got up the next morning, I decided to push it out on the way down and meet Chuck and Padam further down the trail. So I poured it on until I got close to Phakding and then perched myself on a big rock and relaxed while I waited for them to catch up. My perch had a great view in both directions and I sat under a warming sun until they came down the trail.

From there we walked to Phakding and grabbed a quick lunch before heading back to the airport village of Lukla. Just like the first year it seemed to be a lot further to Lukla on the way back then it was on the way there.

Once in Lukla we picked a really nice guesthouse to stay in.  The price was 500 rupees as opposed to the 100 – 200 rupee price we were paying. Chuck questioned whether we should pay it. I had to remind him that 500 rupees was about $8 American.

We got a good night’s sleep and then waited seemingly endlessly for our flight to come in and then take off.

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