Gokyo Cho La EBC Trek 15 days

Fly to Lukla with a 40 minutes scenic mountainous flight, then trek for 4 hours to Phakding on almost down and flat easy trail passing dotted scattered Sherpa village and inscriptive Mani stones has mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” means Hail to the jewel in the Lotus.

Trek small ascends and descends to the entry point of Everest National Park headquarters and then to Jorsale for lunch break. After lunch, we trek all steep uphill to Namche bazzar, the gateway to Everest. In the middle of the hill there is a vantage point that provides our first view of Mt Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse.

There are different options acclimatize day hiking in Namche bazzar. One option you can walk to National park head quarter above Namche where there is a mini museum of flora and fauna, the view from there is very wonderful includes Mt. Everest, AmaDablam and Thamserku. Next option is trekked to Everest view hotel, then back to Namche bazar via Khumjung village visiting Hillary school.

Breakfast and trek for 6 hours to Dole and spend overnight there.

Continuing a steady but constant climb, we reach the village of Machhermo for lunch. Like the few small villages in this valley, Machhermo has only a few buildings and these are empty much of the year. Villagers in Khumjung and Khunde generally own land here high up the valley, where they graze yaks in the summer months. This is a valuable acclimatization day as we prepare for our ascent of Gokyo Ri (5483m). We take things easy but this afternoon you may wish to stretch your legs and take a walk up the ridge behind Luza for a view of the Gokyo Valley.

Trek to Gokyo village following the valley high above the river. There are excellent views of Cholatse at the village of Pangka and we stop to enjoy them. Then trek onto the moraine and rock that extends down from it, enjoying the excellent views of Kantega to the south and Cho Oyu to the north. Once we have ascended the snout of the glacier the path levels. We pass the first of the lakes, Longpongo, before reaching the second, Taoche Lake, a larger body of water and a place where ducks are often seen swimming in the freezing waters. As we walk up the valley our path parallels the Ngozumpa Glacier and separating us from the glacier is the massive lateral moraine where the Gokyo is existed.

Wake up early in the morning to climb Gokyo peak for the panoramic Himalayas views of Everest and Cho Oyu and overlooks Ngozuma glacier and Visit Gokyo village and Gokyo Lakes in the afternoon. Stay night at Gokyo Lake.

The way back from Gokyo is an easy downhill walk along the Dudh Koshi River that emerges out of the Ngozumpa Glacier. We leave the beautiful Gokyo valley with its many sacred lakes. Our journey will take us to a lower elevation in order to reach the village of Thaknak. We feel like we are surrounded by panoramic mountains like Kusum Kanguru, Thamserku, K 43, Kangtega, Taboche, Cholatse, Makalu, Lhotse, Nuptse, Everest, Changtse, and Pumori. Sight of sunrays kissing the Everest that towers over all surrounding peaks is unlike from Kala Patthar (from Kala Patthar Nuptse seems taller). Thaknak for overnight scaling by the second Lakes and the Ngozumba Glacier.

Cho La Pass is also another show up of this trip. Today is the toughest day and we need to start early (4-6 am) compared to other days on the trip. The pass is not itself difficult but it is steep and involves a glacier traverse on the eastern side. We need to be careful as the trail is vertical and the rocks glazed by ice add trouble to the trekkers making the trail slippery. Though the trail from Phedi climbs through a ravine and a rocky trail we climb up continuously. While trekking through the side of a frozen lake we reach at the top of the pass decorated with prayer flags. The pyramidal Ama Dablam presides over a range of mountains on the south even as Cholatse soar on the west and Lobuche East and Baruntse rises sharply to our right. We need to pass through some crevasses before we reach Dzongla, another beautiful place with a complete view of Mt. Cholatse, Mt. Ama Dablam, Lobuche peak and the Pheriche village far below.

Today’s walk will be a bit shorter. Thus, we would get more time to observe and relax. We climb down from Dzongla and cross a bridge and then transverse through grassy trail. Enjoying the view of Lobuche Peak we stretch up eventually through a ridge. Ama Dablam, Kangtega, Thamserku Taboche are seen looming prominently. Curving round through the wide gravelly river bed, we will be at Lobuche. Overnight stay at Lobuche.

The trail to Gorak Shep goes ahead through the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier. We pass through the pyramid sign post. Ahead on the trail we see crest of north ridge of Everest along with Mt. Pumori, Mt. Mahalangur, Mt. Lingtern, Mt. Khumbutse, Mt. Nuptse, etc. A small ascent would take us to Thangma Riju from where we perceive 360 degree vista of snowy mountains. Climbing steeply up to the top through the torrent of Changri Glacier, we catch our first glimpse of Kala Patthar, a grey-green knoll beneath the Mt. Pumori. As we reach Gorak Shep, we will find snow-capped mountains looming all around us including the top of the world – Mt. Everest. After a brief lunch and rest, we take the trail to Everest Base Camp through the once vast Gorak Shep Lake. Continuing straight ahead, we come through the Indian army mountaineers’ memorials. Nuptse, Khumbuste and Pumori are the mountains we can view from the base camp. Everest actually is not visible from here. By now we have met the ultimate objective of our trip.

Today is the climax of our trip. We start early in the morning to catch the dramatic views from Kala Patthar witnessing the first light of day shining on Mount Everest. However, we need to get prepared for an early morning, dark and cold temperature (-10 to -14 C) departure beforehand. Further, there is always the potential for chilly wind which is quite common. Familiar peaks such as Lingtren, Khumbutse, Changtse tower to the east even as Everest begins to reveal itself emerging between the west shoulder crest and Nuptse. During the ascent to Kala Patthar, we can pause to catch our breath at several outstanding view points to snap pictures. After several hours of an ascent, we reach Kala Patthar. From this juncture, we scramble to climb the rocky outcrop near to the summit marked by cairns and prayer flags. As we reach the top, we sit on the Kala Patthar where rocks our eyes taking unbelievable Himalayan Panorama, wandering from one mighty massif to another. Overnight stay at Pheriche.

Today is much easier walk down to the lower altitudes. From Pangboche we retrace our footsteps down to the Imja Khola and up through the forest to Debuche or if interested, we might pay our visit to nuns at the Debuche monastery. Upon having lunch at Tengboche, we continuing through the hillside blanketed by rhododendron and juniper trees. We either have our lunch in Pangboche or wait until we reach Phunki Tenga. After crossing the prayer flag festooned bridge over the Dudh Koshi River, trail then follows the Dudh Koshi gorge descending rapidly through the pine forests. The path eventually reaches Sansa. After passing a Chorten, we reach the army camp at of Namche Bazaar. Overnight stay at Namche Bazaar.

Finally we return to Lukla where the trek began, which seems a lifetime ago. The descent back to the Dudh Kosi at Jorsale will test our knees, but we will also enjoy the warmer temperature at this altitude. We will enjoy reflecting on the trek as a group, and the personal achievement of all those who took part.

A short flight will take us from Lukla back to Kathmandu.The remainder of the day in Kathmandu is at leisure.