Day 7: Dingboche-Lobuche

Day 7 - Oct 6, Mon

Dingboche (14,286’/4350m) - Lobuche (16,110'/4,910m )  

Approx  6 hrs 6 miles Ascent 2238 ft Descent 305 ft

Uptill Thukla the trail meanders nice and gradual next to the Imja khola river zig zagging through the fields and meadows. We got enticing views of Taboche and Cholatse and also of Cho Oyu - the 5th highest peak.

We continued on this trail for about 2 1/2 hours with imposing mountains on all sides and to our left a river flowing so rapidly as if being chased by a mongoose.  We had terrific views of Ama Dablam and Kamtega all the way to Thukla. Several locals were also on the trail. What a lovely commute to have!  Also saw some school kids. Just cannot imagine having to hike such long and arduous trails everyday to school and back!

We reached the beautiful tea house in Thukla, at about 15,000 feet after crossing the intense river rapids. We stopped for tea and lunch and also got a box of Pringles that was very welcome! At lunch the dish of potatoes was yummy and provided much needed energy for the very intense hike in front of us. The bathroom was just a hole in a raised platform!

After lunch we started the extremely laborious ascent up to Thokla Pass, gaining another 690'/210m over a steep, short section about a half mile. It was very steep, almost straight up and very exhausting. Shachin was not feeling well at all and this section was particularly harsh for him.  

We chugged along – one step at a time stopping frequently to catch our breaths and admire the beauty that abounded all around. We were all so relieved when we finally got to the top of the pass and were rewarded with fabulous views of the majestic Pumori. Most seem to reach the summit, but just don’t make it back. There was also one for Trevor Eric Stokol from Dallas who attempted it in Dec 1979. 

There were a lot of monuments to many mountaineers and sherpas that didn’t make it back, including Scott Fischer, from 1995. 

Back on the trail Shree had started feeling pretty low. All of us were feeling the effects of the altitude. After a bit the trail leveled and we were once again trekking at the river’s edge. We walked along the glacial wash out for quite some time. We gradually gained an additional 265'/80m over 1 more mile to reach Lobuche (16,110'/4,910m ). We arrived at Lobuche and just as we came in we got the distressing news that a French trekker had fallen victim to altitude sickness. He had been flown to the high altitude clinic in Pheriche only to succumbto this awful mountain hazard! Not a warm welcome at all!  After being assigned rooms we were told not to sleep by Dunbar Sir. He felt that we would not have a fitful sleep at night if we rested during the day. So we generally played cards and kicked back for the afternoon. Sanjiv taught us Pabo and Revant taught us 10. It was miserably cold and we even saw snow flurries.

By this time I had a bad headache and just wanted to rest and be warm. Urmi and Sanjiv braved the weather and went with Dunbar for a hike up to the top of the ridge. They saw Khumbu glacier with EBC in the distance and even heard the glacier creaking. The rest of us were too apprehensive about the next day so we had an early dinner and went off to bed. We did get some good views of Sunset over Nuptse - 861m(25,792ft) from the lodge itself.

Big day tomorrow…. Trek to almost 18K feet at the foot of the highest mountain in the World.

The lodge “Mother Earth Lodge” was a new one and the rooms were nice and cozy. However the bathrooms were terrible – flooded and smelly. My night trip to the bathroom was quite traumatic.


NEXT - Day 8 - Oct 7, Tue –Lobuche (16,110'/4,910m ) - Gorak Shep (16,865'/5,140m)