Day 9: Gorak Shep-Pheriche

Day 9 - Oct 8, Wed 

Gorak Shep (16,865'/5,140m) to Kalapathar(5545m/18192ft)

Gorak Shep (16,865'/5,140m) to Pheriche (14,340’/4,371 m) via Lobuche (16,110'/4,910m )

Approx  4.5 hrs 7.7 miles

It had been decided the night before that the group doing the trek to Kala Pathar with Revant would head out at 5am to catch Sunrise at Kala Pathar. The next morning we were so tired and exhausted and it was SO Cold and the air was so thin at 5 am that most of us bailed out. Anisha and Sanjiv  were the only brave souls  to summit Kala Pathar! It was a very tough hike but they made it with some incredible Sunrise pics as proof! 

Shachin and I took some early morning pictures from outside our lodge. We got Pumori in all its morning glory, beside Lingtren (22,142 ft) and Khumbutse (21,772 ft). We had breakfast all together for the last time and then took a pic with the banner with all of us showing our customary Day 9.  Sanjiv and the porters and guides also sang "Cheykyo Cheykyo" together. 


































We then headed for the Helipad just above the lodge. It was a bright sunny day and we got some superb views from the helipad. You could see the prominent West shoulder of Everest and the whole range along with the Khumbu glacier. The Khumbu Ice Fall curving towards the summit of Everest was such a familiar sight now! Soon the helicopter flew in and Revant escorted Shree and Sukriti to it and then they flew off! 

We soaked in the breathtaking and unbelievably beautiful scene one last time before turning our backs to it. It was just perfect: Everest - resplendent in the morning sunshine rising above the distinguished and formidable Khumbu Icefall and flanked by the stupendous, Lhotse and Nuptse walls!

The trek down was no breeze. The big thing was we no longer felt the apprehension and uncertainties of the way up.  We had decided to plod along to Pheriche instead of turning in at Labouche since none of us wanted to spend another night at elevations above 16k. Also we were armed with an excess of Red Blood cells that we had generated as part of the acclimatization process! But the intensity of the previous day’s hike and the thin air still provided quite a challenge. Our altitude quickly dropped as we retraced our steps. As we cruised to lower altitudes we felt we could breathe better and walk and function so much more easily - even though we were still at around 1700 ft!

We passed Labouche and all of us were glad we would not have to suffer another night in the Lodge there! We then descended down Thukla Pass. We could not help compare with the condition we were in when ascending this same pass! A  few miles beyond the Everest memorials, we descended a steep hill into a valley. 

Here, Pheriche came into view. Our Teahouse offered stunning views, but more importantly, a comfortable place to rest our weary heads. 

It was a brand new Tea house and the common room even had a Bar! Very inviting but we refrained till we climbed a little further down. The delightful thing was they gave us a bucket full of hot water and Sanjiv kindly shared theirs with us so we were all able to have the luxury of a much needed bath! It was wonderful! The attached bathrooms were very clean though the toilets had no seats! In the evening we relaxed and enjoyed a nice meal - all our appetites were coming back and there were no longer any restrictions! The owner of the Tea House turned out to the daughter of the owner of the Tea House in Gorak shep. She had a very cute little baby girl and all the guests enjoyed her antics.

NEXT - Day 10 - Oct 9, Thu –Pheriche (14,340’/4,371 m) - Namche Bazaar (11,285'/3,440m)