Departing Namche yesterday we chose to take the path less travelled and instead of going via Tengboche we instead climbed up via a old set of rock stairs to a trail that leads to Mhong Lha
From here the trail splits and heads up towards Gokyo or down and across the river to Phortse. From here it’s possible to look down the entire length of the lower Khumbu valley – however the view was being interrupted by the developing storms far below us.
The high trail to Pangboche now leaves from the top of Phortse and winds its way past numerous cliffs that are being developed for sport climbing by the Khumbu Climbing Centre. The trail itself is narrow and steep with precipitous drop offs down to the river far below.
The storms beneath us had risen and we were not walking through a cloudy, misty landscape with lite snow falling. It was quite the surreal experience.
The welcome sight of formed rock walls and fields ready for planting told us that we were nearly in Pangboche and it wasn’t long before we were at our campsite where we could relax and get our boots off, get the tents up and chill.
This morning the view was once again spectacular with clear blue skies and stunning views of the Nuptse Lhotse ridge and the very tip of Everest.
The trip yesterday was a total of 21km of walking and about 1000m of up and down – however only a total gain of 400m.
The team is now getting ready for a much shorter days walk of 6km to Dingboche (4420m) where we will have another acclimatisation rest day. But before we depart the girls have been trying out carrying the kitchen loads !
