Since the side trip to Syangboche high above Namche Bazaar, we have made extremely good progress on the trek to Everest.  On Day 6, we left Namche (11314) heading for Tengboche - the most famous Buddhist high monastery in the world.  We past a chorten dedicated to the “True Tigers of the Snow”…the Sherpas…at 11765′.   After stopping for a break at Kyangjuma (11825), we slowly descended to the Dudh Kosi at 10867′.  We had lunch and started a difficult climb to Tengboche at 12701′  We were fortunate to see a Buddhist ceremony at the monastery, then walked down to our campsite at 12234′ (6.03 miles of walking).  On Day 7, we left at 7:45 am and trekked to Pangboche (1.87 mi., 12983).  Pangboche is terraced for crops, and the villagers were busy slapping yak dung patties against rock walls for drying as fuel during the hard upcoming winter.  We progressed for lunch at Shomare (3.94 mi., 13361′)  The morning trek was clear and in bright sun, but as we completed lunch, we felt the wind pick up and the clouds roll in.  We hAd a following wind, but it rained a cold rain all the rest of the day.  Our leader, Razzu, said he has never seen rain and clouds like this before in Dingboche - our final stop of the day.  The final part of trek into Dingboche was steep and exhausting.  We arrived at 2:33 pm at 14295′ after trekking.5.56 miles.  Dingboche is situated in a valley surrouded by stunning Himalayan peaks, but we had to wait until the next day to see them because we were shrouded in clouds all afternoon and night.  We spent a wet and very cold evening, but the morning brought very good weather.  We awoke to bright sun and the most beautiful panorama of snow-covered peaks one can imagine.  We have a rest and acclimatization day, but we took a short climb nonetheless.  We left the campsite at 8:45 and climbed to 14767′, our highest point yet.  The path was the one that we will repeat tomorrow morning on our way to Dugla.  At our highest point, we stopped to take in the beauty of the scenery - Lhotse, Makalu, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kang Taiga, Island Peak, and many others…several of these peaks exceed 20,000′.  We stopped at a chorten for a group photo and a chance to take it all in and catch our breath.
 
All trekkers are in good spirits and health, aside from a few temporary headaches due to the low oxygen levels.  We all continue to take Diamox for the oxygen deprivation as we are now at about 60% of the oxygen at sealevel.

Blog filed by Duffy Russell (from Dingboche, Nepal)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 5:35 am and is filed under EBC Trek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.