Everest Region, Nepal - Gokyo / Parchermo

I arrived in Kathmandu exhausted after 2 night flights and a 12 hour layover at London Heathrow. With just a few hours to meet up with Tom, make final preparations and fit in a few hours sleep before flying to Lukla the next morning I had my work cut out for me.  Tom had been lucky enough to spend a few days in kathmandu acclimatising and getting over his jet lag after a long flight from New Zealand. Happily we landed in Lukla in one piece and made our way slowly up to Namche then looked towards the Gokyo Valley.



When we were in Namche we heard about the terrible crash of a Sita plane. The plane was his by a large bird just outside Kathmandu and crashed trying to return to the airport.  Everyone aboard the plane died. It was quite a shock especially as we were on that plane just 48 hours earlier. It brings home the danger of some of your actions.  As we were in Namche we were able to reassure the many friends and family members who contacted us to check we were ok.  Thank you to everyone for caring and our thoughts are with the families of those involved in the crash.  (For more info: http://www.thebmc.co.uk/seven-britons-confirmed-dead-in-kathmandu-plane-crash)

As Tom and I left the world of easy communication and the hustle and bustle of the EBC trail we turned our thoughts towards Gokyo. As Tom had never been to altitude before I was cautious about our speed of ascent especially as he struggled slightly between Lukla and Namche.  However, true to form Tom became stronger and stronger with every 100 metre of ascent until I was the one struggling to keep step with him.

I on the other hand replicatd my previous trip up the valley.  Last time I was heading towards Machermo, having walked in from Jiri and was feeling strong until I got to Dole.  For the next week I was inflicted with a very upset stomach and only just managed to crawl into the Machermo Rescue Post to get medical attention.  This time a respiratory tract infection hit me in Namche (I beleive it was picked up from a client on my previous Kilimanjaro trip).  By the time we reached Machermo I was unable to talk - luckily the doctor there checked me out and prescribed the right medication for me.

We continued on to the beautiful settlement of Gokyo and while I took a rest day and nursed my aching throat and lungs Tom made his way up Gokyo Ri for some fantastic views of the region.  The next day we headed over the Renjo La - the pass that provides the best views in the area  thanks to its distance from Everest.  We made it to Thame that afternoon which is a long day but well worth the effort.

In Thame we met our camp crew who were to head up the valley towards the Thashi Lapsa with us.  The lack of tea houses up the valley meant a camp crew was indispensable in our attempt to climb Parchermo Peak. We were very well treated by the crew with the usual camping luxuries of tea in bed, hot washing water and a whole array of different foods served up as often as we could possibly desire.

After a night at Thyongbo we headed up to camp at Ngole. Due to rockfall and a landslide we were unable to camp at the expected 5100m and camped 300m lower leaving a longer day to come.  Up to this point we had the luxury of a train of Dzo (hybrid Yak/Cattle) to carry our climbing and camping equipment but they could not negotiate the steep scree slopes of the mountain and from here we carried our own kit - with the help of a few porters.

On reaching 5100m we came to a steep icy section which the porters were not happy about crossing.  With the help of a rope this could be negotiated but Tom, Pemba and I decided to walk further up the mountain to assess the conditions higher up.  The camp site was on the pass and there were some very steep sections which the porters would find difficult and a lot of rockfall. All the factors were taken into consideration and it was decided that this mountain would not be climbed today.  We will come back and attempt it another time under differ circumstances, with helmets and in better conditions.








 The trip up the valley was not a waste as the remoteness of this area is so far removed from the busy Khumbu valley, we didn't see a single other westerner which we were up there and the views were breathtaking.






A rapid descent back to Lukla had us waiting to fly out within a couple of days. By some extraordinary turn of events the tea house we were staying in had a helicopter waiting to return to Kathmandu empty.  We were lucky enough to fill the empty seats at no additional cost and thus avoided another plane ride from Lukla airport whilst benefiting from fantastic views all the way.

A few days in Kathmandu and Tom will start making his way back to Christchurch, NZ while I turn my thoughts back to the Khumbu and another flight to Lukla.