The Rooftop of the World

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We continued from the Enchanted Forest to our next overnight stop of Pangboche, which is at 3,930 meters (12,860 feet). In Pangboche, we met Big Bird and Fozzie Bear, this sweet 19 year-old couple from British Columbia. Big Bird and Fozzie obviously aren’t their real names, but he was very tall with curly blond hair and she was a tiny Asian girl with red-orange hair, so this nickname stuck. We ran into them a few times on the way up.

There were a few rhododendron trees, but it started getting colder and the landscape changed as we moved above the tree line. Lush forests turned into scrub and then lunar landscapes. We stayed in Dingboche to acclimatize for 2 days. At 4,360 meters (14,300 feet), you could really feel the altitude here. Just walking around made me feel short of breath.

Mornings are usually the clearest time in the mountains, though it seemed cloudy in Dingboche all the time. One morning, the clouds lifted for a few minutes. I had just enough time to grab my camera and get a few photos of the beautiful snowcapped peaks before the clouds reappeared. I think one peak was Ama Dablam (5,563 meters-18,250 feet). Ama Dablam means “mother and pearl necklace” and is called this because the hanging glacier is supposed to resemble a pearl.

Though it was cloudy most of the time, the stars were absolutely brilliant one night. You could see everything in that crystal clear night sky. I stood out in the courtyard brushing my teeth and staring at the sky for the longest time. Funny how stars always are positioned a bit differently in the sky when you are in another hemisphere.

After Dingboche, we continued to Dughla. We tried to avoid taking a trail that would force us to descend toward Pheriche and then hike a steep ascent during the last part of the hike, but we missed the trail and went the wrong way. We could either descend to the main trail and pass through Pheriche, or go over these hills on what appeared to be goat tracks. We chose the goat tracks- bad idea. The hills are much bigger than they appeared to be from below and it was a bastard of a climb to get back up to the trail. We took a break next to a wall in some tiny village. You can see this really pathetic photo of me huddled up against this wall eating a Twix bar and trying to stay out of the freezing wind.

We finally made it to the wee village of Dughla (4,620 meters-15,160 feet). There is not much in Dughla, except for lots of yaks and a few very basic teahouses, but it’s a good overnight stopping point before ascending higher. Of course, we spent the evening next to the stove, which is always the central gathering place in teahouses. We met some interesting characters in Dughla: 2 Scotsmen running in the Everest Marathon, a guy from Utah, and once again, Big Bird and Fozzie Bear. This was not the last time we would run into these characters, and we saw them quite frequently over the next few days. We all tried to ignore the fact that the girl tossing the dried yak poo patties into the stove was the same girl cooking our meals.

The next day, I was a bit breathless and had a mild headache (probably from that bastard of a climb the day before), but we decided to continue to Leboche.

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Photos

Valley view
Notice how there are still a few rhododendron trees here, but the trees are smaller and scruffier as we climbed to higher altitudes.

Village and agricultural terraces
Not much is grown at this altitude. I think they mostly grown potatoes and barley.

Sherpa village
Notice the two people standing in the field.

View of Ama Dablam
The clouds cleared for just long enough for me to get this photo. I think this peak is Ama Dablam (6856 meters-22,500 feet).

Prayer stones in front of mountain peak
You often see piles of rocks along the trails. A prayer is said as the rock is put on the pile. By attaching a stone to another rock's surface, there is a better chance of having your prayer answered.

More prayer stones
Often these monuments are memorials to sherpas and climbers who lost their lives. The one on the left is devoted to several members of a Korean climbing team who died in 2005 while ascending Mt. Pumori (7165 meters-23,500 feet).