Day 14# - Lobuche to Gorak Shep Pt 2

---

After only a few minutes of walking, all talk from the members of my groups has ceased and everyone walked along in their own thoughts. The path to Gorak Shep followed the left hand edge of the Khumba glacier and the going was rocky but manageable. The wind was not strong, but combined with the cold, my thin gloves made a poor job of keeping my hands warm to the point they got really painfully cold. I wasn’t the only one with inadequate gloves for this temperature, as Belinda had the same problem - only difference was she had two others in the group who willingly shared body heat (armpits as I recall) to warm her hands up. Sadly the same service was not extended to me, and without a Yak or Donkey around, I took matters into my own hands (literally) and took my gloves off and shoved both hands down my trousers to keep them warm. I wasn’t arrested, and after 10 minutes or so, the feeling returned to my hands.

Whilst this fixed the near term problem, it didn’t solve the fact in about another 30 minutes they would be just as cold. The guide suggested I put away my trekking poles and keep my hands in my warm jacket for the rest of the walk. Needing the poles to manage my knackered knees, the best compromise was to use only one pole and alternate my hands in my warm pockets for the rest of the journey. Some 4 hours later we gratefully spotted Gorak Shep in the near distance and with dawn well and truly over, our spirits lifted.

Suprisingly, Gorak Shep was more developed than I had expected - it even had a mobile phone mast! Most of the trekkers here were either waiting to reach EBC or had already done so - therefore feelings were high all around but for very different reasons.

---