Dingboche to Everest Base Camp

---

Monday 8th April

A normal morning routine saw us leaving Dingboche (pronounced Ding-bo-shay) at 07:40. The walking started with a short westward uphill section to climb out of the Imja Khola (Dingboche) valley and then contoured along the side of the Chola Khola valley as far as Thokla. At 09:40 we stopped at the lodge/tea house at Thokla for the normal mid-morning lemon tea and half-hour rest. Thokla is at the bottom of the terminal morraine of the Khumbu glacier. That meant we then had a long steep uphill section to get up the the level of the Khumbu valley. I was hoping that at this point we would see and walk alongside the Khumbu glacier but unfortunately the glacier was on the other side of a quite high morraine wall from the footpath up the valley.

At the top of this climb there were many memorials to climbers who had died while climbing in this part of the Himalayas. After climbing up the morraine the path was then fairly level, walking rougfhly north east amongst boulders and patches of snow, to the next stop, Lobuche, which we reached at 12:00 noon. This was to be our overnight stop for this evening so after lunch at 1pm we had a free afternoon. After lunch a few of us decided to climb the high morraine wall so that we could finally actually see the Khumbu glacier. The climb was basically a steep walk up a hill of about 20/30 metres height but as soon as we reached the top of it we had (in my case anyway) our first close-up look at an actual glacier. The glacier is weird to look at primarily because you see very little actual ice. Instead the ice is mostly covered with the rocks and dust that the glacier has carved out of the sides and floor of the valley. In the case of the Khumbu, this means that the glacier looks a dull grey in colour. Occasionally though, when the glacier has cracked or cravassed, you can see the real ice. When you are this close you can also regularly hear creaks and groans as the glacier moves and parts of the ice crack.

After an hour or so wathcing the glacier, and adding yet another small cairn to the hundreds that other people have added over the years at the top of the morraine hill, we walked back down the to lodge at Lobuche. By this time also the sun was going down and it was starting to get quite cold.

Tuesday 9th April

Lobuche is the last but one place on the route to Everest Base Camp where lodge accommodation is available. The final lodges are at the 'village' of Gorak Shep, a few miles further up the Khumbu valey. Gorak Shep is not really a Sherpa village as the only buildings there are lodges and other facilities for trekkers and climbers. Leaving Lobuche at 07:45, we arrived at our Gorak Shep lodge (The Buddha Lodge) at 10:15. Our porters had already arrived so our large kit bags were ready for us, so after ordering lunch we were able to go to our rooms and sort out a smaller backpack for the afternoon walk. In my case this involved agreeing with my room-mate that we would just take one bag between us and since the weather was still pretty sunny we decided to leave out most of our wet weather gear. Lumch was ready at 11:00 and we set off walking again at 11:55 for the two-hour trek to Everest Base Camp itself.

Again the trail was pleasant walking and initially mostly flat but soon turned into a series of up and down climbs. However the morraine hill on our right, separating us from the Khumbu glacier, was gradually getting getting lower and eventually we were able to see the glacier itself for the remainder of the walk. Even better we were now surrounded by a fantastic panorma of some of the highest peaks in the world, including Pumo Ri (7165m) on our left to Nuptse (7864m), Everest itself, and Lhotse on our right.

Eventually, after topping yet another small climb, we could suddenly see ahead of us the tiny yellow dots that would turn out to be the tents at Everest Base Camp. Gradually they grew larger and more in number, and we were also able to see more and more ice features in the glacier itself and less rock covering the glacier. Finally, at 13:55, we arrived at Everest Base Camp (5364 metres above sea level). I should point out here that base camp trekkers do not actually go into the camp. The climbers who are preparing for an ascent of the mountain have spent weeks and months in preparation and do not want to risk catching an infection from visitng trekkers which might put their attempt in jeopordy. Instead there is a large cairn and banner announcing that you have arrived and where you can have all your photos taken to prove that you have got there.

The beasts of burden used to transport good north from Lukla vary as the altitude increases. Throughout our treak we were constantly encoutering trains of anything from 2 to 20 animals. In the earlier stages of the trek the animals were mostly the result of interbreeding cows with yaks - these animals were a bit smaller than true yaks and also have much shorter hair. Mules were also quite common as well. In either case usually every other animal in the train would have a bell hanging round its neck whcih meant that we were invariably warned in advance of their approach and we could try and squeeze ourselves into the side of the path whilst the animals passed us. After Thame and Khunde we started to see far fewer mules and yak-cows and gradually we saw only true yaks. In the final mile of our approach to Everest Base Camp we were passed by dozens and dozens of yaks as the various Everest summit groups were building up their supplies.

After 25 or so minutes at base camp, marvelling at the fantastic scenery of high peaks and the Khumbu glacier and ice fall, and taking numerous photographs, we left to return to Gorak Shep which we reached at 15:15. Back at the Buddha lodge we had a celebratory cup of hot chocolate, ordered our evening meals, and then mostly rested until dinner at 7pm. I was dog-tired at this point, but also obviously elated at having achived our primary goal. After dinner most of us went to bed very soon as we are planning to get up an 4am tomorrow morning.

---

Photos

Lobuche
with the base camp for climbing that peak

Lobuche
approaching the village

Khumbu Glacier
viewed from the top of the morraine, Lobuche

Pumo Ri
with Kala Pattar in the foreground

Gorak Shep
approaching from the south

The Kumbu Ice Fall
with the Khumbu glacier in the foreground and Everest in the background

Yak, Yak, Yak
lots of yaks about to leave Everest base camp

Everest Base Camp
We made it!

Everest Base Camp
with some of the tents and climbers