The Cho La pass and into Gokyo

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The room in Dzongla was the coldest we have had so far by quite a long way. Fortunately I was cosy in my sleeping bag liner, sleeping bag and duvet. Annoyingly our water had completely frozen. There was no water to wash in (all frozen), my wet wipes were frozen and even my toothbrush was frozen!
Typically this lodge decided it wouldn’t light the fire for breakfast so we shivered through a yummy porridge & French toast.
Whilst eating breakfast a Dutch couple were explaining that the glacier over the pass is extremely slippery and difficult without mini-crampons. They were selling theirs having already done the pass. Bart bought one pair and we bought the other, hoping we weren’t being ripped off.

After breakfast, around 8am, we set off in the sunshine towards the Cho La pass. The path initially climbed gently up the valley, following alongside a largely frozen river. The views were spectacular as the area is surrounded by large, snowy mountains, very close up.
Once out of the valley the path started to ascend more steeply and we caught up with large groups of trekkers. It then got so steep that we had to scramble up big boulders and felt more like very simple climbing than a hike. It was very challenging but good fun.
At the top we rewarded ourselves with a break and had a chuckle when others were getting excited they had reached the pass when we were still about 200m below it.

Carrying on we went around to the shady side of the mountain. It ascended gently over boulders and rocks. We then got our first view of the glacier we had to cross - a beautiful white and glassy glacier unlike the stony ones we’d seen before. People were snaking up the side of the glacier so the route was easy enough to spot. Crampons on we started walking up the glacier. With only one pair between Stephen & I I found it very challenging and soon found myself flat on my backside in a small glacial puddle. Fortunately Robin lent me one of his sticks so I had 2 and I managed the rest of the ascent without mishap. It was actually very fun once I’d worked it out.
The top of the glacier was the Cho La pass at 5420m. The views over the other side were relatively bleak and unappealing compared with where we had come from. We stopped behind a rock to shelter from the wind and enjoyed an early packed lunch (11am).

Heading back down the other side was tricky. Initially large boulders, then loose scree. I managed to fall over again - at one point getting stuck on my back pack like some sort of upturned turtle until Stephen came back and rescued me.
Eventually we reached the ‘gentle descent’ the book describes which takes you into Dragnag. We reached here by 1.30pm, much better timing than expected (the book talked about 3 hrs to the pass and a further 3 hrs to Dragnag).
We were all exhausted and decided to stop for hot lemon tea and decide whether or not to continue. The others have time constraints and were keen to carry on to Gokyo. After realising I wasn’t the only one struggling, and feeling better after my tea, I was also keen to carry on.

We left Dragnag around 220, after the lodge owner had booked us rooms in the Gokyo Namaste Lodge. He estimated the walk as taking 2-3hrs. To begin with we walked gently uphill adjacent to the glacier, through a rocky and cloudy valley which could have been in Scotland. We then climbed onto the Gyazumba glacier. Looking down onto it it looked like a quarry or moonscape - a very strange rocky and dusty landscape. Walking down into the glacier we found the paths easier to follow than on the Kongma La as there are more people. It was a very undulating route and very twisty turney. I can see how people get lost. After about 90mins we started the climb out of the glacier and by 410 we were comfortably in our rooms.

Miriam’s impression that Gokyo would be paradise hasn’t been too far off. The dining room has 2 fires and a bakery with excellent cakes. Our dinner of vegetarian burgers was delicious and our room has views over the lake.

Tomorrow we ‘rest’, and so are planning an ascent of Gokyo Ri if the weather is good.

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Photos

Glacial ascent to Cho La
Crampons definitely made life easier here!