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Everest Introduction
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Day 12: Dzolga to Gorak Shep and Kala Pattar Finally I got a reasonable night's sleep. We got off late this morning and it soon began to cloud up. I thought that this day would be a complete write off as the clouds thickened. We pushed on to Gorak Shep as the weather brought more despair. I felt miserable today. After three strenuous days (Nameless Fangs, Gokyo Ri, and Cho La) the fatigue seemed like it was catching up. Ama Dablam appeared impressively still yet its spectacular summit faded in allure from the graying sky. We rounded the corner and joined the main drag of the Everest Base Camp trek. We just saw Everest before a the clouds fell like a curtain shrouding the mountain for what probably was the rest of the day. Many trekkers were scurrying along the path that morning trying to make it to shelter in the cold, dank weather. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worst, we arrived at Lobuche, a miserable trekker's settlement amongst the glacial moraine. At this point of the trek, I was really getting tired of not seeing vegetation (it had been a week since we left the treeline behind). Lobuche was one of those places I wanted to leave as soon as possible. After a quick lunch at Lobuche, we forged ahead on the final stretch to Gorak Shep. The terrain was relatively flat for the first part of this trail, but once we neared Gorak Shep we had to cross a glacier. I was exhauster and sore. It turned colder and began to flurry as I struggled along the winding rough path. Nothing made me happier than seeing the three lodges of Gorak Shep as the conditions became a white out. It was about 1:30 that we arrived and just in time. Unlike the Gokyo side, the lodges here were pretty full. I could only find space for myself in the dorm (which didn't bother me much). I felt incredibally fatigued but could not really sleep so I huddled as close to the dung-fueled fire as possible. A trekking group had just come back from going almost to the Everest Base Camp, but had to turn around due to the accumulating snow. The snow kept piling on at a serious clip and by about 4:30 there was 4 inches of snow on the ground. I worried that it might be impossible to climb up to Kala Pattar the next morning due to the accumalation. But why climb Kala Pattar the next morning when I could do it right now? Just about now the sun started to peak through and the snow ended. Not yet had I seen a true sunset in Nepal, but could this be my chance? After a freak snowstorm? And I so did want to see the sunset on the western flank of Everest. The weather improved but was still mostly low-lying clouds. We were at 5150 meters (almost 17,000 feet), I felt miserable trekking that morning, and there was 4 inches of snow obscuring any path that could be seen. The only logical course of action was to attempt to go some of the way up Kala Pattar and view the sunset that we would not likely see due to the clouds. Suk grudgingly followed me up on our seemingly futile afternoon trek (he didn't have to come but I think he felt somewhat obligated since he didn't want me to kill myself in the snow). Of the many people in the lodge that day, nobody else attempted Kala Pattar that afternoon. It was about 5:10 and the sunset was at 6:20. I thought I had a shot of getting up halfway (about 200 meters) up Kala Pattar in the snow before that time. I forged ahead not knowing where the path was, only knowing approximately where the peak of Kala Pattar was. After climbing about 200 meters at a surprisingly good rate, we either emerged above the clouds or they dissipated and the views of Everest and Nuptse were fantastic. It was amazing, but now I could see the 2nd viewpoint of Kala Pattar (there's 2) at 5600 meters and I had to get closer. I still had no idea where the path was, but I pushed straight ahead toward the summit trudging through the deepest snow (which was easiest) and tripping on shallow rocks here and there. I didn't really care, I was climbing on adrenaline because I knew the sunset was going to be unbelievable. I was even beating Suk up the mountain that day (that's even more amazing, but he was taking hist time). Despite making great progress, the summit did not seem any closer. A final push rapidly closed the seemingly inconquerable distance and the summit was in my grasp (I'm describing this as if I were climbing Everest itself but it was pretty exciting). And then I finally reached the 5600 meter summit of Kala Pattar at about 6:10 pm. Turning west and south the panoramic views were unbelievable: the black pyramind of Everest tucked behind the more impressive white pinnacle of Nuptse, the jet stream blowing north off Everest flinging itself into a giant arc of rapidly moving cloud, and the countless peaks to the south dominated by the near-perfect triangle of Ama Dablam basking in the day's last light. Only Suk and I were there to enjoy the view that afternoon. My camera was
on auto-click as I took countless pictures (almost 40) of the most
wonderful scene of my whole 3-month trip if not my life. The mountains
to the south settled under the shadow, but Everst and Nuptse still
glowed brilliantly in the waning sunlight. The day's final shadow
swiftly climbed
Everest and Nuptse as clouds flew by the top of the world at
awesome speeds with increasingly beautiful colors. And finally even
Mt. Everest said
good night to the world. And toward the south
the colors only grew more spectacular. After enjoying the sunset
longer than I should have, I had to run down before it became too
dark to see anything. My hands were frozen and I could barely operate
my camera. Suk and I rushed down the hill leaving more fresh tracks.
It was almost completely
dark when we got back to the lodge. You gotta check
out the pictures below! They are the best on this site!
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