24 October 2005
Day 8: Laboche - Kala Pattar (5545m) - Gorak Shep (5160m). 5 Hours
Slept in perhaps the worst spot of my entire life last night. The walls were literally dirt and rock covered by a tarp, the wood walls were so thin that when the schmuck next door rolled over it pushed me off the bed. Got shit sleep and woke up at 4:30am.
Fumbled putting on my down jacket, popped one of every pill I had available (diamox, cirpro, alleve, immodium, codeine) and realzed my head lamp needs a bit of upgrading. Got outside and while I'd love to relate the romance and beautfy of hiking in Nepal under the stars, it fucking blew. I tripped every other step, almost went in the water (twice) and nearly hyperventilate in said down jacked. I then convinced myself I had every single sympton of HACE: naseau, light headed, loss of coordination, etc (I think most of these relate to all the pills I popped and the lovely sleeping arrangements). Then, my camel back cord frooze solid. I was not a happy trekker.
Then, as the sun came up, things started to get better. My Nalgene got Iodineized and I could once again enjoy freezing cold water. I also decided to quite being a pussy and made it to Gorak Shep feeling pretty good. Did the long climb to Kala Pattar in about an hour and forty five minutes. It was a bit of a bitch, there's not much you can do going up at 5500 meters other than put one foot in front of the other and listen to your heart pound. I have no idea how people can do this another 3000 meters up. But made it to the top and it was, awesome.
Great views of Everst next to Nuptse with the Khubmu glacier and icefall below. Also fantastic views down valley with the usual suspects and the glacier. Plus an incredible view of Pumori and mountains in Tibet. It was great, not a cloud in the incredibly blue sky and only the occasional breath of wind. Could have stayed all day but only remained for about two hours. Took a short nap on the lower slopes, got sunburned and listened to the avalanches roll of Nuptse.
In the afternoon I relaxed, got more sunburned and talked to a weirdo from Boulder who was in Nepal to work on his breathing (and had a didjeridoo to help him?). Then went back up a bit and watched the sunset. It was fantastic, the faces of Everst (left) and Nuptse (right) turned a beautiful pink/red and it was really neat watching the light fade and listening to the glacier creaking and groaning. AWESOME.
Fumbled putting on my down jacket, popped one of every pill I had available (diamox, cirpro, alleve, immodium, codeine) and realzed my head lamp needs a bit of upgrading. Got outside and while I'd love to relate the romance and beautfy of hiking in Nepal under the stars, it fucking blew. I tripped every other step, almost went in the water (twice) and nearly hyperventilate in said down jacked. I then convinced myself I had every single sympton of HACE: naseau, light headed, loss of coordination, etc (I think most of these relate to all the pills I popped and the lovely sleeping arrangements). Then, my camel back cord frooze solid. I was not a happy trekker.
Then, as the sun came up, things started to get better. My Nalgene got Iodineized and I could once again enjoy freezing cold water. I also decided to quite being a pussy and made it to Gorak Shep feeling pretty good. Did the long climb to Kala Pattar in about an hour and forty five minutes. It was a bit of a bitch, there's not much you can do going up at 5500 meters other than put one foot in front of the other and listen to your heart pound. I have no idea how people can do this another 3000 meters up. But made it to the top and it was, awesome.Great views of Everst next to Nuptse with the Khubmu glacier and icefall below. Also fantastic views down valley with the usual suspects and the glacier. Plus an incredible view of Pumori and mountains in Tibet. It was great, not a cloud in the incredibly blue sky and only the occasional breath of wind. Could have stayed all day but only remained for about two hours. Took a short nap on the lower slopes, got sunburned and listened to the avalanches roll of Nuptse.
In the afternoon I relaxed, got more sunburned and talked to a weirdo from Boulder who was in Nepal to work on his breathing (and had a didjeridoo to help him?). Then went back up a bit and watched the sunset. It was fantastic, the faces of Everst (left) and Nuptse (right) turned a beautiful pink/red and it was really neat watching the light fade and listening to the glacier creaking and groaning. AWESOME.
