Ascend Gokyo Ri (17,585’)

During our full day in Kathmandu, we take a guided sightseeing tour of the Hindu site at Pashupatinath and the Buddhist site of Bouddhanath. Our afternoon is open to make final trek preparations or do a little exploring. In the evening, we can enjoy the city center at Durbar Square and the nightlife of Kathmandu’s lively Thamel area.

We fly to Lukla and begin trekking. This initial section follows the Dudh Kosi River Valley through a relatively rich agricultural area. The Sherpas in these villages raise large crops of corn,  potatoes, wheat, turnips, cauliflower and cabbage, and tend herds of cows, sheep, goats and yak cross-breeds. Interspersed between villages, we see magnificent forests of magnolia, rhododendron and fir trees. As we hike, watch the cliffs above the river for a glimpse of musk deer and Himalayan tahr. We visit the gompa (monastery) at Phakding, the Pharak District’s largest. We spend the night in Phakding (8,300’).

At Jorsale our trail enters Sagarmatha National Park, established in 1976 with the support of the New Zealand government. The remaining stretch to Namche Bazaar ascends steeply. With good weather, however, we are rewarded with views of peaks including Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse. Namche Bazaar, at 11,286’, is a prosperous market town and the administrative center for the Khumbu region.

After leaving Namche Bazaar, we ascend to the villages of Kunde and Khumjung. The latter is the site of the Hillary School, a primary school built for the children of the Khumbu by the Himalayan Trust. Also in Khumjung is a gompa possessing a skull said to have belonged to the yeti (the Abominable Snowman). We pause the rest of the day for acclimatization. B/L/D Deluxe camping

Crossing the flanks of Khumbila, home to the patron god of the Khumbu region, we descend steep switchbacks back to the Dudh Kosi River. We climb up the valley toward the river’s source and move into a vegetated zone of juniper and conifer. Along the way, our trail passes through many kharkas, or summer settlements inhabited during the warmer months when the Sherpas bring their yaks to graze in the high pastures. One of these kharkas, called Machhermo, is where a Sherpa woman says the yeti attacked her and a yak herd in 1974! Our arrival in Gokyo is heralded by a landscape of turquoise lakes, glaciers and pristine mountain scenery. While there, we may scale the easily climbable peak of Gokyo Ri (17,585’) for a magnificent panorama of summits including Cho Oyu,Gyachung Kang, Pumori, Changtse, Everest, Nuptse, Makalu, Ama Dablam, Kang Taiga, Thamserku, Khumbila, Tawoche and Cholatse.

We leave at dawn to summit Kala Pattar. Hiking up an increasingly rough and steep trail through Loboche (16,207’) to Gorak Shep (17,349’), we pass a small and often frozen lake and continue upward to Kala Pattar (18,192’). Catching our breath at the top, we survey one of the most magnificent mountain panoramas in the world: the south and west faces of Mount Everest (29,035’) and its entourage of neighboring peaks, including Lhotse and Nuptse. We look down onto Everest Base Camp, where the world’s elite mountaineers assemble.

We travel along the Khumbu Glacier to enter Everest Base Camp. Everest, the world’s highest mountain, was first climbed in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Its Nepali name, Sagarmatha, means “Churning Stick of the Ocean of Existence.” The Sherpas usually call it by its Tibetan name, Chomolungma, which means “Mother Goddess of the Universe.” The name we know comes from Sir George Everest, who headed the Survey of India from 1823 to 1843. We return to Loboche for the night.

We’ve scheduled an extra day as a cushion in case bad weather or other circumstances delay   our return to Kathmandu. Otherwise, it is a free day to shop and explore Nepal’s exotic capital.

Depart Namaste flight from Kathmandu.

Note: This itinerary is a tentative schedule for your trip. Snow Lion Expeditions will adhere to the itinerary if conditions permit. However, many factors may dictate itinerary changes either before departure or after your trip commences, such as weather; trail and road conditions; the physical ability of trip participants; political conditions; schedule changes of various outside entities such as airlines, railroads, monasteries; local government rules and regulations; etc. Moreover, Snow Lion Expeditions reserves the right to change this or any of its scheduled itineraries in the best interest of the trip participants. Our primary concerns are the safety, comfort, and well-being of our clients. Hotel accommodations listed in the itinerary are subject to change based on availability. If a change is necessary, we make every effort to book lodging of comparable quality.