11. Thagnak to Gokyo over Glacier

Today was our 2nd rest day, we had a lovely lie in till 7.30 am but James woke up with a very stiff neck after sleeping funny on it. We had a lovely breakfast, probably the best so far. Only a 3 hour hike today but felt much longer as we set off across the Ngozumpa Glacier, which is extremely active in movement. It took us about 2 and half hours to cross and all we could hear was rock fall everywhere. We really had to keep concentration as the route across the glacier is ever changing. We stopped at a pool of water and watched in amazement how many rocks were constantly falling in, the glacier is melting and this causes the rockfall. It was over 1 mile wide and when we finally reached the other side we had a near vertical assent to get out, we really had to move quickly as this was a severe danger zone for rockfall and you could hear rocks falling everywhere in front and behind. We finally got to the top and were greeted by Gokyo Lake, a beautiful sacred lake which was the bluest of blue. Gokyo 4750mtrs is stunning, and probably one of the nicest / cleanest places we have visited on the trek. We had some dinner and wrote down some funny facts to publish once the trek is done. An early night as tomorrow we set off for our final pass, the Renjo La Pass, 5345 mtrs, we are both looking forward to ending our Diamox after the assent as its gives us tingly face, hands and feet aswell as needing a wee frequently. We are both looking forward to breathing normally aswell and each day after tomorrow will get easier as we descend nearly 1000mtrs each day.Read more