Day 20 -- October 17 => Dughla to Lobuche

During the middle of the night, I was awakened by a crash of metal and rocks. I had no idea what is was but everything soon settled back down again a short time later so I thought nothing of it until morning. Later on that day, I learned that some Yaks had "broken into" camp. Jagget had gotten up to put some ladders across the rockwall opening leading up to the toilet tents.

Pumori (7145m/23,442')

My headache was pretty much gone by morning but nausea and light headedness were my health companions today. We left Dughla around 8:30am and my condition dictated a slow pace up the "big" hill towards Lobuche. Upon reaching the top of the hill around 10am, we came across many memorial cairns dedicated to those who had lost their lives in the region, including Scott Fischer.

As we were taking a break, someone from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan stopped for a few minutes to chat. I believe she was going back down after doing Kala Pattar the previous day.

From the top of the big hill, a moderate descent before levelling out for most of the way to Lobuche, pronounced as "Low-bu-jay". It was a cool day with only brief periods of sun.

As we walked past the south/southeast faces of Lobuche East (6119m/20,075'), we saw several climbers descending the huge snow fields below the summit ridge. Lobuche East is a trekking peak but definitely requires much more time on snow and ice than Island Peak would be for me several days later.

Our "wild camp" above Lobuche

We continued past Lobuche (4920m/16,142') and up to our "wild camp" site, arriving around noon. Anyone feeling better than what I was that day, could have done it in far less time. Fortunately for me, Baboram, one of our guides, had shouldered my pack for most of the day which helped me considerably.

With the mostly cloudy skies and brisk wind, the temperature was probably about 5C/40F. It did not take long for me to switch into my down parka. Hints of snow were definitely in the air.

Mehra??, from ridge above Lobuche camp site

After tea, the clouds had lifted enough and a bit of sun encouraged me to ascend the ridge behind our camp site. It was less than ten minutes to the top and it provided my first views of the Khumbu glacier which goes all the way to Mt. Everest.

By the time dinner was done, the clouds had rolled back in and the camp was in heavy fog. Tomorrow morning's weather would dictate whether we went for Kala Pattar or Everest base camp. On clear days, one goes for Kala Pattar for the views of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and the surrounding mountains.

During the night, one of our fellow trekkers went back down to Pheriche after altitude related problems had worsened. Our group which had done remarkably well up to Dingboche, had been reduced by three trekkers and three staff in less than 18 hours. I had approached turnaround territory but fortunately I recovered sufficiently by the time we reached Lobuche. In my case it seems, Diamox (acetazolamide) had worked well. If you do have to go down, a member of the staff will always go with you to carry your pack and make sure you arrive safely.

Day 19 - Dingboche to Dughla Day 21 - Lobuche to Kala Pattar

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Created: December 22, 2002. Revised: December 23, 2002.