Day 26 -- October 23 => Island Peak Base Camp to Dingboche

Nuptse (7896m/25,905'); Island Peak (6189m/20,305')

It had been a chilly night and my tent had been pitched over three large rocks (level ground was at a premium at base camp) so I did not have many options for a comfortable sleep. After yesterday's long day and then a chilly start to this morning (probably hit at least -5C/25F overnight), it was nice to not have bed tea until 7 am. Nevertheless, I actually woke up before 6:30 am to begin packing. Around 7:15 am, the sun hit the tent and it became quite comfortable inside in about ten minutes. I was feeling good after yesterday although energy depleted, so after a light breakfast of just porridge, I was the last client to leave Island Peak base camp around 9 am. Before leaving, I had attempted to repair my broken pack buckle using duct tape, with limited success. It took us about 20 minutes to reach the dry lake bed in front of Island Peak. Pemba was leading today and while I kept up with his pace for about 45 minutes, once we started ascending the glacial moraines, I began falling back. Since we were simply retracing our steps back to Chhukung, I had no difficulty finding my way along the barren land. We entered a high plateau containing Sherpa's Rock and continued for about 15 minutes on fairly level trail until we started to ascend again, where I called for a much needed rest break. While the majority of the distance to here had been level or downhill, I was still recovering from yesterday's huge drain on my energy.

Amphu Lapcha; Ama Dablam (6856m/22,493')

Lal caught up to Pemba and I during the break and as we continued on towards Chhukung, I was not able to keep up with their pace for long. I slowed my pace to take in the views and snap some pictures. It was a bright sunny morning, the temperature was probably about 8C/45F around 10 am. I descended into Chhukung (4730m/15,518') at 10:45 am and as I reached the first lodges, Jagat called my name to direct me to where Sarah and him were sitting, enjoying the morning sun. Sarah was looking and feeling a whole lot better than yesterday. Sarah and I talked about her descent from Island Peak back to Chhukung yesterday and the details on what transpired on Island Peak after she and Lal had decided to go down.

Amphu Lapcha

As we were waiting for everyone else to reach the lunch stop, a helicopter landed behind a nearby lodge. Sarah went over and investigated and after the helicopter took off, she came back and told us that it appeared the helicopter had come for a Westerner and a porter. Since there was only room to take one at a time, the Westerner was taken first although it appeared that the porter was in worse shape, possible suffering from High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) or High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). The helicopter returned about ½ hour later for the porter. They were probably taken down to the medical clinic in Pheriche.

Sarah and I with Island Peak in the background

After having lunch (crepes with maple syrup, boiled potatoes, steamed weiner pieces), we left Chhukung around 1 pm for Dingboche. It was an easy afternoon, with a gradual descent. We had beautiful sunshine but a cooling breeze and the altitude kept us in a couple of layers. We arrived at our campsite in Dingboche (4252m/13,950') at 2:50 pm. The campsite we had used previously in Dingboche, at a lodge owned by the family of Pemba's wife, was already occupied. Spam meat cakes, boiled potatoes and fruit cocktail for dinner. After dinner, I played catch up in my journal but was still one day behind when I turned out the light at 9:30 pm.

Day 25 - Island Peak Day 27 - Dingboche to Deboche

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Created: March 1, 2003. Revised: March 30, 2003.