Everest day 8 – Pheriche to Labouche

Managed a decent night’s sleep but still awoke early to the sound of stomping footsteps above.

Morning seems to be the clearest time of the day so I headed outside, before breakfast, to take some photos of the valley. One of the shots was a postcard view of the mountains, valley and a yak in the foreground.

The days trek was billed as an easy morning followed by a tough climb that, if we made it, would mean base camp would be achievable.

The morning turned out to be easier and quicker than expected as the bridge north of Pheriche had been repaired. This cut nearly two hours off our morning walk, arriving at Douglha  before 11. We filled the time playing cards until we ate.

I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t push through to Labouche or further rather than wasting time but understand we need to move as a group.

The trail climbed quite steeply from our lunch stop to the ridge of memorials. The wind picked up but the conditions were far from harsh. The only effects of the weather I’ve noticed so far are having to take a jacket off when it gets too sunny! Most of the time it’s shorts and t-shirt.

The ridge of memorials consists of a number of cairns to commemorate people lost on the mountain. It’s a somber an peaceful place.

The final leg of the days journey took us into the Khumbu Glacier. We were walking a trail through the rockfall that will, tomorrow, lead us to the ice fall and base camp.

We only walked for around 4 hours today so our group was keen to do some more. Initially we wanted to visit the Italian Pyramid but we were told it was too far. Instead we climbed a ridge that gave us a spectacular view for the glacier path. In the distance we could see our end goal of the ice fall. I later found out that the ridge took us over 5k in altitude.

It’s worth mentioning the dogs that follow us each day. When we depart a group tend to follow us all the way to the next village where the next relay will begin. They’re all very protective and chase off yaks and other dogs. Three of them joined us on our little ridge excursion tonight. They bounded straight up and down the slopes play fighting all the way.

Nepalese words of the day:
Byer – left
Dyer – right

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