There is lots of downtime during trekking to EBC and back. You get up early and begin trekking. By early afternoon you have arrived at your destination. At these altitudes you can only do so much as you are gaining elevation too quickly.
The goal today is to ascend a long ridge to a vantage point that will be busy with other trekkers catching the views and acclimatizing. We depart at 0840 and return to the lodge by 10:30 and reach an altitude of 4,525 metres so we go up about 260 metres of elevation or vertical rise. The views are spectacular and well worth the effort. Lots of snow to walk through. Very barren above the tree line.
Our start to Day 6 of our trek at Dingboche and climbing the steep hill overlooking the village.
Looking at Dingboche from high above.
Another great view of Dingboche from above. The orange tents are for a large trekking group. In this cold there would be no way you'd get me in a tent at night. ;-)
A stupa with prayer banner and outstanding scenery in the background.
We are far above Dingboche at this point in the climb.
This is the trail and we have a lot more to climb to get to the key vantage point.
Photo bombed by another damned Aussie trekker!
The three amigos posing for the camera. You will notice that in this rarified altitude I have grown much taller than the others or standing on the uphill rise?
Does it get any better than this? Well yes it does by the time we get to EBC and Kala Patthar.
A classic scene captured by Jim. Please note that these photos are courtesy of Jim and his trusty camera.
Jim's mileage count for today: 2.88 miles and 6,809 steps.
We return to the dining room for some tea and order lunch. We play a game of cribbage and eat our lunch. Lots of laughs and fun. By 12:30 we are finished. As usual, the clouds have moved over the peaks and it is windy in the village. Still sunny though, but not so warm.
Time for a hot shower. Dorjee informs us that the indoor shower can't be used as the pipes are frozen solid. Our only option is outside in the cold air behind the lodge using a bucket of hot water. The wind is blowing and I figure what the heck! Jim and I get a bucket of hot water each. I go first and find a place reasonably well hidden. I strip down to my underwear and have my towel, shampoo and a bar of soap ready. Get naked. Pour one small pail of hot water onto my head to shampoo. What a great feeling of the hot water running down my cold face and then down my body. Soap up my body and use the ladle to pour on the hot water. Each splash of hot water feels great given the surrounding air is cold! I towel myself and escape to our room wearing just the towel around my waist. Jim's turn now. Put on fresh underwear and brush my hair. Long-sleeved wiki shirt. My towel is outside and trying to dry in the sun. We both feel good, but chilled to the bone.
Jim heads for the room and his sleeping bag. I do some meditating and then explore the village and the area around our lodge. Around 3:45 pm Jim gets to the dining room which is now the warmest place in the lodge. We find out from Dorjee that the oven in the dining room is not heated by wood, but by yak dung! The yak dung does a fantastic job and their is no odour. Jim and I order a pizza for dinner and hot chocolate. As usual, we eat dinner around 6:30 pm. The pizzas are pretty decent with a good tasty crust. More cribbage with Dorjee.
After dinner, we all sit in plastic chairs with cushions around the dung-heated oven. Warming up as we are still chilled to the bone. Again, the only customers staying here. Already, it is pitch black and chilly. Our room is like a freezer. The hot towels before dinner were much appreciated! In our cold room by 8 pm. Dark!
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