Everest trek - Day 11 - Kala Patthar then Pangboche

Kala Patthar
5170m to 5600m (+430m)

4:30am. Wakey wakey! Today was the going to be the highest point of the whole trip, with some magnificent view of Everest hopefully! I didn't get an inch of sleep - I was excited about today and mild altitude sickness is ever-present. I wake Helen and Dave who aren't feeling so good with slight headaches and also had no sleep. Out into the silent mountains the stars are brilliant. With headtorches we set off to the base of Kala Patthar and begin the slog up. There's a few torches already on the hill and more coming behind us. Helen and Dave decide to wait at the point we reached yesterday which I then thought was about half way - this was not the case. I press onwards and overtake a group of Italians. I have to stop every few minutes to catch my breath, and also the unveiling views. My heart is pounding against my chest every time I start moving again and I feel light-headed. Just when you think you've hit the top there's more! The top section has larger rocks and requires a little more navigating. After an hour of steep trekking I finally reach the prayer flags and weather station, announcing the summit - at 5600m (over 18,000 feet) I imagine this is as high as I'll ever be, using my legs!

Everest is mostly visible. Only a section of the western Cym hides behind Nuptse. The Everest south ridge past camp IV (26,000ft) and up to the Hilary step is crystal clear and the wind-blasted summit (still 2km higher than me) looking formidable. Anti-clockwise from Everest I could see Kumbutse, Lingtren, (the beautiful, and my favourite) Pumo Ri, Chumbu, Lobuche, Awi, Mehra, Nuptse and Lhotse. Being at this height, around all these giants really makes you feel everything, your senses are alive - the hairs on my neck stood up and a warm shiver passed through me! 

30 minutes later and the masses were approaching so I decided to make my decent. Going down is much easier, skipping across the rocks and almost running on some sections. I get back to the bottom with a light head and aching knees, and head for the warm lodge where Helen and Dave are waiting with some breakfast - I'm famished!

Gorak Shep to Pangboche
5170m to 4000m (-1170)

After breakfast we grab a quick photo with the wonderful Himalaya lodge family then it's down down down. There's no set plans on how far we're going to go today, but (as usual) I have an idea that we'll go as far as we can as fast as we can, seeing how far it's possible to get down in one day! Helen and Dave didn't initially share this unnecessary determination but we still made very good time! We hopped it over the glacier bridge that we struggled with before (someone had repaired it) and promptly into Labouche for a cup of sweet black tea. The hill down to Thukla seemed long, even longer than going up for some reason. There were now more and more people heading up, looking punished by the gradient! All of these people had walking poles - I don't understand walking poles - are they for actual support when walking? Most people just seem to tap rocks with them before taking a step, like they're testing if it can support their weight or not. I can only think of Stevie Wonder when I see trekkers in sunglasses with walking poles. Maybe if I'm old and wobbly and still trekking, I'll get some.

We hit Thukla at 12:30 and hide from the water now falling from the sky. Once clear we quickly make our way down to Penriche (via a muddy bog) to see how it's different from Dingboche (stay in Dingboche!). More black tea with a particularly cute companion dog (who's name I forget) and we're walking again. Now about 3pm and we're fooled thinking we'd arrived in Pangboche, but we then realise it's the next village, 30 minutes further down the valley! Legs with no energy, shoulders and back hurting we slouch into the same lodge, and same room we'd occupied on the ascent. I wouldn't recommend going this far (20km) in one day (especially after climbing Kala Patthar with on no sleep) - Dingboche would be a sensible stop!