Day 6: Pangboche to Dingboche

Approximate Trekking Time: 2 – 2 ½ hours

Distance: 6.4k / 4 miles

Overnight Elevation: 4360m / 14,304ft

This morning we lingered in our beds a bit longer, not pushing out of our sleeping bags until just after 6:30am. The dining room in the lodge was cold, nearly freezing in fact, Shawn noting that the temperature was a balmy 39°F – inside. Everyone’s breath was visible and small clouds of steam rose into the air… our breaths steamed, our tea steamed, our breakfasts steamed – all into the bitter cold air.

We hit the trail around 8am, the first part of the cold mornings among my favorite, still bundled up with the sun warming me, but not yet hot enough to sweat in my layers. Just warm and comfortable, soaking in the sunshine. Hiking out of Pangboche, we passed the side trail we had taken yesterday toward Ama Dablam, continuing down the main trail. The majority of the day’s trek was fairly easy hiking, flat or gentle up and down grades, until toward the end when, as usual, the trail marched us toward the valley floor to cross a river before marching us back up the rocky slopes along the other side of the valley.

Starting out, the trail followed along the valley, curling around the mountainside past stone chortens, mani walls, painted boulders, and stupas, before dropping into the rocky boulder-strewn plains around Orsho, which appeared to be little more than a solitary lodge. From here, the trail dropped to the river valley where the Imja Khola and Khumbu Khola converged. We took a bridge over the latter, walking around a large pile of mani stones on the other side before beginning our hike upward past yak caravans.

The yak trains are a constant in the daily trail scenery and I loved the sound of the bells that signal their approach – some clung like small gongs and others had a bright tinkle, as if a magical fairy was about to round the bend at any moment, only to be greeted by massive, hairy horned beasts. Most of the “yaks” (or “naks”, for the females) we see are actually mixes between pure-blood yaks and either cows or Tibetan bulls. We figure the biggest and hairiest of them are the REAL DEAL yaks. Sometimes we are able to pass to one side of them and others, we have to step aside the trail to let them by.

The mountain views were superb as usual, though from our new vantage point the unique peak of Ama Dablam was barely distinguishable. The snowcapped summits of Island Peak and Lhotse were still in view. The further we hiked, the more the peak of Taboche shrank toward the landscape. Soaring massively above everything from yesterday’s perspective, it now seemed as if we could reach out and touch it from the slopes we hiked upon.

Eventually, we came around a bend with some stone chortens and a view over Dingboche (4360m/14,300ft.), our stopping point for the day – a conglomeration of lodges, homes, and yak pastures, all set below small peaks and slopes with stupas, shortens, rock cairns, and prayer flags tittering in the wind.

We found a room at the Snow Lion Lodge, one of the first lodges along the trail through Dingboche, and spent awhile relaxing in the nice sunny courtyard, enjoying freshly boiled baked potatoes that the lodge owner kindly shared with us. Here, a guide from another group told us about an acclimatization hike that his group had done the previous day, climbing up the slopes along a ridge above Dingboche. He pointed toward their turn-around point, where a vertical prayer flag flapped in the wind high upon the slope. While I was going to be perfectly content with taking an easy day after yesterday’s hike to Ama Dablam Base Camp, with this ridge hike now in Shawn’s head, I knew it was happening.

Around noon, we set off for this hike up the slopes. Not quite sure where the trail started, we hiked to the end of town and started our way up what we thought was a trail… but then just ended up picking our own way up the slopes, sans trail, until we reached the aforementioned Tibetan flags flapping in the wind at just under 15,000 ft. (4572m). From here, we looked down to see perfectly delineated trails leading to where we stood, beginning practically right from the back of our hostel. Such dummies.

From here, Shawn continued up further toward the top of the peak, while I headed back down (the trails this time) to our guesthouse, passing by two large stupas toward the end of the route. The older of the two was higher up and tarnished in that very-very-old-relic looking sort of way. The lower of the two, just above our guest house, looked as though it could have been painted yesterday, bright white and gleaming, with the colorful Buddha eyes looking out from all directions. Shawn turned around at about 16,000 ft., the clouds beginning to close in, and we spent the remainder of the afternoon in our guesthouse.

With yak dung fueling the wood stove in the center of the dining room, the room was nice and warm and we spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening here, as usual, consuming a large pot of hot tea throughout the day. Here we talked to Florence, from Switzerland, who we had met at the lodge we stayed at last night. And, we met more Americans than we’d met during our entire travels… all in this one room at the Snow Lion Lodge in the middle of the Himalayas. Dan, from Colorado, was trekking independently, like ourselves, and also doing the three passes trek. We ended up hiking with him and/or meeting up at the same lodges each day, for the remainder of the trip.

There was also a bigger group of Americans, also from Colorado. The affable talker of this bunch, Ken, regaled us with stories, including how he had recently discovered (in a not so pleasant manner) that he had been taking 4x the amount of Diamox (an altitude sickness prevention/treatment medicine) than he should be taking due to an incorrect prescription label. Having revealed and corrected this, he was happy as a clam and having the time of his life. Friendly as ever, once he learned that Dan was also from Boulder, he was quick to suggest they go hiking together when they returned to the states. Dan looked a little less thrilled about this idea, but you had to love Ken’s enthusiasm. At any rate, it was nice to chat with fellow Americans for the evening.