Day 8: Chhukung Ri
Approximate Trekking Time: 3-4 hours
Distance: 5.5k / 3.4 miles
Overnight Elevation: 4730m / 15,518ft
Erica, Nathaniel, Abe, Kate and Shawn on top of Chhukung Ri
Our rooms in Chhukung were freezing. The three worst parts of the day are: (1) getting out of our warm sleeping bags in the morning, when room temps are often as freezing as those outdoors, so cold we can see our breath; (2) leaving the dining room at night to head to our freezing rooms and get into our cold sleeping bags; and, (3) the multiple nighttime bathroom trips into the freezing abyss beyond our sleeping bags (now warm). In addition to my sleeping bag and the provided blanket, I go to sleep in ALL of my layers, including my down puffy. Occasionally I warm up enough to shed at least this heaviest layer, which I then still keep inside my sleeping bag to take up space that might otherwise hold the cold air that creeps in because the top of my sleeping bag is a bit too wide.
Despite this cold, once I am all tucked into my layers, sleeping bag, and blanket, I’m warm enough for the night, and the fleeting moments of cold when we first crawl into and out of our sleeping bags and make late night trips to the bathroom are all worth it considering this amazing experience hiking in arguably some of the most beautiful country in the world.
We spent today in Chhukung again to climb Chhukung Ri (ri = peak), the highest point of our entire trek at 18,191 ft. (5546m). To access the trail up to the peak, we hiked through the village, heading over a rock field that crossed three streams – first over rocks, then logs, and finally boulders – being careful not to step on the icy bits of the rocks. Significant portions of the streams were still frozen in cold morning shade of the valley.
Heading uphill along the sandy slopes, the sand sparkling in the sun, the trail climbed first steeply, and then gradually, and then more steeply again, continuing uphill until reaching a gradual false-flattish section, strewn with rock cairns. Beyond this barren sandbox of stacked rocks, the trail continued steeply uphill through the fine sand and rock over short switchbacks.
Along our ascent, we were greeted by a lanky German guy that was very keen to tell us that hiking while high was not a good idea, advertising that he had very recently smoked a joint. He also proceeded to tell us that his lodge owner had told him that a storm may be coming in over the Kongma La tomorrow afternoon or evening, something we decided to check into later. While a decently quick hiker, he was a strange individual and we referred to him as “storm predictor guy” whenever we saw him along the trail in days to come.
The whole trail was quite slow going for me and by the time we reached the cairn-strewn ridge at the top of the slope we had just climbed, I was pretty content to just call that point good enough, though it wasn’t the summit. So, from here we pushed on. The remainder of the climb was up steep slopes of rocky scrambles across brittle rocks and slippy gravel. Taking an exposed path along the right side of the side of the rockface, there were several very sketchy sections along the route to the top.
We gingerly picked our way through the sketchy unclear trail, finally making our way to the summit. A large chorten marked the top, and the surrounding views were stunning – all of the peaks we had seen from below in Chhukung, up closer – as well as Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. From our summit view, we could also see the turquoise lakes at the base of Ama Dablam, as well as Imja Tsho (tsho = lake) near the moraine of the Lhotse Glacier, swollen to dangerous levels due to the effects of global warming. We also thought we could see Kongma La (la = pass), the pass we would cross over the next day, though the trek the next day would reveal that we had not been able to see the pass.
At the top of Chhukung Ri, we enjoyed our summit Snickers and snapped some photos, soaking in the beauty all around us before beginning our descent. Luckily, the best route down from the summit was much clearer from above than it had been on the ascent, and the trip down the top portion of the peak wasn’t nearly as sketchy as the trip up had been. Past the rock scramble, we continued down the trail we had climbed up and back into Chhukung.
With the high peak behind us and a long day over the Kongma La ahead of us, we ate daal bhaat for both lunch and dinner. After dinner, we went outside to look at the stars, the milky way a clear bright band across the sky. Possibly the most stars I’d ever seen. Unfortunately, while stargazing is amazing in the darkness of the high mountains, it is short-lived due to the frigid air, and we were soon tucked into our sleeping bags for the night.
