October 26, 2012

 Day 16.  Dzonglho (15,912'/4850m) to Thangnak (15,420'/4700m) via Cho La (17,782'/5420m)

I've gotta say that I think I hit a new low last night.  I was pretty cold in the tent, and hugged my hot water bottle all night long.  I was parched but somehow couldn't even find the energy or willpower to expose enough skin to take a drink.  I did, though, have a good long drink every time I got up and out to pee.  The benefit of having to get up in the night is that you get to see the magical Himalayan sky!  The moon is over half full now, so it's up later and throws more light.  Amazingly gorgeous!!

Dinner last night was spaghetti.  I had lots of noodles but couldn't stomach the sauce.  I had the carrots but left the cabbage.  So many people are sick that Steve has taken to calling the dining tent the cough-a-teria.  We had a special treat to recognize the summiteers - cake with chocolate icing and white writing.  It was big enough to feed all of us, including all the staff.  

With a long day ahead today, bed tea was at 6:30am.  We split our belongings in 2 again this morning.  We each have a light-ish bag to go over the pass with us (well with the porters, technically) which will last us three days.  All of the rest of our stuff will go via dzopkio and meet us in Machermo.  The pass (Cho La) is not fit for dzopkios. 

The dawn of another beautiful day.

The day started out as a pleasant walk - little bit up, little bit down.  We crossed a river and then the uphill began in earnest.  It was amazing to see the dexterity and endurance of the many porters plying this route; most in ill-fitting sneakers.  We were treated to great views and lots of opportunities to stop (and catch my breath (and cough)) and take a look.  We left camp shortly after 8am and made it to the top of the rock wall section by 11.  This stuff would classify as a good scramble at home!  After not seeing anyone for a while, I found Dan and Lenka up there having a snack.  

Cho La Pass is in sight!

Cho La Pass

I kept going toward the glacier where Dandi was to help us and show us the way.  He was hard at work by the time I saw him.  He was busy fetching gravel to put on tricky parts of the ice in order to give us better footing.  None of us had crampons or microspikes.  I managed to get to the true top of the pass around noon.  

Then came a huge downhill.  It was mostly very steep and filled with boulders.  I was very cautious and slow.  Since I didn't stop much on the way up, I ended up travelling down with Dandi, Dan, and Lenka.  I really slowed them down but they were good about it.  As soon as we got over the pass we were into a very different landscape.  Down, down, down and finally to an old "base camp" where the cooks had hot drinks and lunch waiting for us.  They had my favourite soup (noodles & greens), cheese (a no-go for me) and a tiny piece of fish.  It was quite windy there.  I layered up with all the clothes I had with me, including my windpants and down jacket; I didn't linger.  Then more up & down as we headed toward Thangnak.  Dawa met us along the trail with a hot drink; how thoughtful!  Lenka stopped to take off her boot and appeared to have a tender ankle.  This really became an issue later in the day and by bedtime she couldn't put any weight on it.  Upon arrival in Thangnak at about 3:20 I went into the lodge for a mint tea and a huge plate of french fries.  I had had a Clif Bar at the pass and some soup for lunch, but I was pretty hungry.  

I found it a very tough day today, between the terrain (both up and down) and the ongoing exhaustion from coughing.  We stayed in the lodge tonight.  The beds had really yummy-looking comforters and I'm looking forward to being warm.  Steve and Helen were next in at about 4:20.  Vera & Vladka arrived shortly after that along with Sangye.  Liba & Geljen didn't arrive until dusk; about 5:30.