We stayed overnight in Lobuche, only one small notch above Gorak Shep for luxury. In addition to boiling our water and irradiating it with UV light, Chhongba made sure we treated it with strong “pills”. This part of Nepal was more crowded than Chhongba had ever seen it. And he has been to base camp many times. We were not assured a room in Gorak Shep—we hoped to stay two nights—so he sent Babu Sherpa ahead very early in the morning to try to get rooms for us. We started to walk to Gorak Shep somewhat late so we didn’t have to go back so far if we met Babu returning with bad news. In hindsight we should have left very early and climbed Kala Patthar before lunch and before the clouds moved in partly obscuring the peaks, even if we had to make the 2 to 3 hour trek back to Lobuche for the night. But hindsight is great.

We did meet Babu before Gorak Shep, but he had good news—rooms for one night. And it turned out that spending one night in Gorak Shep was far better than spending two nights. Noisy and cold is being kind in describing the place. But this was the stage for a run at both Kala Patthar and Everest Base Camp.

Please explore these panoramic images. You can double click to zoom way in then pan around. Please wait for the resolution to download. You can also use the + and – keys to zoom and the arrow keys to scroll. Or use the scroll wheel to zoom and the left mouse to drag.

This first pan show a view back down the trail toward Lobuche. You can zoom in and see yaks below and to the right and also farther down around the large bolder to the left. Down the valley you can see the parade of trekkers heading to Gorak Shep. Above them and to the right is Taboche. To the left of Taboche in the notch in the valley in the distance is Thamserku, and to its left, Tangtega. The long brown hill of rocks on the left side of the valley is the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier which is just over this hill.

The pan below shows the Khumbu Glacier with Nuptse (25,771 ft) above it. To the right are Nabin KC and Chhongba Sherpa. The peak in the far distance immediately to their left is Thamserku. The large peak at the far left is Purmori (23,494 ft). The insignificant black and brown “hill” below Pumori is our major destination for this trek—Kala Patthar! You can zoom in and see the trails up it. About half way between Pumori and Nuptse at the head of the valley is Everest Base Camp.

As we approach Gorak Shep it is getting harder to breath. I think I am seeing three of Chhongba, but only one of Babu. Babu had left his pack in Gorak Shep and was uncomfortable with nothing to carry so I loaned him my pack.

Finally we reach Gorak Shep (16,942 ft), I’m checked into Room 120 of the Yeti Hotel, we have a too-long lunch for this impatient photographer, and the group eventually starts up Kala Patthar, heading to its 18,500 ft summit, at 12:30 pm. At the right of this pan you can see a father and son from Germany. I met them at the top and took their picture for them with my camera—their camera had died. Above them you can zoom in and see a few lodges in Gorak Shep, there are only a few anyway, and the trail we climbed to where this photo was taken at 1:08 pm. Thamserku and Tangtega are way down the valley on the right above the Germans. To their left you might be able to make out the top of the beautiful Ama Dablam behind and slightly to the left of Mehra.

The large peak in the center is Nuptse and the black triangle to its left is none other than Sagarmāthā or Chomolungma, which most people call Mount Everest (29,029 ft). The peak to the left of Everest is Everest West Shoulder. Down the West Shoulder to the left is the Lho La pass. Beyond the pass is Changtse (24,770 ft) in Tibet.

On the far left you can see the trail up KP and a few trekkers below Pumori.

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