• Day 17: Morning hike up to Gokyo Ri 5360m

We were up fairly early and opted to have some breakfast before heading up to the peak. Most trekkers leave for the views before sunrise and enjoy the sun rising up over Everest. We had heard it can get pretty packed up on the top and so we wanted to leave it a little later so we would get up there and have the views all to ourselves.

We took it very slowly and we were all feeling the altitude slowing our bodies down. We passed many trekkers making their way down from the sunrise, some of which had started out at 4am and exclaimed that it was freezing for the most part. Even though most days the clouds close in as the afternoon arrives it’s usually pretty clear in the mornings and we were not disappointed by any means when we woke up to bright sunshine and clear views.

There are many paths all intertwining with each other as you start heading up the so called hill that is Gokyo-Ri. We took around 2 hours to reach the top and as we were on our way up we kept looking out across the lakes, the glaciers and to Everest. When we reached the top we felt emotional, this was the ultimate part of the trek, the highest we would go and we’d taken 17 days to get here. Before long the 3 French boys whom we’d travelled with on the bus out of Kathmandu had arrived to join us in our little moment of triumph. They had been to Everest Base Camp, trekked up to Kala-Pattar, crossed over the Chu-La pass and were now on Gokyo-Ri, all of this they’d done in the exact same time as we’d taken to get here! They were mountain boys though after all and we felt like we’d achieved what we wanted to. Still it was very ironic for us to be up so high with those guys and we timed it right, for over an hour we were on the top enjoying our time with no other trekkers or groups around. For a little while we weren’t sure which one was Everest and felt stupid when it was confirmed by the French lads as we’d been looking at peaks much further away!

We were a little trigger happy as the prayer flags were blowing all around us and we were just in awe of the views out across to Everest (In the below image Everest is the highest peak with very little snow). The four of us tied our prayer scarfs onto the line of hundreds that were already there and relished the moment. We even took time to enjoy a mars/snickers break.

It took us an hour to get back down to the lodge where we chilled out for the rest of the day. We were happy to be in Gokyo at our little lodge with our quirky lady owner entertaining us! Later on we were joined by a loud group of American, Brazillian trekkers with their highly accomplished guides and porters (their head guide had summited Everest 12 times). They spoiled our little haven but we were amused by their bragging stories of guru’s, buddhism and the Vietnam War.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)