Trekking Sagarmatha National Park (Day 5-6)

On the fifth day, my guide and porter and myself trekked to Dingboche. The hike would see us climb another 600m in altitude to reach 4410m/14468'. The oxygen level at this altitude is almost half of what it is at sea level (12% vs about 20.9%). We are now fully above the tree line and if it were not for the dry shrubs dotting the landscape it would feel like we were on another planet. The one nice thing about today's ascent is that even though we climbed the equivalent of another 114 flights over 7 miles is that is was mostly a nice gradual incline rather that steep ups and downs like the prior day's hike.



On the way up this morning, we spotted our first mountain goats (we would see more on the way down also). I should say my guide spotted the goats. I would have likely missed them without his keen eyes and ears. One of the challenges of trekking is you really have to always be looking where you are going and paying attention to the many hazards along the path. Those hazards can be as benign but unpleasant as stepping in fresh yak dung, to more serious risks like slipping on loose gravel on the steep inclines or descents, to twisting your ankle on the rocky and uneven trails, or the very real chance of stepping right off the edge of the trail to possibly dire consequences.


I was impressed by our lodge in Dingboche and especially liked the eco friendly way they used solar energy to boil their water.



Up until this point I'd been doing really well with little to no side effects from the high altitude beyond the insomnia (which as discussed was due to a number of factors). However, on this night I would experience the worst headache of my life. Fortunately, by morning, it had mostly subsided but by this point, I'd gone 5 nights with two hours or less of sleep and I couldn't see continuing that trend while risking more serious altitude sickness in an effort to reach Everest Base Camp at 5365m or just over 17,600'. My guide did convince me to try the acclimation climb up to Chhukung at 4730m/15518' which I was glad I did even though I felt a bit of nausea when we got there.



Afterwards we agreed to begin our descent down to Sangboche which was just under 4000m/13000' rather than spend another night in Dingboche and fortunately my headache largely did not return beyond a minor ache. While there is a small part of me that was disappointed not to have been able to continue on to Everest Base Camp, I feel like I made the right choice for my health and well being and truth be told, I was apprehensive about this trek from the time I signed up for it (due both to the extreme altitude as well as the duration of 11 days) and probably should have chosen a less intense trek from the beginning. None the less, I've truly enjoyed coming as far as I have, and seeing this amazing landscape even with the miserable nights.
Speaking of nights, I was actually able to get more sleep in Sangboche, that is until I was awoken at about 3:00 am by what at first sounded like someone walking on a gravel path outside my window. However, as I focused in more on the sound, I realized it was coming from within my room! It sounded like someone was going through my stuff, but it was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. I tried to reach for my flashlight but couldn't find it (the thought occurred to me at this point that maybe my intruders had moved it), so I had no choice but to largely get out of bed and hit the light switch. Once the light was on I quickly scanned the room and saw no one. However, a moment later I heard some movement coming from one of my bags. I wasn't sure which one and then the rustling sound stopped for a moment. When the sound returned, I could finally tell it was coming from my backpack. Of course, I knew it was some sort of animal at this point, but the only way to find out for sure was to carefully open up my bag just enough to shine my flashlight inside and hope whatever it was didn't jump out at me. I opened the flap just enough to see a couple of mice trying to get into a half eaten pack of coconut crisps (cookies) that my guide had purchased for the three of us at Chhukung. This is a type of processed food I normally don't eat, so when my guide gave them to me I just had a few and then put them in my backpack. Leaving open packs of food in my pack is also something I normally don't do for obvious reasons. At any rate, I now had to figure out how to get rid of my uninvited guest. I grabbed my pack toward the bottom and turned it over and the mice and the coconut crisp package came tumbling out. The mice scurried away, but even after I put the crisp in a sealed ziplock bag, the mice kept coming back, so I left the light on for the rest of the night. I thought about just putting the crisps outside my door and letting the mice have at it, but decided I shouldn't feed or encourage them. So much for a good nights sleep.


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