Day 6

Pangboche to Dingboche

Once the trail crosses Pangboche it heads above the tree line and the terrain becomes more desolate, windswept, and glacial. The trail follows the valley of the Imja Khola all the way to Dingboche. The Imja Khola originates in the Imja Tsho - a glacial lake that is at risk of flooding due to global warming. There were boards in most villages advising people on what to do in case of a GLOF - glacial lake outburst flood.

Heading out of Pangboche along the valley of the Imja Khola. Lhotse in the background.

A painting of the Guru Rinpoche along the trail

First views of glacial moraines. The glaciers have long since retreated

The trail splits in two at the confluence of the Imja Khola and the Chola Khola. One branch leads to Dingboche while the other leads to Pheriche. We could have chosen to go to either village for the night but Mingma suggested that we head to Dingboche since Pheriche is very windy. I had also read that Dingboche gets much more sunshine and is more comfortable despite being a little higher than Pheriche.

We took the trail to Dingboche

The trail to Dingboche takes a clear turn towards the east and thus goes around Ama Dablam. The familiar Mingbo face of the peak is hidden from view and it is almost unrecognizable from Dingboche.

Ama Dablam from Dingboche. The previous views were from the right. The peak on the right of the image is just the end of one of the ridges that connect to the main peak.

First views of Dingboche. It sits wedged between the moraine of the Imja Khola and a peak called Nangkartshang.

We checked into the comfortable Everest View Resort in Dingboche and quickly headed for the shower. As might be expected, hot showers are quite a luxury in these parts and typically cost NPR 500 per person. They consist of a gas-powered in-line water heater which just about gets the job done.

After lunch we decided to explore the Nangkartshang hermitage that is wedged into a cleft on the hill high above Dingboche. Not wanting to take the longer trail, we decided to strike out directly uphill. It was steep but not too difficult.

How about this in the middle of Dingboche!

Every village seems to have one of these

Climbing up to the hermitage above Dingboche

First views of Kangtega (6782m). The word means saddle and it's clear from this angle why this is appropriate.

Thamserku on the right.

The hermitage. Unfortunately, it was deserted.

We spent the afternoon in the lodge which had become quite full. For good reason too - the lodge was quite comfortable and had excellent food. We had been developing a theory that lodges that appeared to have women at the helm were much nicer - the one at Namche and this one at Dingboche fit this description.

We met with a couple from India that was having some mountain sickness issues, two gentlemen from New Zealand, and of course the serious woman from Krakow. She was going to climb Lobuche East, a 6145m peak that is considered one of the 'trekking' peaks in this area. This means you can quickly set up a climb with a trekking agency who will arrange for a porter, a guide, some training, and help in reaching the summit. There are other trekking peaks as well ahead of Dingboche such as Island Peak and we saw signs at our next stop for climbs to Pokhalde for $300.

As usual, we had dinner around 6.30 PM and turned in around 7.30. Of course this meant that we were waking up on most days at 4 AM or earlier but there was often an advantage to this in that the weather in the early morning was generally good and offered clear views of the peaks around.