The group left Namche this morning following the path towards Everest Basecamp and then took a left hiking over Mong La. The terrain in this region is steep, carved by many years of melting glaciers. Climbers and trekkers navigate up and down mountains by crossing a pass called a La in Nepal. We will get plenty of experience ascending and descending passes on this trek.
Our journey into the Gokyo valley brought us through a beautiful rohododendron forest on our way down to the river. These flowering trees grow above 3000 meters in Nepal and create an enchanting landscape especially when set against a backdrop of snow covered peaks. It seemed like we were on the set of the Hobbit, winding through a mystical landscape.
Thursday’s trek ended in Dole where we spent the night looking forward to an easy day on Friday hiking into Machermo. After Machermo, we’ll spend the next 4-5 days without good cell phone coverage as we work our way up through the Gokyo region.