The Kongma La

Today we planned to cross the Kongma La which is a high mountain pass between the Imja and Khumbu valleys. The Kongma La is a challenging single-day trek or a relaxed but potentially chilly overnight. High on the ridge near a chain of lakes is an area which is frequently camped with stunning morning views. We found a tent in the back of the Aid Post and borrowed sleeping pads from Chris and Penny. We also got some bread, cheese, boiled eggs, and chapati from Jeet to supplement our dwindling food from home (mainly trail mixes of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit).

When we were at base camp last week, teams were looking at weather reports for May and had identified today and tomorrow as ideal summit days, and as recently as yesterday had heard from up the valley that Karina and Scott's team was still pushing to summit tomorrow (May 17). It seemed like a good Kongma La window as well. This morning there were low clouds which is unusual for the mornings here in Pheriche which are usually clear with low winds making morning hiking ideal. We were hopeful that the clouds would burn off and reveal blue skies. We packed our bags and headed out shortly after breakfast this morning, but just as we left, it began to rain.

By the time we reached the top of Dingboche Ridge, we could no longer see more than 20 feet in front of us, and we were getting wetter by the minute. We probably should have admitted defeat and turned around for the relative safety of the Aid Post. However, stubbornly we pressed on. After descending to Dingboche, we still could not even see the end of town much less the pass we were aiming to climb.

We decided to stop for some tea and see if it cleared by 10:30-11 or so figuring we could still make it to the campsite by dark. However, it really needed to stop raining for this plan to work as we had brilliantly left the rainfly to the tent back in the clinic as it had yet to rain here as of yesterday. Even if it had snowed, the snow here is so dry it is basically little pellets that bounce and we figured it would not soak the tent. Just our luck. In the meantime, we decided this would be an ideal place to write our wedding vows which we have been meaning to do since we arrived and had not yet finalized.

We finished up around 11am and dark clouds still covered the area over the Kongma La, so we decided to retreat to Pheriche. Chris and Penny had finalized their house buying and we have only a few more days so we bought a few beers and headed back over. In addition, we got a couple of additional Nalgene bottles for the seabuckthorn juice to travel back home.

Just as we crested the ridge again, the sun broke through in patches. We decided to stop for a picnic lunch and beer on a rock and soak up what little sun came through. We finally descended back to Pheriche and were somewhat satiated by the continued black cloud over the pass. Chris, Penny, Arjun, and Jeet greeted us on our return with good news! With the poor weather and low clouds, helicopters had not been able to fly above Pheriche for several hours. Arjun had offered a stranded pilot some tea and arranged for the backpack with the computers, money, and blood tubes to go back to Kathmandu. Success!

In completely unrelated news, the tea houses are nearly empty and some have even closed for the season. We had zero patients today and so we feel more justified in closing and leaving. However, there is a group of gray-haired, overweight Americans which are in the Himalayan Hotel tonight which just came back from the HRA Aid Post with a whole stack of our t-shirts including several from the "Half price - Fell off a Yak" stack (a bit muddy and al XXL). Another success!