Everest day 10 – Gorak Shep to Pheriche

We didn’t get woken at 5am for our early start to Kala Patthar for sunrise over Everest so I presumed the weather was bad. I opened the curtain to view a winter wonderland. Overnight a couple of inches of snow had fallen. Thankfully this made thinks a little warmer that the previous evening.

I took a wander into the bizarre wilderness of snow on beach like sand. I felt like I was in another world. The boys made the most of the snow by starting a mass snowball fight.

With no possibility of climbing Kala Patthar we set off back down the trail. It took us a couple of windswept and dull hours to reach Labouche. If felt worse now that at higher altitude but soon recovered over our tea break.

The trail back to the monuments was easy going. The big descent to Douglha was far easier coming down. I made good use of poles over the rubble and boulders. At one point we were being chased down by a heard of yak. It’s incredible to see beasts of that size move down rough terrain with ease.

We stopped off for lunch but a few people had to carry on as they weren’t feeling good. The final stretch wasn’t far so I took my time walking through the valley. I soaked up the sun and watched the clouds dance around the peak of Ama Dablam.