Leaving Pheriche, we were heading into our penultimate leg of the ascent - and had to make some adjustments. The rain a few days back dumped a bunch of snow up high, and blocked the Cholo Pass. So instead of going up to Gokyo peak, and then over to Goruk Shep, we decided to just make a straight up and back trip up to EBC.
No problem - that made sense. However, I did get a little irritated at the next change. One of our group was feeling pretty bad from altitude sickness, which is understandable - it tends to be more of a genetic thing than a mark of any lack of fitness.
However, the #1 tip for preventing AMS is water, water, water... and drinking yet more water. She didn't follow this advice, as that would mean a bunch of pee stops in the bushes. Fair enough, but she now had to pay the price, with a really bad headache and nausea.
Because of this, Dawa decided to have us stop after a mere 2 hour hike to Tugla, wasting an extra day. We passed through the flat valley...
...and then up a slope and across a strong river via a not-so strong plywood bridge. Yikes.
It did work out for the best though - at Tugla we ended up meeting Stacy and John, two Yanks (NY/London and Hawaii) who were a lot of fun to hang out with. They joined us on our (you guessed it) afternoon acclimatization hike up the last slope. In yet another sign of a small world, she lives in South Kensington of all places and it was a bit odd, to be talking to Stacy about our lives in London, favorite pubs, etc. thousands of miles away.
The evening was pretty fun, especially where we tried to teach Yahtzee and Liar's Dice in basic English to some porters and guides. One porter in particular didn't really get the concept - and would continually up the bids into the realm of the ridiculous. He was roundly heckled by his buddies though - and it was still smiles all around.
The next day was an easy hike back up the last major climb - taking us past a number of rock memorials for lost climbers, including Scott Fisher (famous from Krakauer's Into Thin Air):
The Sherpas made their own row of memorials along a ridge - one for each Sherpa lost going up Everest. As you can see, there's enough of them. Sure, the mortality rate has decreased in recent years, but anywhere from 10% up to the 90's to 3% of all climbers in 2006 end up dying each year. Nuts.
Again, in the afternoon, we took another acclimitization hike - with John and I climbing a ridge to get our first view of EBC far in the distance, as well as a large glacier that seemed poised, half-ready to just crash down on the rest of the valley.
We went to bed super excited - because after such a long trek, tomorrow would be the day for our attempt at Everest Base Camp... weather, fate, and sore muscles permitting...
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