Elevation: 5200m to 4427m
Total Ascent: -
Distance: 17km
Hiking duration: 6h 21min
Elevation: 4326m to 4708m
Total Ascent: 393m
Distance: 4.16km
Hiking duration: 2h 6min
Elevation: 4729m to 5106m
Total Ascent: 444m
Distance: 6.62km
Hiking duration: 3h 21min
Day 10: Gorak Shep to Dingboche
The next few days of travel were mostly uneventful. Not that they were not beautiful or that we didn't enjoy it. But the main goal of the next few days was to get from Gorak Shep to Chukkung, the starting point of Island Peak. We initially planned to get to Chukkung via Kong Ma La Pass, which is a very demanding journey, even more so than Cho La Pass, our guide informed us. But we were quite tired by this point. Considering that our main objective was to conquer Island Peak, we decided to go by the gentler approach which is to descend down to Dingboche, then travel up to Chukkung. This path is much less demanding and gives us a few days to recover our energy.
Another big reason we did not go via Kong Ma La was because of acclimatization. Although we had already spent many days in the 4500m-5100m range, on the 10th day morning, when we were supposed to ascend to Kalar Pathar peak, I experienced another round of altitude sickness. This time it was bad headaches. At around 3.30 am when we were supposed to wake up for Kalar Pathar, my headaches were acting up. I drank water to try to alleviate it, but it didn't help. Choosing not to summit a mountain is always hard especially when you are so close. But considering that I could still rest to fight the bigger fight later on, I chose to stay in and rest. At this point, I was quite demoralized. Many thoughts ran through my head. We had already acclimatized at almost 5000m altitude for 4 days and nights, why am I still having these symptoms?? Is my body just not meant to operate at such high altitudes?? these thoughts followed me all the way until the day of Island Peak Summit Attack.
So while the rest headed up to Kalar Pathar, I slept in to recover. Luckily, by the time they came back around 5 am or so, I felt better and could come out for breakfast. The rest were utterly destroyed by their short skirmish. Mostly due to the cold, they looked like they had just come back from a battle. Nevertheless, they still conquered it! It was lucky that I didn't go. After a short breakfast, we started to hike down to Dingboche.
The journey to Dingboche was quite chill as it was all descents. Initially, I still felt weak. But as we descended, I felt some of my strength return. On the way day down, we passed by the Everest Memorial, Chukpi Lhara. This was a site where those who had fallen on their way to Everest were remembered. The atmosphere here was solemn and quieter than the trail. We also passed by the village of Thukla where we had lunch and some cakes!
The rest of the way was just down and down all the way until we finally reached Dingboche.
Dingboche was huge! Much larger than the small towns we had been staying in so far. We walked pass many shops and lodges before reaching our own cozy place. We reached quite early and had the whole afternoon to rest and recover. when the sun was up, it felt great to just sit outside and soak in the warmth.
The rooms and toilets here were very clean and comfy! Perfect for a good rest. The altitude here was about 4400m, perfect for letting the body recuperate after being at 5000m for the past few days.
Day 11: Dingboche to Chukkung
The next day, we woke up feeling amazingly refreshed! I remember I got like a 10hr sleep that night. It was such a transformation especially after the tough encounter the previous morning, failing even to attempt Kalar Pathar. We got up and after breakfast, left Dingboche to the Last village before Island Peak, Chukkung!
Today was going to be an easy day for us. This kept our mood really good. It was a refreshing feeling, after 10 days of hiking, chasing after an objective, we finally had some respite from having a goal or anything to chase after. It was just us and fully enjoying the hike and nature around us and taking all the time in the world to do this short hike. I think that because we were met with delays from the start, which made our first few hiking days longer than they needed to be, we were constantly in a state of "we need to catch up". And now we finally get a bit of chill vibes and relaxation.
Even though we hiked slowly, it only took us like 2hrs to reach Chukkung village (4708m). So we reached really early at around 11 am. We had the whole day for us to rest and prepare ourselves for the literal mountain of a challenge ahead.
Chukkung was a really small but beautiful town. Its buildings and houses looked much more well built and maintained compared to the other towns we have been to. I think it is due to fewer hikers coming here, but enough hikers coming by willing to spend the money for longer expeditions. Perhaps also better general etiquette of those coming off of the main hiking trail.
The afternoon had barely begun and we were already at our stop for tonight. We had a happy morning hike, but inside we knew that the worst was yet to come. It felt like the calm before the storm. As we rested, I felt anxious, nervous about what was to come. Could I really do it? Could I summit Island Peak? I had failed to summit Mt Haba 4 years ago, failed to summit Rinjani and just yesterday morning failed to summit Kalar Pathar. At some point, I remember thinking to myself that If even after 12 days of acclimatization, spending over 7 days at altitudes above 4500m, and I am still unable to summit Island Peak because of my issues with altitude, then I guess climbing mountains isn't really for me. I'd probably not pursue this hobby much further. But I knew I had to try. After all, we had come so far and I was in the best shape ever to attempt this now.
After a good dinner, we slept for the night.
Day 12: Chukkung to Island Peak Base Camp
The next day we woke up early with anticipation! Today we will be hiring our gear for Island Peak! Island Peak is not really technical, but it is still quite an endeavour with fixed ropes up steep ice, snow and rocky sections that require jumaring up and rappelling down. There is also some glacial walking. Hence, we needed harnesses, carabiners, ropes, jumars and figure 8.
We spent the morning trying on the gear and sizes and getting accustomed to using them. This was the first time we used crampons so we had some stuff to learn. But the introduction to this equipment was kept simple and basic. Each of us rented:
one harness
two locking carabiners
one jumar (ascender)
one figure of 8 (descender)
a short rope
a La Sportiva mountaineering boot
a pair of crampons
That's all if my memory serves correctly. In total, it cost us about 100 USD to rent these for the 2 days.
After a final check of all the gear, we packed up our bags and started the trek to Island Peak Base Camp!
The trail there was not long. But the altitude here is high and we had to go slowly as we entered the 5000+m altitude again. We ascended from about 4700m to 5200m and took about 3.5 hrs on this trek.
Somehow by the time we were there, we were surprisingly tired. The altitude here is catching up to us, even though we had many days of acclimatization.
once there, we had some time to settle into our tents. the tents were surprisingly large and luxurious. it was one huge tent for 2 people and there was lots of space in them to move around and I could even stand up completely in it!
After some time, Thile brought us out again to show us how to use the equipment we hired. Mainly how to rig up the Jumar and Descender. He showed us the proper techniques for securely tying a jumar and ascending using it. Also how to use a descender properly. And also how to transfer from one fixed rope to another in a safe manner.
We had the whole afternoon to rest and enjoy ourselves or continue to practice our technique. It was a relaxing day, but the atmosphere felt tense more than ever. The time was finally here. I had been aiming to summit this mountain perhaps since 4 years ago when I started searching and researching for the routes and how to get here, what would I need how long it would take. I was finally here only hours away from attempting to summit it. Yet I still did not know if I could actually do it, given my pre-disposition to altitude sickness. It felt like the brief moments before a huge exam.
We hung around the cold stoney campsite for a little while more and soon we were called in for dinner.
Dinner was one of the best we had so far. Hot tomato paste pasta with a side of toast. I had a second serving of this to cheer myself up and for the energy I would be needing tomorrow. we had dinner with other climbers that would be going up the next day and there were some really fit and experienced people from all over the world. From France, Australia, UK and other places as well. As the night took over and the cold set in, we dispersed back to our tents to sleep for the night.
All that could be done, has been done. 12 days acclimatizing, 7 days at an altitude above 4500m and the past 2 nights resting and recovering from our journey. We were in the best form that we could be. It was now or never. And with that thought, I went to sleep.
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