September 30, 2019 from our Itinerary: Climb Kala Pattar (5545m) for classic mountain views of Everest; descend to Pheriche. We have another hard day as we climb steeply above Gorak Shep to the small peak of Kala Pattar, 'Black Rock', at 5,545m from where we can look down over the base camps of the various Everest expeditions. This climb affords a magnificent view of the Khumbu Glacier and above all a close-up view of the world's highest mountain. We return to Gorak Shep and retrace our steps to Lobuje for lunch and then continue on down the valley to the lower altitude of Pheriche for the night. Please note that the walk to Everest Base Camp and the climb of Kala Pattar are both very tough. Sometimes we may change the order in which we tackle the walks depending on the group's ability and weather conditions). Tea-house sleeping altitude was 4,243m. Total hiking distance today: 9 miles with an altitude loss of 940 meters.
Our first day of nice weather at altitude. I took a number of photos in the morning before we left. None of these are photos of Everest because we couldn't see it from this tea house.
This is a short video of a med-evac. I'm not sure it was Julian's, but it does appear as though there were many on that day as there's a line. At the time I didn't know Julian was evacuated.
I was a bit disappointed in that there were a lot of helicopters flying down that valley and they were noisy. I missed the quiet we had earlier in the trip. I guess with the good weather more helicopters were able to fly - good for people who needed to be evacuated. They also flew people up to the base camp as the "lazy person" option to hiking up.
Hiking is so much easier as we start our descent.
Along the way we were able to see the glacier again, and this time it was much clearer and most of our walk is down the glacial valley.
We went back through the cemetery which was much less mysterious in the broad daylight. This is a memorial for the Russians who died trying to ascend Everest.
On the other side of the cemetery we stop for a group shot amongst some lovely scenery
Lunch was at the cafe down from the cemetery - not much to report there.
We found some pretty and interesting flowers (and an interesting rock) along the way.
And we saw some more yak trains.
And a pony train
Now we're following the signs away from EBC and are taking a much easier way down than we took going up. The way is much less steep.
Here is our tea house in Pheriche, a shot of the restaurant/main room and of the room
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