Nepal Day 10 - Dingboche to Chukhung and acclimitization hike

 5.65 miles, 1891’ climbing

Highest elevation: 16,059’

Chukhung Resort & Restaurant, Nepal: 15486’

It was cold overnight, but as soon as the sun rose, the day warmed up. After breakfast, we headed up the valley for Chukhung, passing some yaks on the way. A dog followed us part of the way. A lot of the dogs  are cute and look friendly, but there are problems with the dogs, so we’ve left them alone, hard to do with a dog as cute as this one that laid and waited for us every time we paused.

The sun was out and the sky was clear. We had more views of big mountains (Lohtse and Makalu) and glaciers and snowy ridges in every direction. The walk to Chukhung was fairly short. We saw a few porters and locals, but no other trekkers until we arrived. It was very serene.

After lunch we climbed a nearby hill to help with acclimitization. The snow was slushy and a little slippery in places. We could smell the sunpati, a fragrant shrub that is burned for incense and has a spicy smell similar to a mild cinnamon. As we descended, the wind was picking up and it was getting cold. This is the weather pattern we’ve had for the past couple of days: sunny, still mornings, clouds forming mid-to-late morning, breezy and colder in the afternoons. We relaxed in our cold room for a couple of hours. There’s a thin layer of ice on top of the blue plastic water barrels in the indoor, shared powder rooms. It’s cold here!

We met other trekkers already at the lodge or arriving, from the UK, Czechia, Korea. It’s a friendly international scene with everyone, including guides and porters, taking seats around the common room perimeter or pulling a chair up to the central stove. The WiFi is good here, and we used Google Translate a little to communicate with the Koreans. 

We heard that groups have gone over the Kongma La pass today and yesterday without issue. We intend to go over the pass tomorrow so it was good news. It can have deep snow or ice requiring ropes or a change of plans, but now it is in good condition. Tomorrow we will rise early for our long day over Kongma La to Lobuche. A “la” is a pass, and Kongma La is the first of 3 passes we planned for our itinerary, though plans are subject to change.