LOBUCHE TO GORAKSHEP KEY STATS
- Starting Point: Lobuche (4,910m/16,100ft)
- Finishing Point: Gorakshep (5,160m/16,929ft)
- Distance: 4.5km/2.8mi
- Trekking Time: 1.5 Hours
- Accommodation: Himalayan Guest House
LOBUCHE TO GORAKSHEP EVEREST BASE CAMP TREK DIARY
It’s day ten of our trek to Everest Base Camp and the sounds of yak bells were clanging along the trails and reverberating through the thin walls of the teahouse. The sun wasn’t even up but it was clear that the Everest super highway was open for business. Every trekker and expeditioner that sets their eyes on Everest Base Camp or the summit crosses the next stretch on the trails – Lobuche (4,910m) to Gorakshep (5,160m).
While the stretch from Lobuche to Gorakshep tends to take two to three hours you will gain almost 300 meters in altitude. It’s points like this in the trek that every step feels like a lot of work. If you have done any high altitude trekking before, then you won’t be surprised how much the lower oxygen levels impacts your ability to get where you are going. Although we paced ourselves, we still smashed the standard times that it takes to get there and made it in an hour and a half.
The trail from Lobuche to Gorakshep follows the left side of the Khumbu Valley and makes it’s way across multiple steep moraines. As is always the case, the surrounding mountains continued to hide behind each other as others begin to reveal themselves. If you are a mountain and Mother Nature lover – you will never tire of these views.
Before finally making it to Gorakshep, we crossed over the Changri Nup and Changri Shar Glacier that originates from the surrounding peaks of Pumori (7,161m) Changri (6,027m) and Chumbu (6,859m).
Arrival in Gorakshep was like any other stop so far. We were in a single file line of tourists, yaks and Sherpas whom were all making the same journey. The experience was night and day compared to how we experienced the majority of our off the beaten path trek thus far. After a bit of a shuffle of teahouses, we checked into the basic Himalayan Guest House, had lunch and watched as the flurry of people buzzed up and down the trails.
Gorakshep is like the Himalayan version of Grand Central Station. People are either using it as a brief resting spot before trekking straight to Everest Base Camp or overnighting here either because they will set off of Everest Base Camp the following the day. Some have just returned from Base Camp and are doing the reverse. Yaks are coming and going with tons of gear and supplies for expedition preparations. Helicopters are zipping in and out – some carrying scenic flight passengers who prefer to see the region by air, while others are being emergency airlifted out of the areas and back down to lower altitude.
Over one cup of tea we saw three different people being airlifted by helicopter back to Kathmandu. It goes without saying that the effects of altitude can be fatal. The only way to handle the serious side effects before anything bad happens is to get down to lower altitudes. While most travel companies will require this before setting off on an Everest adventure with them, I heavily advise taking out travel insurance that covers emergency air evacuations. While I think some may be using it as an easy ticket to not have to trek multiple days to get back down, it can be the difference between life and death if you are ill.
We took the Three Pass Trail from the start that had us experiencing much higher altitudes much sooner in our trek than the standard tourist EBC trek. While tough, this allowed us to properly acclimatize so we weren’t experiencing any of the common side effects of altitude sickness.
One of the common side trips from Lobuche to Gorakshep is trekking to the top of Kala Patthar (5,643m). Nestled on the side of Pumori, Kala Patthar’s tough trail offers those that attempt it great views of Everest and the surrounding mountain range. Reaching the summit tends be the highest point that someone can get to on a standard trek to Everest Base Camp. If combined with another peak or Everest herself, then this is just a bit of an acclimatization work out. Kala Patthar is that unassuming hill pictured below.
A lot of trekkers leave Lobuche well before sunrise and climb Kala Patthar to catch the early rays over Everest. Since the weather was meant to be clear, we agreed that we would head up after lunch. We crossed the dried up lake and headed towards the famous trailhead.
There are a couple different options trekkers have to get to the top – a direct, but steep route that requires a bit of scrambling. The other makes its way to the lower ridge between Kala Patthar and the Pumori. If you choose the latter, there is an additional path that will take you to the true Kala Patthar summit if you find the extra energy. We chose the direct, more difficult route.
The path didn’t waste anytime getting steep and was quite relentless. From the trailhead Everest is nowhere to be seen. As you continue to make your way up Kala Patthar, the peak begins to reveal itself.
It really is quite an amazing experience – you are rewarded with better views as you continue to oush yourself up the trail towards the summit – the trail that gets even tougher when you have to start scrambling over the large boulders.
Unfortunately for us, the weather gods were not on our side this day. As we were half way up the clouds decided to roll in and take our views of Everest away. The sun was gone, the winds were coming in and the snow began to flurry. Temperatures were dropping substantially, but we were committed to reaching the top – view or not. We powered through and made it to the top.
From the top you are able to see the South West Face of Everest, the Western Cwm, which is the valley above the dangerous Khumbu Ice Fall and also one of the hottest places on earth due to lack of wind and the reflection of the sun on the ice, South Col (7,906m) which is usually the last camp before summiting Everest and the start of the “death-zone” and Lhotse the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516m.
Kala Patthar also gives you great views of the Khumbu Ice Fall and Khumbu Glacier that heads down the valley in the direction that we came. In the distance you can also see the peaks near Namche Bazaar that were visible in our first couple of days of the trek, including Kang Taiga (6,782m) and Thamserku (6,623m).
Looking out into the distance, I couldn’t help but think that the surrounding area looked out of this world. Moody hues of grey and white all around as clouds continued to roll in over ominous peaks and down into the debris covered Khumbu Glacier. It’s what I imagine the moon would look like.
Having enjoyed the views for some time and starting to feel the cold deep in our bones, we decided to make our descent back to Gorakshep. As we navigated over the boulders and back down the path, I looked onward to the base of the Khumbu Icefall. The widely dispersed orange and yellow tents were getting closer in view, which only meant one thing – Everest Base Camp was literally just around the corner. The journey from Lobuche to Gorakshep took us one step closer to making another dream a reality.
LOBUCHE TO GORAKSHEP VIDEO
LOOKING FOR NITTY GRITTY DETAILS?
Check out the day as recorded by Stava. See the trails taken, overall elevation gains, trekking times and how fast (or slow) we made it from Point A to Point B.
TRAVEL PLANNING ESSENTIALS: NEPAL
Flights
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Accommodation
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Travel Insurance
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Hiking up to the Everest Base Camp is in my bucket list. I’m slowly preparing for it by hiking in various mountains in Korea but I’m sure I need more practice. For the meantime, thank you for sharing your experience and photos on your way there.
That’s awesome! Keep up the training and get planning. EBC isn’t as tough as you think and is an awesome experience. I haven’t been to Korea – would love to explore it and hit the trails. Best of luck on your EBC adventure. Be sure to check out the full series for all the planning tips and tricks. 🙂
Great series! Enjoying the adventure. Many thanks for the chance to tag along in your back pocket!
Thanks for tagging along. 🙂
The hard climb sure is worth it when you’re rewarded with these views. I’d have to train myself further if i ever want to see the glory of the Himalayas and Everest. Great post!
This has definitely been on my list of places to hike! Thanks so much for the amazing tips and your pictures are inspiring me to go!
It sounds like you guys were not afraid to push yourselves and do more than the average tourist there. Glad you didn’t have trouble with altitude sickness. I hear that sucks a lot. Good tips on what travel insurance to buy for a trip like this. I would definitely want a helicopter airlift to be covered if I broke my ankle or something.
Thanks! Altitude sickness is no joke and something trekkers to the region should take into consideration when heading this way. Allowing the body to acclimatise properly is key to an enjoyable adventure for sure. Re: the airlift, I had some mates who made it to the top and decided to use the airlift to get down just because they wanted to chop the trekking down and have a scenic flight. lol
The views are absolutely amazing. I don’t think I would ever be ready for an adventure like this, though. I would be one of those on the helicopter enjoying the view from above. Respect for making this challenge!
The view is just as amazing from the chopper, so you are bound to enjoy it if you head out to the Himalayas. 🙂
Great post Dominic! The pictures are breathtaking – I can really Imagine walking up there in almost complete silence, just hearing the wind and your own footsteps. Till now I’ve only been in the Alps and done the Quilotoa Loop in Ecuador – no altitude sickness signs (yet tried coca tea out of curiosity). Next on my list is Kilimanjaro next year which I’ll have to prolly climb on my own, as my gf isn’t into that… Lets see… depending on how well this will go, I can imagine to try the Basecamp hike in 2 years or so – this looks like an awesome experience 🙂
Many thanks Mario. It really is an experience that I will never forget and one that I hope you get the opportunity to have for yourself. The views are even better in person. Looks like you have some cool treks under your belt. Kilimanjaro is a fantastic trek as well. I did the Machame route a few years ago – do you know which route you will take? At 5,980m the summit there is actually higher than reaching Base Camp. I bet if you add a safari in the Serengeti and a beach trip to Zanzibar to your Kilimanjaro trek, that you could convince your girlfriend to join you. 🙂
I’m reading this post like an adventure novel – since I wouldn’t be even part of the what you call ‘standard tourist EBC trek’. Already in Peru I was hardly able to function. Plus I’m afraid of heights, hence I couldn’t even go there with these people on the heli… And if the ‘weather gods’ were in a bad mood, I’d freak out right away. So I admire you for doing this trek, I’m a bit jealous for this certainly very satisfying experience – and I thank you for sharing it with people…like me.
Thank you for the kind words. I think you would be surprised how achievable the trek is. Just need to give your body time to acclimatize properly and it will naturally adjust. I love Peru – were you travelling through the Andes and trekking there?
I can’t imagine hiking for so long, with the added pressure of altitude sickness, but I am jealous of the views you had! I’d probably be one of those people on a helicopter taking the quick route to just have a look, but I bet it feels so much more incredible to have climbed up there first!
15 days of trekking is probably the longest I have trekked in one go. It was a lot – cold weather, no showers, etc. Rob was pretty much over it after we arrived at Base Camp lol. Full transparency – we decided after our trek was over to retrace our route via a chopper so we could see the madness we just went through from a different perspective. If you get there someday – take the flight. It’s amazing.
Haha yeah doesn’t sound ideal! That’s good to know though, at least it wouldn’t be a wasted trip!
What a lovely read, I almost felt like I was climbing there with you, though I know I don’t have the fitness levels to be able to do so! I have been in low oxygen altitudes before and as you say, really noticed how much harder ever step is than usual! I’m amazed by the photo of the loooong line of trekkers at Gorakshep, I had no idea so many people are doing this every single day that there would be a queue of people!!! Beautiful photos, by the way!
Thanks for the kind words. I think you would be surprised at how well thebody can adapt if you accilimatise properly. There were people on the trails of all ages and sizes – so I wouldn’t get too caught up in fitness levels. General fitness levels suffice – just bring your mental A-Game. 🙂