Pheriche to Lobuche

Another freezing cold start to our day. We started hiking early. We had a lot of ground to cover and it was cold. We were also going to be hiking uphill all day long. Our destination was Lobuche which a six mile trek and sits at just over 16,000 ft elevation. The day would be long because the going was going to be slow. The air is now thin and we were hiking a lot slower because our guide did not want us to have our heart rates very high for long periods of time. Hiking through the Pheriche valley was like hiking in a frozen wasteland. The river was almost frozen solid everywhere we hiked.

 Don't be fooled by the blue skies it was cold.

 In some places there wasn't really any room for us to hike without being on the frozen river.

 Looking back to pheriche. It was only slightly uphill but we felt like we were working hard.

 We then ascended up a steeper ridge before dropping down to the river and getting to our lunch spot.

 My stomach was still bothering me a little so I ate my American snacks and drank tang and Fanta soda for lunch. Calories are calories when you need energy for hiking so I was happy my body was ok eating and drinking something.

 After lunch we started our climb up a very steep pass. It takes a lot of effort and we are moving SLOW. It doesn't seem to phase the Yak.

 Getting to the top if the pass!

 At the top of the pass there is a memorial for a number of hikers that have lost their lives trying to summit Everest. It was very interesting to see. The deceased are from all over the world. There are so many memorials and I know there are many hikers/sherpas not represented here.

The only one I recognized was Scott Fisher

More mountain views while we let our hearts recover.

 We continue to hike through another frozen valley. It is cold and windy and harder to breathe. You just kind of hike along at your own slow pace. The views are amazing.

 When we finally make it to Lobuche we are all pretty tired. We drop our bags in our rooms, use the very frozen restrooms and then head to the common area in the tea house. Now that we are higher up there are less accommodations that stay open for winter. This means there are a lot more people staying in our tea house. We get some hot drinks and relax.

Then are guide breaks the bad news. We still need to do another acclimatization hike! Say WHAT???? This day I was so tired. Probably because I wasn't eating very well and so I did not want to hike anymore. It sounded awful. I was finally warm and did not want to head back out.

You don't always get what you want in life right!? We headed out on our hike. Once we were hiking I was fine. We hiked up to a ridge where you could see the Khumba Glacier.

Looking down on Lobuche

Tring to enjoy the views even though it's cold

 The Khumba glacier is HUGE. It is to the right of my head in the picture below. It is kind of confusing because it is covered by dirt in a lot of spots.

Another team picture.

 After the picture we head back to our tea house for the night. We watch the sunset on the Himalayas from inside.

Now that we are above 16,000ft it is so cold. The bathrooms, bedrooms and hallways are FREEZING.

 Luckily this tea house kept the common room pretty warm. It helped that there were so many people in it in the evening.

 This day was the first time I really felt the altitude while hiking. My appetite was still off, probably because of the elevation. While hiking I was wearing lots of clothes but as long as I was moving I was warm enough. We had the most amazing views all day long. Tonight at our health check it's the first time my oxygen has dropped below 90% on the trip. My body is responding well to the demands being placed on it. I ended up not sleeping great this night. I was warm enough but with my head in the bag I felt like I was suffocating. I think that was because of the lack of oxygen. It was freaking me out.