Nepal 2019 - Day 13 - Chukung to Lobuche via Kongma La Pt 1

 Chukung to Lobuche 

It wasn't the best of sleep as I was thinking of the last 24 hours and also about the huge task ahead. Had my breakfast at 05.30 and headed out at 06.00. Just about on time and now it was time to find the trail in the morning haze. The lodge owner informed me to follow the initial Chukung Ri trail before the diversion would be visible. The first hour of the trail included something which I had experienced earlier, some rock scrambling, steep climbs, switchbacks before the path opened up to a broad alpine meadow. Further along, the trail continued to wind it's way up very steep rocky switchbacks. I was confident that the pass was on top of this misery as I trudged my way slowly up the brutal incline. My ankle pain was again flared up with an additional dose of some knee pain for a bonus. Much to my anguish, the steep switchback did not top out at the pass. The trail dropped down and crossed over a small slope to a marshy bog area. I walked around the far side of the water, bounced over the mushy pockets of earth protruding from the water. The bog rejoined the actual trail on the other side.

I finally saw the top of the pass but the base of the climb was yet to surface. The trail was steep and the amount of effort required to put each step forward seemed incredibly disproportionate to the amount of ground gained. A sense of hopelessness was quite common on this trail. After nearly 4 hours or so of hiking, I reached the large, half frozen lake directly below the pass. The pass that appeared was an incredibly huge vertical distance above from where I was.

The pass marked by prayer flags high above the lake, perched at top of a menacingly steep climb through spiky black rocks..basically, it sat atop Castle Grayskull. At first, it was unclear which way the trail led. I began to began steeply towards the pass and my pace turned into more like 1 step for every 2 breaths. The top was tantalizing close yet impossibly far, I tried to focus on only my next step. The half frozen lake popped loudly as the ice shifted and expanded in the strong afternoon sun. It definitely helped as a distraction from the pain and exhaustion. Above me, I saw other folks crossing the pass which gave a big boost to one's confidence. As they celebrated, I clumsily dragged my feet as I scrambled through the boulder field. Inch by inch,  made my closer to the top with a lot of breaks until finally, I was there, on top of Kongma La!

The highest of the passes on the 3 high passes, Kongma La sat at 5535m. The pass was a hive of activity with people coming crossing over from the opposite side reveling in their achievement, capturing their moments. I did the same, donning my down jacket, enjoying my Snickers in -5C temperature. From the top of the pass, Lobuche was visible in the not so far distance and didn't even look that far. I was so WRONG!! What transpired next was probably the best day of my life.