This high altitude alpine trek explores the heart of the Sherpa homeland, visiting Namche Bazaar and Thyangboche before ascending the stunning Gokyo Valley to the glacial lakes under the great peak of Cho Oyu (8153m). Here we can climb Gokyo Ri for a marvellous view of Everest and the rest of this high mountain wilderness. We rejoin the classic route to Everest Base Camp used by all the great climbing parties when attempting the peak from the Nepalese side. There is ample time for acclimatisation, and at the higher altitudes we are able to get well away from the most trekked areas. Our aim is to visit the Everest Base Camp area on the Khumbu Glacier, as well as climb Kala Pattar (5545m), which offers fabulous views of Everest and other great peaks. EVEREST is more a pilgrimage than a trek: a tough personal challenge with a clear goal at the end, it passes deep into Buddhist Sherpa country, among some of the world’s most sublime peaks. In terms of popularity, the region runs second to Annapurna. That said, the majority of trekkers in Solu-Khumbu, the Everest region, are all heading up the same trail. From the alarming airstrip at Lukla, the trail leads north into mountainous Khumbu, the dizzyingly high Sherpa homeland. The trail forks above the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar (or Namche for short): one route leads to Everest Base Camp and the viewpoint of Kala Pattar; the other for the beautiful Gokyo Lakes. Both high points are about eight days from Lukla, and can be combined by crossing the high pass of the Cho La.

Relatively few trekkers now take the switchback hike from the roadhead at Jiri through Solu, the lower, greener, more populous and more ethnically diverse country to the south. It’s a stunning route, and offers a great way to acclimatize, but the extra five to seven days’ walking is too much for many people. You should leave slack in your schedule even if you’re flying, though, as getting a place on a plane out of Lukla can be problematic if bad weather causes cancellations to stack up.

To get a good look at Everest, you’ll have to spend at least four nights above 4000m and at least one at around 5000m. At these altitudes, there is a serious risk of developing acute mountain sickness (AMS) and you must know the signs.

While Everest isn’t as heavily trekked as Annapurna, its high-altitude environment is even more fragile. Khumbu, with less than four thousand inhabitants, receives anything from ten to twenty thousand trekkers a year, and probably twice as many porters. Lodge-building almost destroyed the Blue Pine and Silver  forests around Lukla, and the demand for firewood is many times the regeneration capacity of the area. Near trekking villages, up to half the juniper shrubs have vanished in smoke. The Sagarmatha National Park, which covers most of Khumbu, has done some fine work in reforestation (funded by the Rs3000 entry fee), but it can’t be said often enough: have as little to do with wood-burning as possible.

The popular trails through Solu-Khumbu are well equipped with lodges, some basic, some fancy and surprisingly expensive – until you consider the costs of portering in all supplies this far. Prices rise as you ascend; near the top, most lodges offer basic bunk beds only. The main Jiri–Lukla–Namche–Base Camp route is very straightforward, as is the alternative high-level spur, to the Gokyo lakes, but a guide is advisable for pretty much anything else.

From Lukla (2840m), the trail powers north up the Dudh Koshi (“Milk River”) before passing into Khumbu and the Sagarmatha National Park at Jorsale (2740m), and bounding up to lofty NAMCHE BAZAAR/NAMCHE (3440M), where Khumbu and the serious scenery start. Nestled handsomely in a horseshoe bowl, the Sherpa “capital” has done very well out of mountaineering and trekking over the years, and shops sell (or rent) absolutely anything a trekker could desire. There’s also a bank (with, astonishingly, an ATM), a post office, a bakery, a place calling itself “the world’s highest bar”, and even internet access. Try to make your trip coincide with the Saturday market, which draws Tibetans from the north and Rais from the south, or visit the national park visitors’ centre, perched on the ridge east of town, which contains an informative museum. Thame, a beautiful few hours’ walk west of Namche, makes an excellent side trip.

There are numerous possibilities above Namche, including passing through the relatively untouristy and unusually flat settlements of Khumjung (3780m) and Khunde. The main route contours to Sanasa (where the trail to Gokyo breaks off), before descending to cross the genuinely milky-looking Dudh Koshi (“Milk River”), at Phunghi Tenga (3250m). The trail veers northeast into a tributary valley and climbs steeply to Tyengboche (3860m), where the wildlife-rich juniper forest has long been protected by the local lamas and there’s a show-stealing view of everybody’s favourite peak, Ama Dablam (6828m) – the “mother with a jewel box”, as Sherpas call it. Tengboche’s large monastery was lavishly rebuilt in the early 1990s, and has a fascinating permanent exhibition. Mani Rimdu, the Sherpa dance-drama festival, is held here on the full moon of October–November. The trail briefly descends through birch and fir forest to Deboche, a settlement with a nunnery, before ascending again to Pangboche, containing Khumbu’s oldest gompa, where for a donation the lama will show you some yeti relics. (The higher trail leading west out of Pangboche allows you to cut across to the Gokyo trek, on the opposite side of the Dudh Koshi valley.) After crossing the Imja Khola, the trail follows the terraces of the valley floor to Pheriche (4250m), site of a Himalayan Rescue Association post (AMS talks are held most afternoons. Above Pheruche, the stone and slate-roofed Sherpa settlements are strictly seasonal – trekking lodges aside.

The village of Dingboche (4360m), in the valley of the Imja Khola a little above Pheriche, is a slight detour from the fastest route up, but sitting right under Ama Dablam as it does, it has a more appealing situation than Pheriche, and offers some fine acclimatization side trips: to a gompa 400m above, or further up the Imja Khola to Chhukhung (4730m). This sensationally situated village is tiny, with only a few lodges, but can serve as a base for higher explorations still: on to Imja Tso (a glacial meltwater lake marooned in moraine that threatens to burst), up to the peak of Chhukung Ri (5546m) or ascending towards the Kongma La. The Dingboche route rejoins the trail up from Pheriche at Thukhla (4620m), which is where acclimatization problems set in for many trekkers. Do not ascend with symptoms of AMS. Immediately above the trail climbs the stony terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier, passing a series of monuments to Sherpas killed on Everest, to reach Lobuche (4930m). Another day’s march along the grassy edge of the glacier’s lateral moraine brings you to Gorak Shep (5180m), the last huddle of lodges – and a cold, breathless and probably sleepless night in uncomfortably crowded bunk rooms.

The payoff comes the next day, when you climb up the mound of Kala Pattar (5555m): the extra height provides an unbelievable panorama, not only of Everest (8848m) but also of its neighbours Lhotse (Nepal’s third-highest peak, at 8516m) and Nuptse (7861m), as well as the sugarloaf of Pumori (7165m), the “daughter mountain”. A separate day-trip can be made across the thrillingly ice-spired Khumbu Glacier to Everest Base Camp. The trail is well trodden by climbing expeditions and their yaks and porters, so you don’t need any technical equipment beyond stout boots. Only the very fittest and best-acclimatized can manage Kala Pattar and Base Camp in one day; if you have to choose one over the other, make it Kala Pattar.

The Gokyo Lakes and Cho La
You’re that little bit further away from Everest, but the scenery is every bit as good at GOKYO LAKES, in the next valley to the west, and the lodges are much more appealing, with their glazed-in sun decks. The route breaks off the Base Camp trail at Sanasa, below Khumjung, following the Dudh Koshi north via Machhermo (where there’s an HRA medical post) to Gokyo, a cluster of lodges set beside the Ngozumba Glacier – the biggest in Nepal. It can be done in a long day if you’re fit and acclimatized; two or three if you’re not – there are lodges at frequent intervals all the way up. Several jewel-blue lakes, dammed up by the glacier’s lateral moraine, dot the west side of the valley above and below Gokyo. The high point is an overlook,Gokyo Ri, surveying a clutter of blue teeth – Cho Oyu, Everest and Lhotse are just the ones over 8000m – and the long grey glacier tongue.

It’s possible to be in Gokyo in two days from Gorak Shep (or vice versa), if you can manage the strenuous CHO LA (5420m). There are a couple of simple lodges at Dragnag (4700m), four hours from Gokyo, on the opposite side of the glacier, and a couple more at the unappealing Dzonghla, two to three hours from Dughla or Lobuche (4910m). But the high, middle section, crossing the pass, has to be done in one long day (unless you have tents): that’s six to eight hours, or more in bad conditions or if you suffer from altitude problems – which is all too likely this high. The pass is usually snowy on the eastern side, where you have to cross onto a glacier, with some tricky and slippery sections. Don’t attempt it if you’re in any doubt about the weather, or your own condition, and team up with a group. In good autumn and spring conditions, full crampons aren’t usually necessary, but mini-crampons are an excellent, lightweight idea, and an ice axe could be handy; a guide or a thorough understanding of the route is essential.