Dingboche

In order to keep somewhat on schedule, we planned another long day of hiking to go from Phortse to Dingboche in a single go.  This goes from 3,900m to 4,400m, making up about half of the altitude we lost on our diversion around Cho La.  We were well acclimatized due to the time spent at Gokyo so this was a fairly easy day for us.

It was nice to be in the main Khumbu valley and moving on the traditional path towards EBC.  This day's hike brought us past a favorite haunt of the Himalayan Tahr which is best described as a brown mountain goat where the males have sort of a lion like mane.  They were quite uninterested in our passing and many great photos were taken.

This segment of the trip brought some amazing views of Everest and Lhotse.  As we got ever closer, Ama Dablam rose like a giant in front of us.  Such a magnificent peak to view from afar and up close.

Helicopter flights resumed in the area and due to some damage in the higher camps on Everest, there was a lot of traffic making trips up and down the valley.  I think every flight worthy helicopter was in service today.

Once at our tea house we settled into our rooms and then returned to the common dining hall as is our typical routine.  Since we were in the main trekking corridor, we were now encountering many more people include strange groups of people who not only hired guides and porters but also required their guides to carry their day packs as well.  Lots of sick people are now common encounters where there have stomach or headache problems.  Sanitation facilities have left a bit to be desired at this point.  In face we all agreed that we'll never look down in a condescending way again on porta-johns.  They would be a welcome site at this point.

During dinner we encountered our first true Everest expedition member.  A climber from Delaware who contracted pneumonia at Camp 3 (7,400m) and had to descend.  He was on his way down for x-rays and treatment but felt confident that he'd recover enough to return for a summit attempt.

Our guides, Kumar and Don continue to be first class, both partaking in jabs at us including the ever present "2 hours and 39 minutes" to our next stop.  They have worked very well with our group, we couldn't ask for better folks to help us on this journey.  They handle everything at the tea houses in addition to meals and routing decisions.