Dragnag

Short hike from Gokyo over to Dragnag crossing the glacier in the Gokyo valley.  This was a surreal environment as we trekked across the moraine on top of the receding glacier.  We saw a few pool of ice melt and crevasses.

Dragnag was a low point in the quality of tea houses but the food was pretty good.  We spent most of the afternoon just hanging out and contemplating the next day's very strenuous crossing of the Cho La pass.  At the same time, Cyclone Fani made landfall in southern India and was throwing snow and wind up into the Himalaya.  It started snowing at Dragnag and we decided to wait until morning to make the final call on whether or not to attempt the pass.

Not directly affecting us but impacting the general area, the Nepalese government issued a warning to everyone trekking or on expedition in the area.  The warning was to stay put in shelters and it also included a complete grounding of helicopter traffic within the area.

We were up at 4AM to prepare for the long assent up the pass and the longer descent down to Lobuche in the main Khumbu valley.  At this time, we evaluated the snowfall where we were and decided not to risk climbing the pass.  We could either sit tight for another day or descend to Phortse.

Staying put for another day in Dragnag was not appealing to anyone, especially since there were a few sick people also staying in the tea house.  We chose to make the long trek down to Phortse.