Separation

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05.26.16 Separation: Changes in Altitude

After reaching Base Camp, our next objective was to cross the Cho'la Pass towards the Gokyo Lakes region of Nepal. Our Sherpa guide, Argen, mentally prepared us for what would be the most challenging and dangerous portion of our trek. Steep, icy terrain, coupled with dangerous rock fall, unpredictable weather, and high altitude make this mountain crossing one of the most intimidating hikes any of us had ever faced. Sam was so weak from her ordeal that she decided to skip this part of the trek and join a group one day behind us, which would be returning to Lukla Airport via the standard route. With any luck we would catch up with her at Namche in a few days, and our group would be made whole again. The rest of us left Base Camp and headed to Dzonglah (16,000 feet) - gateway to the Cho'la Pass.

When we arrived at Dzonglah, It began to snow. The weather pattern in Nepal this time of year is typically sunny mornings and cloudy afternoons, with occasional rain or snow over night. We all expected the snow to subside and the sun to return by morning. It didn't. When we awoke for our 4:30 a.m. departure, about 2 inches had accumulated and the snow was still falling. Visibility was poor, and Kimberly and Dave were sick with head and chest colds. Dan scanned his iPhone music library for an appropriate theme song for the day and came up with two winners: CCR's Bad Moon Rising and BOC's Don't Fear the Reaper.

The climb out of Dzonglah starts out fairly gradual. After about an hour we crossed a creek and headed up the steep part of the pass. The clouds broke and we could see the pass ahead of us. We had about 2-3 hours of scrambling up snow covered rocks before the trail leveled out. Then there would be another six hours of hiking with a quick stop for lunch in Taknak.

The Cho'la Pass at around 17,000 feet.

We were supposed to stay close together, but everyone hikes in a different comfort zone. Ramas, our assistant guide set a pretty quick pace. This is somewhat intentional because you don't want to spend a lot of time in dangerous terrain. Dan reminded me of a Winston Churchill quote that goes something like: "If you find yourself going through hell, keep going." But the pace was a bit fast for those who were not feeling well, and a few of us ended up 50-100 yards ahead of the others. I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't paused to look back, and when I did, I could tell immediately that something was wrong.

Kimberly was in trouble. Her vision was blurry, she was incoherent, feeling sick, and not moving. Argen was at her side and instantly recognized the telltale symptoms of altitude sickness. She wanted to rest where she sat, but Argen got her to her feet and escorted her down the mountain a few hundred feet - the only treatment for this condition.

In hindsight, I feel a little guilty for not making a decision more quickly, but there was a lot of confusion. There was little communication, and nobody was quite sure what was going on. One thing soon became obvious, we still had another 1,000 feet of vertical left to clear the pass, and Kimberly could not go higher. The only question was who would take her back to Dzonglah. Argen and Dan said there was nothing any of us could do for her and that she would be fine as long as she got lower, quickly. One of the porters would take her belongings and escort her back to Dzonglah and on to Pangboche - at a safe altitude of 13,000 feet. As the reality of the situation sunk in, and knowing there would be no communication for at least another six hours, I told Argen I would take Kimberly down the mountain while the porters got our things together.

By the time we got to the bottom of the rocky section (about 16,500 feet), I could already see a marked improvement in Kimberly's condition. She began to joke around and her nausea went away. We were in Dzonglah when our porter Mazilam caught up with us. Kimberly passed out from exhaustion on a bench in the tea house, and after a fifteen minute nap, I woke her up, made her eat some Pringles, and we left Dzonglah for the six hour hike to Pangboche - to be reunited with Sam.

We are now safe in Pangboche and will leave for Namche in the morning with Sam. Kimberly is fully recovered and is nearly over her cold. It was around 7:30 in the evening when we finally got word that the others, Dan, Mark, Dave and Ariana, had arrived safely in Gokyo. I look forward to seeing them all again in two days.

And although Kimberly and I won't get to see the Gokyo Lakes, we were treated to a beautiful hike through the Green Valley, walking towards Ama Dablam - the Mother and Daughter peaks that have been watching over us throughout our trek.