Day 12 2025/4/27 Thagnak(4680m) to Gokyo(4800m) and Gokyo Ri (5337m)
The other day, I read a quote that I’ll paraphrase here: “We come to the Himalayas to see breathtaking views, and it literally takes our breath away!” I find it so fitting!
Yesterday at dinner, I met a Korean lady who looked young-I thought she was in her 30s-but it turned out she’s only a year younger than me. This is her first trip to Nepal, and she has already completed three or four treks, including the Annapurna Circuit, ABC, and two others I didn’t catch. Now, she’s doing the Three Passes Trek clockwise, and on her own! Compared to her, I have it easy. I have a guide and a porter who take care of everything; all I need to do is walk. Once I arrive, I’m shown my room and can rest.
Meanwhile, back in the states, my daughter just finished her first ultramarathon trail race, battling rain and mud in New England’s spring. She wasn’t fast, and it took her a long time, but the most important thing is that she finished! When my family heard I had a cold, my husband suggested I borrow a “cold machine” and sent me a line: “No pain, no (elevation) gain.” It’s easy for him to say, sitting at sea level, but I’m glad no one tried to talk me out of this-they knew I was stubborn anyway.
We are just ordinary people, each facing our own challenges. I’m keenly aware of my limitations and smallness, especially when I think about those not far from here-brave men and women living in much harsher environments, pushing themselves to their limits every single day. What they accomplish is beyond anything I can imagine. I don’t believe their goal is simply to conquer the tallest mountain; rather, they are constantly testing themselves, both physically and mentally, in pursuit of a mission. We don’t all have to climb Everest-what matters is that we each face our own mountains, whatever their size. Before I came here, I was filled with self-doubt and insecurity. But I realized there was only one way to find out: to come here and do it. Now, at least I’m here-fighting, growing, and learning every day. I can honestly say I’m finding joy even in the struggle (痛並快樂著). Right now, the pain may outweigh the joy, but I’m sure that, over time, the joy will outweigh the pain.
Today, we started at 7:10 a.m. For the first half hour, we walked in the shade of the mountain, so my hands and feet were cold. Then we had to cross the Ngozumba Glacier. It looks like piles of rocks, dusty and grey, but in some places, you can see ice underneath. When the ice melts, stones roll down, so you have to watch out when walking under steep slopes. In a way, crossing the glacier is like crossing rivers-sometimes you walk along the banks, sometimes you cross over and then back.
We arrived in Gokyo at 9:30 a.m. and had an early lunch, but that wasted an hour of good weather. By the time we started up the trail on Gokyo Ri, the weather was changing. Soon, we could see that it was snowing on the mountain across the river. The initial part of the hill was rather steep, and I counted my steps. When I reached 700, I thought I had done a lot of hard work and maybe gained half the height. When I checked my watch, I was still in the 4,800m range. What? I still had almost 500m to go? I almost wanted to cry!
Soon it started snowing on our path, and people were coming down. I thought to myself, in such weather, maybe I should stop at 5,000m and turn back. Once we reached 5,000m, I asked Jungbu what we should do. He simply said I could continue or turn back. Not seeing an easy way out, I said, “How about we go a little further to see how the weather holds?” We continued in the light snow. Somehow, things didn’t get worse. I found my slow rhythm and felt better than when I started. When we reached 5,090m, I declared I felt good and might go to the top if they were okay with it. They said “Yes.” We shared an energy bar and some chocolates. I tried to drink from my water bladder, but the tube was frozen, so we soldiered on. The sky at the top seemed a bit clearer. When we finally reached the summit, we had it all to ourselves. The weather cleared enough for us to enjoy a bit of the view, for which I am grateful.
We stayed about 20 minutes and then headed back down. It took us two and a half hours to go up and just one hour to come down. I am so happy I climbed Gokyo Ri, because for the last few days, I had been feeling weak and tired; Gokyo Ri helped me regain some confidence.

Once we got back, the weather worsened. It snowed again at 3:30 p.m. and even thundered while snowing. The whole area was a whiteout. The weather forecast predicts a 30% chance of snow tomorrow. Will we be able to cross our last pass, Renjo La, tomorrow?
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