Through the Three Passes - An Internal Journey on the Everest Trek (Day 11)

 Day 11 2025/4/26 Dzongla(4750m) to Thagnak (4680m)

This morning brought a bit of saving grace. I slept well last night-better than any night so far on this trip. I also discovered I had misplaced my sleeping medicine in my pack’s hip pocket instead of its usual spot. Since we have to pack and unpack every day, I try to keep everything in its designated place; otherwise, I’d waste time and energy searching for things. Maybe the high altitude played a trick on me, or perhaps I was just tired when I last used my sleeping pill in the middle of the night. Speaking of a muddled brain, the other day I squeezed toothpaste into my palm, thinking it was lotion-in my defense, both tubes are the same shape and stored in the same bag.

Today’s forecast predicted a low of -18°C and a high of -1°C. When I got up, it was -11°C. The wash station had run out of water, so I had to go outside and break through a thin layer of ice on the big barrel to get water for brushing my teeth.

We left shortly after 7am. With the sun at my back, I didn’t feel too cold. The trail climbed immediately, and I started to pant. The cold, dry air stung my lungs, and I had to blow my nose regularly. After a gradual ascent, we faced a steep rock pile. It wasn’t easy-everyone was panting, except maybe the porters and guides, who still looked normal. 

Once we reached the top, we could see the glacier ahead, where we put on microspikes. Unlike elsewhere (I still remember/resent that you have to pay $480 to walk on the Perito Moreno Glacier from my last trip), walking on this glacier was free. Most of the time, it felt like walking on hard ice-sometimes you could see blue ice underneath, sometimes just dirt. With the sun shining, it didn’t feel cold at all. For a while, we had the glacier to ourselves and played on it in high spirits.  

After leaving the glacier, there was another 50-meter climb to the Cho La Pass at 5,420m (though my watch only registered 5,366m). At the top, there was even a free charging station! I wish someone had told me about it. In tea houses, we have to pay to charge our devices. Usually it costs about 500Rs to charge a phone or 1000Rs to charge a battery pack.  

After some photos, we started down a steep descent. Some people do the Three Passes Trek clockwise, which is even harder. There are cables in sections to hold onto, and most people coming up let us pass so they could catch their breath. Jungbu didn’t give me many breaks on the way down-maybe he thought it was easy. Occasionally, I had to ask for a minute to blow my nose so I could breathe a little better.

 

After the steep section, we stopped for lunch, but it was cold and windy. Clouds started to form in the distance. I didn’t want to rest there, so we quickly finished lunch and continued on. Ahead was another hill! At this point, I think I’ve developed an allergy to any hill above 5,000m!

I wondered why I felt so tired. I was suffering from a cold, it was day 11, and the fatigue was setting in. We also weren’t eating enough to match our energy expenditure, and both walking and sleeping at high altitude in cold temperatures naturally burn more calories. Other than the cold, I was doing well-trying to eat when I could, though what I craved (like a hearty stew) wasn’t available. At high altitude, supplies and choices are limited. I tried spaghetti (too sweet), fried noodles (too dry), pizza (greasy), potatoes, momos (dumplings-not well made and not tasty), and the traditional Nepali dish, dal bhat (only the vegetarian version is safe to eat). The dal bhat I had last night was barely lukewarm, and I couldn’t even finish it.

Lost in these thoughts, the trail continued downhill, but there was still no sign of the village. Jungbu didn’t stop; all I could do was hope to see it around the next bend. Sure enough, after rounding the bend, I saw yaks-signs of people and a village. We finally arrived after 6 hours and 15 minutes, ahead of our 8-hour schedule.

This was my fourth time above 5,000 meters-two passes down, only one more to go!