Day 7 - Nerebu to Gokyo

Rob McCarthy
Oct 24, 1988
2 min read

Today is a short, but specular day, as we move up to one of our highest camp sites at Gokyo. Just north of Nerebu, we reach the terminal moraine of the Ngozumba Glacier, the largest in Nepal, which moves steadily down from its origin on the southern flanks of Cho Oyo, the 6th highest mountain in the world, some 12 miles to the north. The trail sits in a small valley just west of the lateral moraine at the edge of the glacier.

On the west side of the trail are a series of 3 glacial lakes, turquoise in color, and larger in size as we approach Gokyo. Gokyo itself is a small village on the eastern shore of the 3rd glacial lake, between the lake and the glacier.

Although we are in a valley, we are high in the mountains now, surrounded by impressive peaks, with Cho Oyo to the north and Cholatse to the east. Although thesr is a trail that goes further north towards Cho Oyo, few trekkers take it. Most, as we hope to do tomorrow, choose to climb Gokyo Ri, a small (but still 17,500 foot) peak on the north side of the lake.

The weather seems to be in a settled pattern. Nights are clear and cold, bitterly so at this altitude with pre-dawn temperatures getting down to roughly -15C, making us grateful for our high quality sleeping bags. Mornings are clear, with cloud coming in during the afternoons to obscure some of the peaks, and then clearing again in the early evening.

The night sky, so far from any source of artificial light, and in clear high-altitude air, is stunning. It is almost impossible to pick out individual stars in the Milky Way, it is almost a continuous white stripe across the night sky.

We all seem to be in good shape, and looking forward to tomorrow’s climb of Gokyo Ri.