Shangbouche Hill and Everest NEXT
trek day #4, Tue Oct 17, 2023
I barely slept last night. Not sure what was racing thru my mind. As with every day breakfast was at 7am. I had omelette with Roti, white beans and masala chai. By the time breakfast was done I had 2 liters of water in me. Dropped clothes for laundry, called Daisey and we hit the road at 8am
Today’s plan was to do a 4 hr round tripto reach the highest point of Shangbouche Hill. This will bring us to 12,807 ft. The morning looked less than ideal with cloud cover abd light drizzle. am not a big fan of trekking wet. Regardless of weather this hike has to be done.
As luck would have it, the moment our hiking poles hit the ground, the Sun peeked out and the drizzle stopped. The trail was very beautiful and we meandered our way up the mountain. The views of Namche from the top are unbelievable. The camera does not do justice to what the eyes see. As the wind higher up picked up, in an instance a big mountain (Thamsekuru abd Kusum Kankuru) with snow packed top appeared out of nowhere - total domination !!
We reached Shangbouche, took a stretch break. I made friends with a cute little dog reminding me of Snoopy. We walked past the stupa and then had to make a summit push to the top. The wind got stronger as we went up the hill: cold and howling just letting us know not to get to comfy. We had to wait here 30 mins to acclimatize before heading downhill.
Coming down we took a slight detour and visited the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee’s Everest Next initiative center. It was a nice visit and a welcome break from the winds. We had coffee and then watched a video on the efforts being made to protect and conserve the Kumbhu region. The guide told us how they are recycling plastic bottles and caps into souvenirs. I bought a couple things to bring home, plus support the cause. There were interesting pieces of art created from trash.
The vistas from the grounds of the center are breathtaking - a wow in every which direction. After photos we took the steep trail from the back straight into Namche Bazaar.
We returned to the hotel around 12:45pm. Lunch was Garlic Soup (!!) and Sherpa Vegetable Stew. 2:30pm was massage. 4 pm we gathered at our tea house again.
Tonight everyone wants to go out for dinner. Pizza sounds like a winner!
We gathered at Sherpa Barista. By 8:45pm everyone was in bed. We had a great day today. Our luck with weather was attributed to the bird poop that landed on the inside collar of Brad’s shirt. Hope the luck continues tomorrow as we head to Tengbouche.
