Day 9: Lobuche

Hiking time: 4-5 hours

Above Pheriche, the character of the terrain changes, and we’ll begin to understand the starkness of the high alpine landscape. Our path climbs the terminal moraine of the Khumbu glacier and continues to the settlement of Lobuche (16,174 ft./4,929 m), where we’ll spend one night. This trail passes through a famous memorial that honors the many Sherpa who lost their lives in the high mountains. Lobuche is located on the flank of an old lateral moraine of the Khumbu glacier.

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EBC hiking advice: “Start slow, then taper”!!

The day started with clear skies and a beautiful sunrise. Like yesterday, we got up (or should I say got out of bed because we do not sleep much) early before heading to Lobuche. The sky had only a few clouds and Ama Dablam was magical. Photographs simply canot capture the beauty. 

As we enter the land of the giant mountains, there are no more prayer wheels and suspension bridges. We hike thru large plains with big rocks and no vegetation.

After lunch, we tracked up to memorial hill which was very difficult. It was 2 hours of uphill hiking thru winding switchbacks. Memorial hill is dedicated to many climbers who lost their lives climbing Himalayan mountains. 

After memorial hill, we had a relatively flat walk with nice views of the valley to Lobuche. 

All of us are feeling the effects of the altitude today with some handling the effects better than others. Looking forward to getting to EBC and a goodnight in a subfeezin’ room. 

-Johnny Alford