Spoiler Alert: Our trek to Gokyo was a complete success!!! After our problems with the Annapurna Circuit Trek a few weeks ago and not being able to complete it, we were very concerned about this trek in the Everest region. Would the weather be okay? How about our health? Would the trails be passable? We learned two years ago when we first tried to complete the Annapurna Circuit that we had to be flexible and have a good attitude. We are happy to report that this time we had great weather, good health, and fantastic trails! We also accomplished our goal of reaching the top of Gokyo Ri. It was an awesome trek!
Gokyo Ri has much better views of Mount Everest and the surrounding 8000+ meter peaks than Everest Base Camp (and nearby Kala Patthar). Everest Base Camp is fascinating, but Gokyo Lakes is more remote and the entire valley is stunning. This has been our favorite trek so far.
Note: If you decided to go trekking in Nepal don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We have used the same trekking company four times now (Discovery World Trekking) and we highly recommend them. (We don’t get paid for a referral). We also think Gokyo Lakes and Gokyo Ri were one of our best destinations yet, and there are a couple ways to get there. So we could give you our thoughts on that as well.
Kathmandu (4,593ft) to Lukla(9,350ft) to Phakding (8562ft)
We were very fortunate and got the first morning flight, direct from Kathmandu to Lukla. We couldn’t believe we were already on the trail by 9 am! Last time in 2023 we took the standard route with a (God awful) van ride from Kathmandu at midnight and arrived at Ramechhap Airport in the morning for a flight to Lukla and then hit the trail, by noon we were exhausted. This time it was an easy and relaxing start!
Phakding (8,562ft) to Namche Bazaar (11,285ft)
These first two days were on the same trail we took to Everest Base Camp two years ago. It was fun to recall some of the landmarks and watch the high mountains start to appear as we climbed up through the forest.
Acclimatization Day – Namche Bazaar (11,285ft) to Khumjung (12,434 feet) then back to Namche Bazaar
A common destination for the acclimatization hike is to the Everest View Hotel above Namche Bazaar. Since we had done that hike before, we opted to go see the Sherpa Culture Museum and hike to Khumjung Village to visit the Sir Edmund Hillary School and see the yeti scalp at a local monastery. In the top left photo we are standing with our guide, Siddhanta, and porter, Ahneal, with a sculpture of Tenzing Norgay (the Sherpa who aided Hillary to the top of Everest). The bottom right has a picture of the original, one room school that Sir Edmund Hillary built for the local village. That modest start ended up bringing a network of education and healthcare options to one of the poorest regions of Nepal. The yeti scalp (middle pictures) has a unique story as it was brought to London, Paris, New York, and Chicago by Hillary and a guardian monk to help raise funds for the school.
Namche (11,285ft) to Dole (13,270ft)
After Namche, the trail splits with the right fork heading to Everest Base Camp and the left towards Gokyo. We had seen the “Way To Gokyo” sign back in 2023 and were curious where it led. That small sign made an impression and we now found ourselves taking the trail to the left! Not as many people hike this way so at times we felt we had the trail to ourselves. After some steep uphill we made it to the altitude where yak thrive and waterfalls become frozen icefalls .
Dole (13,270ft) to Machermo (14,450ft)
Our next destination was the tiny town of Machermo with just a handful of teahouses. It was a short steep hike, and we arrived before lunch. We used the afternoon to do an acclimatization hike to get us ready for Gokyo. We hiked to a ridge above Machermo at around 16,400ft that provided a stunning panoramic view of the high mountains that surround Gokyo Valley. This was also our last location with cell service. We noticed two young girls from the village who raced up the ridge and sat watching Tik Tok videos while we huffed and puffed and admired the views.
Machhermo (14,450ft) to Gokyo (15,584ft)
We finally reached our destination!! Gokyo Valley has five lakes (Gokyo 1 to Gokyo 5). The teahouses are on Gokyo 3 Lake, and we passed Lakes 1 and 2 to get there. We encountered snow on the ground from the same storm that stopped our Annapurna Circuit Trek. From Gokyo 3 Lake we did a difficult afternoon hike to Gokyo 4 Lake. We thought about going to Gokyo 5 Lake but the trail was icy and treacherous and people coming down said it was a slog to get to Gokyo 5 Lake. So we took their word for it and stopped at the Gokyo 4 Lake viewpoint. We were glad we had our crampons for the section up to the viewpoint and felt sorry for the people who had blazed the trail as we saw evidence of waist deep post holing.
Summit of Gokyo Ri (17,814ft)
One reason to go to Gokyo is to summit Gokyo Ri. Some people prefer to go at sunrise or sunset, but that sounded extremely cold, dark, and risky (due to the ice and snow) for us. So we went up in the morning when the sun was shining. It was the perfect choice. The normally bitter wind was absent so we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the views. The picture below is the view we enjoyed from the top of Gokyo Ri with Everest (29,030ft; center) and Lhotse (27,940; right). In the valley below you can see the enormous Ngozumpa Glacier.
In the upper left picture Diane is pointing to the summit of Gokyo Ri, about 1,300 feet above Gokyo 3 Lake with a trail that pretty much just goes straight up to the top for about 1.3 miles. Our guide told us it would take three hours; we patted ourselves on the back as it took us two!
Gokyo (15,584ft) to Dole (13,270ft)
Unfortunately, we had to leave Gokyo and the amazing scenery all around us. We went back down the same trails we came up. As we were leaving we saw porters carrying construction supplies up the slippery trail to Gokyo. In the lower right picture is Diane petting a cute yak. Our guide made us promise never to do that again; they can be very unpredictable.
Dole (13,270ft) to Namche Bazaar (11,285ft)
As we descended, some lower level clouds started drifting into the valley. Ama Dablam (upper left picture) looked particularly stunning as it was being framed by the clouds. The lower left picture is the national bird called a danphe. This large species of pheasant are super colorful. We also saw musk deer, golden eagles, Himalayan ravens, and mountain goats on this section of the trek.
Namche Bazaar (11,285ft) to Lukla (9,350ft)
On the hike down to Lukla we got a light mist in the afternoon. We were glad this cloudy and damp weather didn’t happen on the days we were in Gokyo Valley.
That night our guide and porter surprised us with a celebration at our teahouse in Lukla for completing the hike to Gokyo Ri. The cake was very tasty!
Lukla (9,350ft) to Kathmandu (4,593ft)
The weather and clouds dropped into Lukla, so no airplane flights were operating the day we were supposed to leave. Weather is unpredictable in Lukla and flights get delayed for days as safety is a major concern. We said farewell to our porter. He is a Sherpa (the ethnic group from the Eastern Himalayas) who lives 6-7 hours by walking from Lukla. Our option to walk to Kathmandu was not doable so we opted to take a helicopter (picture with Diane and our guide in the green jacket, and Dave got to ride in the front). The weather was getting worse so our pilot left as quickly as possible. It was a very interesting ride. He went below the clouds so we got an amazing birds eye view of the Himalayan foothills.
The Trek Stays With Us
One night during the trek we stayed at a tea house with a group of people who were very sick with terrible congestion and coughing. It is so hard to stay healthy during these treks as everyone congregates in the small, common area which is the only heated room. Socializing with everyone is wonderful and the stories are fantastic so it’s hard to go to bed early to a freezing room. Unfortunately, we both started showing cold symptoms. Luckily we were on the way down from the trek, at around Namche, when they started. This put a damper on our final days in Kathmandu…we had been looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a nice meal. However, we were grateful it happened at the very end, and not before we summited Gokyo Ri. We thoroughly enjoyed our Gokyo Trek and are already planning our next trip to Nepal.
From Kathmandu we flew to Thailand and the Trang island group. Maybe some beach time will cure what ails us!