Returning From EBC to Lukla - Day 9 to 11

EBC Trek Day 9 - Tuesday, April 18, 2017

After the EBC assault yesterday (Apr 17th), I decided not to climb Khala Patthar peak at 4:00 am. Kala Patthar, meaning 'black rock' is located on the south ridge of Pumori above Gorak Shep where we stayed the night. Kala Patthar peak gives a beautiful clear view of Mt. Everest at sunrise. It is also higher than EBC.

To climb it and back to Gorak Shep will probably take 4 hours or so then will still have to trek straight back down to Dingboche passing by Lobuche. A very long day trek down on rocks. To do this will kill me with exhaustion (no kidding). So all of us declined on doing the excursion to Kala Phattar. I realized our classic route is too tasking. There's no rest in between.

The trek back is as hard as going up for me. Hard on my 53 year old knees. We are now trekking down twice as long per day for 3 days, at least 22-27 km per day.