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| Makes you feel so humble at Dingbuche |
Day 7 – Out of namche and onwards!
“1 more hour” Buba, one if the porters said. He said 1 hour an hour ago. We must be going really slow. Were at 3,900 meters and struggling through the clouds that have completely sucked any joy of being in the mountains. Each step is becoming more laboured. At 3,300 meters, the atmosphere provides 13% of oxygen, where as sea level is 21%. We’ve really reached above that level now.
The day started with a caravan of trekkers from namche. It was a beautiful clear morning and Mt. Everest was in full view. Days start out clear, but by mid day intimidating clouds would roll in. As the day wore on, we climbed higher and the clouds moved in and the temperatures sunk. We’ve reached about the Alpine level where trees are turning to brushes and snow covered peaks are now a common view. We are constantly surrounded by 7,000 meter peaks with huge glacial formations on them. Yet we are still marching in dusty trampled roads.
The general rule of thumb when trekked in altitude is to not go higher than 600 meters a day, for optimal acclimatization. We stopped 600 meters higher than our previous altitude and Ian can feel it. A night rest and then on wards to Dingbuche where well need 2 days of rest for acclimatization.
