The Fifth Lake and Gokyo Ri: Day 18
-19Oct 25 - Nov 15, 1998
Surrounding the Gokyo(4800m) area are 6 large, beautiful turquoise green glacial lakes
that are connected by a flowing river and surrounded by more beautiful mountains. On our
first full day in Gokyo we decided to walk to the fifth lake(5000m), which was about a
three hour gradual walk up from our resort. The Fifth lake provides an extensive panoramic
view the overlooks the Ngozumpa Glacier and offers a view of Everest called the
"scoundrels view" because this exceptional view of Everest doesn’t require
a exhausting 3 hour climb up, but it was a long day none-the-less. On the way back we
paused by the fourth lake and sat and relaxed by this enormous pool surrounded by huge
shards of rock and boulders.
The following day Mike woke up feeling inspired, Jeff woke with a sore back. But after
some convincing we knew it was our day to summit Gokyo Ri(peak). The walk was straight up
not unlike Kala Pattar the difference was we were much stronger(but we were still dying by
the end) and better acclimated. At the top we strung up some prayer flags which are a
string of colorful squares of cloth with Nepalese prayers and holy symbols on them. Then
we found possibly the only non-windy spot on the top to the peak and we sat in the sun and
looked at the 360 degree panorama, we saw Everest(which was further away then the view
from Kala Pattar but more of the mountain is visible) and Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu,
Gyachung Kang, Cholatse and Tawachee. While we sat we met a guy from the west coast of
America(Jon Cheeba) who told us of Jesse "the body" Ventura who was the new
governor of Minnesota. How odd sitting there and enjoying the pleasantries and having some
guy tell you a wrestler became the governor of your home state! We snacked on Kitkats and
snapped some photos and headed down, ate lunch, packed our bags and walked with Josh and
Deb all the way back to Machermo(4470m).
