12/29/2025
We left Tengboche in the quiet blue of morning, the monastery still holding the last echoes of chanting as we descended into the forest. The trail wound through rhododendron and pine, prayer flags fluttering above us, the air scented with earth and juniper. Ama Dablam rose and fell in and out of view like a watchful companion. By the time we climbed toward Dingboche, the trees thinned and the world opened into a wide, wind-swept valley of stone walls and high pastures. Dingboche welcomed us with its calm, sunlit stillness, a village built for acclimatizing and for watching the mountains change color through the day.
We stayed in Dingboche for three days, and Christmas arrived quietly there. Mornings were slow, with frost on the ground and the sun warming the valley only after it cleared the ridges. We walked above the village to acclimatize, returning to the comfort of the lodge’s dining room where a stove glowed and mugs of hot tea steamed our hands. There was a strange and beautiful simplicity to Christmas at altitude—no noise, no rush, just shared meals, laughter with other trekkers, and the soft crunch of snow under boots. At night the cold pressed in, but inside there was warmth, stories, and the feeling of being exactly where we were meant to be.
When we left Dingboche, the trail grew starker and more serious. The valley narrowed, the ground turned to rock and ice, and each step demanded patience. At Thukla Pass we paused among the stone memorials, prayer flags snapping in the wind, the weight of the place settling quietly in our chests. Beyond it, the Khumbu Glacier stretched alongside us, grey and immense, as we made our way to Lobuche and rested briefly in the thin, cold air. The next morning, the walk to Gorak Shep was intense, the altitude slowing everything, the silence broken only by wind and breath. Gorak Shep appeared, a small cluster of lodges perched on sand and ice at the edge of the glacier. As we arrived, tired and humbled, the mountains felt closer than ever—raw, vast, and utterly unforgettable.
It was here our journey north ended. After a quick trek this morning to see EBC, where decades earlier Tony had stepped, and then we headed south.
