Along the Walk to Gocha La
For me the highlight of the trip was the walk up to
Gocha La. We started out at the crack of dawn (4:30am). It took
four hours to make the steady uphill climb from Samity Lake at
4,060m/13,320ft (this according to the Indian government's sign, most
guidebooks give a higher elevation) to Gocha La [4,940m/16,207ft].
The views along the way were stunning, though the scenery was quite stark.
For much of the way the Kabru Forks (around 6,100m/20,000ft) [this picture]
were on our left and Pandim was on our right. At 7:30am, when this
picture was taken, the valley was still in deep shadow and the temperature
was just at the freezing mark -- the drops of water left on the nipple
of my water bottle froze.
Photo taken: May 5, 2003
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