At 5:30am I woke up when Kevin, B-1, Ake and Panuru were leaving to climb up to Lobuche Advanced Base Camp. It was so cold I climbed back into my sleeping bag to keep warm, it was freezing in our room. We eventually got up at 7:30am and went into the dining room for breakfast and to wait for the guys to return around 9am. We waited for awhile before leaving for Gorak Shep not very far away. The trek goes through the Lobuche Pass along some moraines. The views across the glacier of Mt Nuptse, Mt Lho-La and Mt Khumbutse were so inspiring all day long, which made it easier to keep climbing, and forget about the pain. Along the trail we saw the beautiful Snow Cock perched at the side of the path and our first view of Everest Base Camp in the distance. After 2 1/4 hours of hiking in thin air we arrived at Gorak Shep, 16,942ft, our last tea house before Base Camp. Gorak Shep is a frozen lakebed covered with sand, it was the original base camp for Mt Everest. Gorak Shep provides the best launching pad for an ascent of Kala Patthar which looks like a giant dune looming over the lakebed. It was to bed early in order to get up at 4:30am to climb Kala Patthar, 18,209ft.
