Gokyo Lakes Trek Day 4 – Namche to Dole

07.04.2018

The Gokyo Lakes Trek, along with the Mt. Everest Base Camp Trek, are classic Himalayan treks in the Khumbu (Mt. Everest) region of Nepal.

They both have great aspects — here is a comparison of the two — but the first three days of the Gokyo Lakes trek are exactly the same as the standard Everest Base Camp trek:

The first part of Day 4 is also the same. You climb briefly out of Namche and then make a long and very scenic traverse up the valley of the Dudh Khosi, enjoying views of Ama Dablam, Everest, Lhotse, Thamserku and other snow peaks as you pass stupas along the way. After a morning tea break and a brief descent into a pine and rhododendron forest, the two routes diverge. When the Standard Route continues dropping to cross the river — here is a description of Day 4 on that trek — the Gokyo Lakes Route goes left. And up.

At first the trail becomes much more narrow, resembling a typical hiking trail in most other countries. But soon it becomes the wide, flat path you’re used to in Nepal. And it begins to climb a series of steep staircases, sometimes with big drop offs to the right.

After a couple of hours, you reach the village of Mong, one of the smallest and most scenic in the Khumbu. It sits at the pinnacle of a ridge with great views all around, including just across the way to Tengboche, where folks on the Standard Route will be spending the night.

After lunch in Mong, the trail drops steeply to almost touch a river, then climbs again. If you’re hiking in March or April, there may still be spectacular frozen waterfalls along this route; some Mt. Everest climbers actually come here to train for ice climbing. There may also be rhododendrons beginning to bloom. There will definitely be more stairs.

A few hours after lunch you will emerge from the forest into the scenic, and often windswept, village of Dole (pronounced DOE-lay), where you will spend the night. Dole itself isn’t much, but it is at 13,270 feet, and the views are great: