Three Passes Trek Day 18

Three Passes Trek Day 18 - Nov 15 - Dzongla to Dagnag (Thang Nak) over the Cho La pass (5420 metres). This was an amazing day's trekking and possibly the most enjoyable of the entire trip. After the Kongma La we were expecting today's trek to be comparably difficult, so, even though it was only slightly easier, taking us 6 hours, including over 3 hours uphill, it seemed substantially easier as we'd braced ourselves for a tough day. The path was, as expected, very steep, and the last half hour before the pass the ground was covered in snow that had hardened to ice. At last we had the opportunity to use our "yak tracks" which are basically just a simple set of crisscrossing chains that fit over your shoes. We had debated whether to bother bringing them and in the end we bought some in Kathmandu. So having carried them for 17 days, we now got to use them for 30 min. They worked perfectly, gripping the icy snow like Velcro. I wouldn't classify them as an essential piece of equipment, but, having Slipped over and broken my wrist earlier in the year in an ice skating accident, it was kind of reassuring.

The views at the top were again phenomenal, especially looking back the way we had come. It was very steep going down and I must admit I felt a bit sorry for the people coming the other way. For some reason the Lonely Planet guide recommends Trekkers going over the Cho La pass to continue on to Gokyo (another 2 hours) but in our view 6 hours was really long enough. Dagnag (also spelt a few other ways on maps/signs) is fine to stay for 1 night and the walk to Gokyo not all that easy, crossing an undulating glacial maze. We were glad to leave it until the following morning.