08 NOVEMBER 2013 - REST DAY IN LUNGDEN

Friday (8th November) – a day of rest as we acclimatize to our high altitude and prepare for a tough challenge tomorrow. I (Steve) crossed the Rengo La Pass in May 2005. I remember it was tough but do-able. Trouble is, a few weeks ago the Indian cyclone dumped 3m (10 ft) of snow on this part of the Himalaya – we have no idea whether the Pass is safe. Some intrepid trekkers have got through in the last two weeks but that is meaningless. How much snow and ice is there? We do not have climbing gear for this. The morning was spent trekking to a pleasant valley and taking ‘family’ photos. In the afternoon we all ‘free-lanced’ but found ourselves grouping about 250m up a valley side to take in the views and to push our altitude limit just a little higher. After yet another sherpa stew (or in Richard’s case his umpteenth egg and chips) it was early to bed ahead of a 4 am wake-up call tomorrow, Rengo La day!