Gokyo Lakes – The Mythical 6th

You’ll never make it there and back in one day! The glacier will eat you alive! Tibetan Snowcocks will claw out your eyes and use your body for warmth like a Tauntaun!

The valley to the immediate west of the path to Everest Base Camp, at the bottom of which sit three beautiful lakes and the trekkers’ paradise that is Gokyo village, is marketed widely by Nepalese trekking agencies for its 5 famous lakes. The map though, indeed every map I consulted, showed one more lake just a little past number five, sitting pretty on the intersection of three glaciers.  Only one person I could find in Gokyo, though, seemed to know much about it.    All other responses consisted mainly of “its too far” or “it doesn’t exist” or “leave me alone, who are you?!”.

This being established, I’ll leave the pictures and descriptions of Gokyo’s Five Lakes to the blogs of lesser men. I present here, for your dual pleasure and enlightenment, Lake Six.

The scenery en route is grand, as every walk near the Gokyo lakes must be. Though a ‘trail’ exists on the side of the mountains and past the 5 lakes, the harder but more picturesque walking is on the lip of the glacier itself. With the creaking and cracking of glacial ice as your constant aural accompaniment, the miles melt by in a stream of soaring scenery on the slippery scree slope of the glacial moraine.

Several groups reported having turned back towards Gokyo after having seen this rock, just past the 5^th Lake, and assumed it impassable without technical equipment.  These groups were wrong. Skirt between this Guardian and the edge of the glacier, and the 6^th Lake is nearly yours.

Beyond the Guardian Rock a new view (of a new glacier!) opens up, with 6^th Lake at the end of a valley covered in snow that looks untrammeled except by boulders that could (and may?) be fresh from the slopes of the surrounding peaks.

Just south of the lake itself, and I mean this in all seriousness, is the most beautiful mountain in the world. Let the ignorant masses have their Ama Dablam. My mountain, either unnamed or unknown to my mapmaker, is more beautiful without doubt. And she is all mine. I haven’t put a single picture of my mountain on the internet… and don’t intend to start now. Moving on.

Gokyo’s 6^th Lake, honestly, is itself not all that impressive. I didn’t even bother to go down to the shore of the lake itself, more interested in sitting and staring up at the mountains and down at the glaciers as I melted snow (white… no yellow to be seen) for water and rested for lunch.

On the way back to Gokyo, much to my delight, I passed one small tent at the base of a large hill between 4^th and 5^th lake. Next time I go to Nepal, I’ll be camping in this very spot. My mountain awaits!

I hiked out to Gokyo’s 6^th Lake because, after over two weeks of hard hiking, I was confident I could go there and backed where others scoffed at the audacity of the idea.

For Gokyo’s Other Mountain, though, the motivation was different. I just knew. You could see, from the lines of sight and the topo grading on the map, that it would have The Perfect View down a small glacier and straight up the West Face of Mt Everest.

Perfect view indeed. Before I even got halfway up the next mountain to the north of the famous viewpoint at Gokyo Ri (just past Gokyo’s 4^th Lake), Everest peeked her big broad head out for a look.  The feeling was mutual, too, as I spent so much time staring at the face of Everest that I almost tripped up in deep snow more than a few times.

The way up started out pretty gentle, hopping between clear patches of ground and trying to avoid the snowy slush that seeped unceasingly into my summer shoes.  Eventually, though, there was no choice but to push on through the powder and hold to the “keep moving keep warm” school of thought.

After a few hours of uphill walk and a few more of an uphill scramble over the boulder rubble the mountain had cast off before I arrived, I stopped short of the top out of respect for a rock face that had no business being free climbed without the safety of rope and harness.

Even from the ‘almost top’ though, the panorama was a previously hidden vista past the craggy peaks of the Himalayas and over the border to Tibet and China.

Of course, even stopping well short of this peak, there’s still that other one just across the glacier.  She’s kind of a big deal.

The biggest reason to go trekking at the base of Everest is, of course, to finally see Everest with one’s own two eyes.

And man, there are plenty of opportunities.  All of these were taken from my personal peak just north of Gokyo Ri.  I highly recommend the walk, if you’re ever in the area.

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I visited Gokyo and the greater EBC area independently, but I seemed to be the exception. You can arrange guides in Kathmandu or Lukla if you’ll have some spare time, but if you need to arrange a trek to the Gokyo Lakes in a hurry check out the options on GetYourGuide.