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Mera Peak Climb - 21 days
5
From the autumn 2016 season the Mera Peak trek/climb by this tour operator changed from a camping based itinerary of previous years to lodge or tea house based accommodation. I/we departed in October 2016. Before commencing the trek Id convinced myself that the trek in to Mera would be broadly similar to the Everest Base Camp trek, I was very wrong. There is no gentle start and long days requiring sustained effort are the theme pretty much throughout. The route taken for the first few days is very quiet and had a feel of "going around the houses" for me. That quieter route also makes for much more basic lodges than those found on EBC for example but they were all adequate. The longer approach route does however allow for excellent acclimatisation, a major key to success. All the approach routes converge in Kote and it is then a straight shot up the now rocky Hinku valley. I didnt find the approach trek in to be very scenic and that wasnt helped by day after day of cloud cover. I wonder if a November departure would be worthwhile for clearer skies. Khare, which I thought of as base camp village, was a surprsingly busy place with climbers from all over the world either preparing for or returning from Mera. Stories of six groups having been beaten back by high winds the previous day brought about a realisation that nature could quite easily scupper our plans. Having left Khare and reached the snow line, those of us that brought our own mountain boots and crampons were reunited with them by virtue of some porters that had gone ahead of us. I was now using mountain boots and crampons on snow for the first time, I found I tired far quicker than I cared to admit at the time. After a short but steep climb things level out and then it was a relatively short walk to Mera La camp for the night. The sunset and night time stars were very nice. We were now in tents for the first time. I wish I hadn't binned off my Thermarest mattress as a weight saving effort for the Lukla flight. Foam mattresses were provided but I could still feel the cold coming up from the ground. The next day was a short one from Mera La to High Camp. It however is one of those sections where the destination never seems to get any closer despite feeling you're working like a steam train at full speed. The amusement of high camp's precarious position soon passes as you try to concentrate on getting some sleep for the upcoming 0030 wake up call. I got no real sleep. We then started our torch lit climb through the night in deeply sub zero temperatures. It was hard going, really hard going, there was little talking amongst us. It was just heads down and endure it. The group were imposing more rest stops on the guides than they wanted but I don't think there were any negative consequences when all said and done. My fingers were numb with cold. The sun slowly rose and Mera central summit could now be seen ahead. We left our rucksacks at the foot of the summit and using our Jumars went up the surprisingly short roped section fixed by our guides, it was easy and I was on the summit in a minute. It had taken around 7 hours from leaving High Camp with no sleep (for me) since Mera La the previous day. It was bitterly cold on the summit and very windy, there wasn't any open celebration. There now followed an extremely long walk all the way back down to Khare village with only a short pitstop at High Camp along the way. It was exhausting. Availability of water was a problem too since much if not all of our water was still frozen despite the now blazing morning sun. I was gasping for a drink. Ngima our leader had some warm water in a flask and I will definitely take a small flask when I find myself back on a high mountain again. What now remained was the trek "home" to Lukla. The third day of decent involved far more steep climbing than we were in the mood for but we gt where we were going. Conditions on the Zatrwa pass werent as bad as they could be. During our trek trail crampons or shoe grips weren't necessary. There were only a couple sections of ice a few paces long. The decent from the pass is long and steep, thankfully the national park authority have been building a stone staircase which makes things a little easier but you still have to watch your step. There is the potential for an overnight stay a few hours short of Lukla but depending on progress it can be skipped and we pressed on for Lukla and some comfort... relatively speaking
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