Red Sky In The Morning......Shephards Warning!

The morning in Thame again consisted of a great deal of coffee as we watched the high cirrus and stratus clouds creep into the valley. It provided a beautiful view as we packed our gear for the hike up the valley but also warned us of a possibility of severe weather approaching. We climbed steeply out of Thame and then crested the ridge and saw well up the valley toward Tibet and Renjo La Pass. The pass into Tibet has been known to be crossed by Tibetan Refugees fleeing China in the middle of winter and is to be quite treacherous. With each step the landscape appeared more Martian with many of the signs of life diminishing while the snow-capped peaks provided us ample motivation for continuing. The group hiked strong and we passed many groups who were struggling for every breath in the low oxygen environment. We followed a glacial fed stream all of the way up to the confluence of the trail to Tibet and that to Gokyo. We turned to the west and crossed the stream and climbed very steeply to the tiny village of Lungden(14,380ft) where we would spend a rest day before our attempt at Renjo La.
The sky was darkening throughout the day and as we arrived the temperature froze us to the bone. We had hot tea and then loaded our gear into our rooms which provided us little shelter against the cold winds approaching. The only solace we had was to warm up in our sleeping bags and wait for a good hot meal in the evening. As we increased in elevation the prices increased while food quality deteriorated. The tea house was cold and the door to the outside would not stay shut. We froze for a couple more hours and then waved the white flag and retreated to our sleeping bags where we hoped to find relative comfort.
The next morning we awoke to a freezing room and hoped to be warmed by the intense heat of a high altitude sun. Instead, the clouds had become very gray toward the southeast and a few small snow flakes began to fall. We ate breakfast and discussed the worsening weather. By the end of the meal and our coffee the snow was falling quite hard and our plans for a day hike turned to card playing in the tea house. The entire day consisted of sitting in the tea house as people arrived from the Gokyo via Renjo La Pass. The weather on the pass was getting worse with decreasing visibility and a great deal of snow accumulating. Several inches had fallen throughout the day and we waited in the dark tea house talking of our chances in the morning. Guides voiced their opinions and it was agreed the no decision could be made until we saw the status of the weather in the morning for the other side of the pass to Gokyo was incredibly steep and the path would be icy and covered with snow. Our ambitions for Renjo La Pass seemed to be being put to the test. As always, ambition in the mountains only goes as far as the weather will allow.