nature · Dzongri and Goecha La, Pelling
Sunrise from Dzongri Top
Your guide will wake you at about 3:30 or 4 am. The climb to Dzongri Top from camp is short, usually 45 minutes to an hour, but you are already at around 4,000 m, so you will feel every step. Walk slowly, breathe through your nose if you can, and stop often. Wear everything warm you have: thermals, fleece, down jacket, hat, gloves and a buff. A head torch is essential.
On the top, prayer flags snap in the wind and the sky slowly turns grey and then orange. The first peaks to catch the light are the highest. Kangchenjunga, at 8,586 m, glows first, then Kabru, Rathong and Kokthang, and Pandim, at 6,691 m, closer and darker to the right. On a really clear day the view runs along a long arc of the eastern Himalaya, and your guide will name each peak.
Stay for about an hour after sunrise, then walk back down for breakfast. Most groups spend the rest of the day around camp, resting, drinking water and perhaps walking a little higher in the afternoon to help their bodies adjust. Clouds often build by mid-morning, so the dawn view is the one to aim for. If the morning is cloudy, ask your guide whether there is time to try again the next day.
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Questions people ask
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How high is Dzongri Top
Dzongri camp sits at about 4,020 m, and Dzongri Top, the ridge above it, is a little higher. The climb from camp usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. Because you are already high, walk slowly and stop if you feel dizzy or breathless. Tell your guide at once if you have a headache that will not go.
Which peaks can you see from Dzongri Top
On a clear morning you see Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) with Kabru, Rathong, Kokthang, Frey Peak and Pandim (6,691 m), among others. Wikipedia notes that about twelve Himalayan summits are visible from Dzongri Top, Thansing and Goecha La. Your guide will help you name them, as the peaks look different from every angle.
What is the best month for the Dzongri sunrise
October and early November give the clearest skies and the best chance of a cloudless sunrise, though nights are very cold. April and May also work and add flowering rhododendrons lower down, but haze and afternoon cloud are more common. From June to August the trek does not normally run because of the monsoon.
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