Gokyo Cho La Pass Trek in December

December is where the lakes change. The research record at the fourth Gokyo lake has ice forming in mid-December in the 2018 to 2019 season, after the lake had cooled below 4°C. A trekker who walked the valley in December 2017 found the streams on the west side mostly frozen, skies mostly clear, some wind, and at Dole a few specks of snow in the morning but no winter snowfall.

The pass is the open question. Heaven Himalaya says winter can make the pass difficult or even blocked. Himalayan Glacier says the guides decide between crossing and turning back on the day, often from whether another team has crossed. The order of events on day 11 is the same: a steep climb on loose rock, a short glacier stretch, then the descent to Dzongla at 4,800m, about 7 hours from Thangnak.

Beyond the pass, December is a dry-trail month. The Kala Patthar start on day 14 was about minus 15 with strong wind in that December 2017 trek, by the trekker's own estimate, and the walk down to Pheriche at 4,200m is about 7 hours. Dry air means the last days to Namche and Lukla are easy underfoot.

December is light, not empty. HoneyGuide's 2020 article calls it the most underrated trekking month, with low trekker numbers. The December 2017 trekker found other groups on the main trail at Gorak Shep and a handful of lodges that were busy, and on the Gokyo side shared a Dole lodge with a German couple and their crew.

Lodge cover on the Gokyo side thins as winter deepens, so the early weeks of December are the safer ones. Ask us which lodges are open for your dates.

December flights leave from Kathmandu under our flight notice. HoneyGuide says December flights run smoothly, but the trekker of December 2017 left Kathmandu about 70 minutes late because of fog and flew back about an hour late in wind. Both can be true in the same month.

The day table has day 18 as its only spare, and the international flight on day 19. The notice's advice of one or two extra days applies in full.