Gokyo Cho La Pass Trek in May

The weather shift lands on the Gokyo side first. A research mooring at the fourth Gokyo lake found the lake overturning in late April and the surface warming rapidly after mid-May, and the same paper puts the air at Gokyo typically above freezing between May and September. The lakes are open water by then.

Cloud is the cost. HoneyGuide describes May as the warmest month with clouds building through the day and clear mornings until mid-June, and our tour FAQ says spring afternoons can obscure the views. Both point at the same habit: do Gokyo Ri before breakfast on day 9 and start the pass on day 11 early, so the descent to Dzongla at 4,800m is behind you before the afternoon.

By Lobuche on day 12 and Gorak Shep on day 13 the trail is on the main Everest route. The Everest Base Camp day is about 8 hours. The last days, 15 and 16, are about 7 hours each down to Namche and Lukla, and Lukla is where the station record shows the rain building: 128 mm in May.

May is still busy, though past the peak of the Chaitra weeks. The Nepal Trekking Routes season guide describes spring as busy with crowded teahouses. We have no park count for May alone, so no figure is quoted.

A useful asymmetry in this direction: the quiet Gokyo valley comes first, and the crowd is met from day 12. If beds are tight, the main-trail stops from day 12 are the place to ask about first.

May flights leave from Manthali under our flight notice. HoneyGuide's 2020 note says conditions are good through mid-June with clear mornings, and that backlogs clear easily. That is an operator's view, not a statistic, and its flight-rerouting months differ slightly from ours, so follow the notice.

Rain at Lukla is the new factor. The station record shows 128 mm in May against 59 mm in April, and our flight notice reminds you that Lukla flights are subject to delay or cancellation for weather and runway conditions. Keep the spare day on day 18 free.