Three weeks in Nepal climbing Mera and Island Peaks
Trip Report: Mera Peak + Amphu Lhabtsa Pass + Island Peak (Spring 2026)
Just got back from a trip through the Hinku Valley and Khumbu region in Nepal. Original objective was Mera Peak, Amphu Lhabtsa Pass, Island Peak, and Lobuche East, but I ended up stopping with Island Peak after getting pretty wrecked by illness and weather.
Route was roughly:
Kathmandu → Lukla → Chutenga → Tuli Kharka → Kothe → Thangnag → Khare → Mera High Camp → Konga Dingma → Amphu Lhabtsa Base Camp → Chukhung → Island Peak Base Camp → Island Peak summit → Chukhung → Dingboche → Kathmandu
A few observations for anyone thinking about doing something similar:
Getting into Lukla was chaos
We got bounced between multiple helicopter companies in Kathmandu because of weather delays and scheduling issues. At one point we got dropped on a random hilltop because Lukla was socked in and nobody knew if we’d continue flying or hike in. Eventually we caught a small weather window and made it into Lukla.
The runway there is even crazier in person than it looks in photos. Very steep uphill runway ending at a wall on one side and a cliff on the other.
The “dry season” was not dry for us.
It rained or snowed basically every day for the first two weeks. A lot of the trip became trying to dry gear around stoves, rotating damp layers, navigating wet rock and snow, and hoping clouds would lift long enough to move safely.
Everyone kept saying the weather pattern this year was unusual, so I suppose I just got lucky...
The tea house system is awesome, and was one of the coolest parts of the trip. Every night you end up packed into a warm room with people from all over the world doing completely different objectives:
- Everest/Lhotse expeditions
- Mera trekkers
- first-time hikers
- experienced alpinists
- random backpackers
That said, after two weeks of yak poop stove smoke I was a little over it.
Mera Peak
The approach up the Hinku Valley was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip. Once you leave Lukla and cross the Zatrwa La Pass, traffic drops off dramatically compared to the Everest Base Camp side. Kothe was probably my favorite villages on that side.
Although we got to Khare (~5,000m) in the sunshine, weather was already deteriorating again. We pushed to high camp in steady snowfall and spent the night listening to snow hit the tents. Other groups decided to wait out the snow in Khare, but we decided to send it. I don't think if we had waited another day if the outcome would have changed.
Adding to the challenge, the entire team got food poisoning the night before summit push, which was less than ideal. Especially since the privy at high camp must be experienced as words fail to describe the horrors contained within.
We left high camp around 1:30am in snowfall and wind and climbed for about five hours in near whiteout conditions. Navigation was difficult even on the normal route because recent snow was covering tracks and markers. We ended up turning around 15-20 meters below the summit because the final slope had turned into waist-deep snow drifts with zero visibility. Frustrating, but definitely the right call.
Amphu Lhabtsa Pass
This section was much more sporty than the trekking portions beforehand. The route finding through snow-covered boulder fields was probably some of the most mentally tiring terrain of the trip. Everything looks the same under flat cloudy skies once fresh snow covers the cairns and trail.
The pass itself involved fixed lines, jumarring, rappelling, and a lot of moving carefully on wet rock and snow. We had terrible visibility crossing it, which definitely added to the atmosphere. This section felt much more “expedition” than “trek.”
Island Peak
Completely different style of climb than Mera. Mera mostly felt like a very high altitude snow slog. Island Peak was steeper, more technical, and more physical. The final 200m or so up the headwall was essentially vertical fixed lines. Lots of jumarring and hanging in harnesses waiting for movement above you. We finally lucked out with weather here and got a beautiful sunrise from the summit.
By the time we got back to base camp I was completely cooked. Between GI issues, respiratory crud, poor sleep, and several long storm days in a row, I knew I wasn’t going to recover enough to safely push for Lobuche before the next weather system moved in.
A few random things:
- A random dog hiked with us for two full days. He decided not to walk up Mera with us. Maybe he was a park ranger doing his rounds...
- Porters carrying enormous loads through snow while wearing sneakers or was humbling.
- Ginger lemon honey tea absolutely carried this expedition.
- Layering becomes an obsession when you spend all day going between sweating uphill and freezing during breaks.
- Whiteout conditions in boulder fields are surprisingly disorienting.
Overall: incredible trip. I've wanted to go to Nepal ever since reading Krakauer's Into Thin Air in high school, so this was definitely crossing off a bucket list item. The weather made it harder than expected, but it was totally worth it.