Five busy days were spent at Tingri developing and printing; and as the weather showed little sign of improvement, I decided to go on with Headquarters to Chöbuk, in the Rongbuk Valley and work on that side, so as to make sure of completing the most important part, in the vicinity of Everest, and return to the Kyetrāk Valley if there should be time. So on the 24th Colonel Bury and I left Tingri and reached Chöbuk on the 25th, where we met Mallory and Bullock, just in from their reconnaissance of the North and North-west sides of Everest. A talk with them gave me some idea of the country, and the view from an 18,000-foot hill above Chöbuk enabled me to make a plan of campaign: far more extensive, as always, than the weather eventually allowed.
Colonel Bury, Mallory and Bullock had gone on to Khārta on July 26; on the 27th I moved up the right bank of the Rongbuk Valley some 10 miles, to the monastery, above which I took a 20,000-foot station the next day. The weather was dreadful, but at 6 p.m. I got a round of photographs, which really turned out very well considering the time of day at which they were taken: it took me four and a half hours to get up this peak—fresh snow and scree—and although I had no glissades, only half an hour to come down.
On the 27th I moved camp to a grassy hollow near the snout of the glacier—Mallory and Bullock's base—and next day occupied another hill overlooking the main glacier and valley, and looking up the side valley on the East, which joins the Dzākar Chu just below the glacier snout. The next three days were spent in establishing a light camp on the left bank of the East branch of the Rongbuk Glacier, about 3 miles from its snout, and taking a station on its left bank to overlook both the East and main glaciers.
The Rongbuk Glacier is made up of two large branches, one flowing from the snow basin immediately below the great North wall of Everest, and the other, the “West Rongbuk” which joins the main stream about 4 miles above the snout of the glacier, flowing East in the basin between the high North-west ridge of Everest and the South-east slopes of Pk. 25,990 (Gyāchung Kang). At one time there was a third branch, the “East Rongbuk,” which must have also joined the main stream, but this has receded until its snout is now a mile or more East of the main glacier, and only its torrent pours into a large cave in the latter. The East Rongbuk itself consists of two branches: one, the more southerly, flows from the great snow basin (which we eventually crossed to reach the North Col) between Everest, its North Peak and Col, and Pk. 23,800 (Khārtaphu); and the other, which joins the South branch about 2 miles from its snout, from between Pks. 23,800 and 23,420. The former gives a 20,000-foot pass, very steep on the South side, to the Kāma Valley; and the latter, an easy pass of about the same height to the head of one branch of the Khārta Valley.
I camped, at about 19,500 feet, on the moraine-covered glacier opposite the junction of the northerly branch from Pks. 23,800 and 23,420. On the way up I followed the watercourse between the ice of the Main Rongbuk Glacier and the scree and conglomerate slopes to the East of it, as far as the mouth of the East Rongbuk stream (3 miles), which gave good though boulder-strewn going. Thence a short scramble up “cut-bank” on the right bank of the East Rongbuk stream to the shelf of an old lateral moraine of that glacier, and along the latter—excellent going—to near its snout. The stream is pretty big in the evening; but quite easy to cross—except for iced rocks—in the early morning: and from there I followed up a series of lateral moraines on the left bank, to my camp. It was not till I was coming down that I discovered that the moraine-covered glacier itself—here covered with shale instead of boulders and scree as in the case of the main glacier—gave comfortable walking.
A little distance below my camp site, the moraine-covered snout gives place to pinnacled ice, divided into three sections by two broad, shaly medial moraines. Either of the latter would be very suitable for a camp, and would give an excellent route to our 21,500-foot camp below the Chang La. The latter might, I think, be reached by this route in three days from the base camp at the snout of the main glacier, camping the first night at 19,000 feet at the start of the medial moraine, the second at 20,000 feet on the medial moraine some 2 miles above the junction of the Northern and Southern branches of the East Rongbuk, and the third night on snow at 21,500 feet below the North Col. The better moraine to ascend would require reconnaissance; for the pinnacles between them are difficult and slow to cross. The valley sides are steep in the lower reaches of the glacier, but more shaly and gentle on both branches, above their junction.
August 3 broke clear; and I started up a likely looking peak behind (South of) camp, which appeared to be on the ridge between the East and main glaciers. I afterwards found that this was not the case; at the time I had to stop on a lower point as the clouds settled down. From here I had a glimpse of a big peak—Makālu, I thought—over the pass at the head of the southerly branch of the glacier: and this gave me the idea that there must be a comparatively low pass from here to the Kāma Valley. But clouds prevented me seeing more and studying the topography more carefully. There were heavy snowstorms on August 4 and 5, but the 6th looked better, and after four hours' most strenuous step-cutting up and slithering down pinnacles, I crossed the glacier and ascended a 21,000-foot station on the other side, from which I obtained good, if cloudy, views of the East Rongbuk Glacier. Snow in the night and a dull morning made me decide to abandon this area—I could get my camp no farther up owing to having insufficient warm clothes to camp all my coolies at this height—and I returned to the base camp, preparatory to tackling the West side of the Rongbuk Valley. Six hours' easy going took me to my base camp.
After two days' rest and office work, I crossed the glacier and put a light camp at about 19,000 feet in a small hanging valley below the “Finger,” a black rock gendarme which is a very prominent landmark on the left bank of the Rongbuk Valley. On August 11 it snowed heavily, and I found my bed, in which I spent the day, very hard indeed—the camp being pitched on large boulders on top of the moraine. On the 12th, 13th, and 14th, I started for the “Finger,” the first time by the ridge immediately above camp, which gave some nice climbing with the rocks partly snow covered as they were, and the other two days, by a much quicker but less interesting route up soft snow and scree. Each day the clouds came down, and although I waited till nearly dark at about 20,500 feet on the ridge, it was not till the third day that I got a round of indifferent photographs.
Time was getting on, so on the 15th I called my “Finger” station “good enough” and moved camp up the left bank of the main glacier to a point on the old lateral moraine, opposite the entrance of the stream from the East Rongbuk; and the next day round the corner to the West, some distance up the West Rongbuk Glacier, and about 1,000 feet above it. En route, I tried to get some photographs from the high moraine at the junction of the West with the main glacier; but again the weather defeated me, and I got into camp—another uncomfortable one—soaked to the skin.
I was in this camp for five days; most of them spent huddled under rocks waiting for the clouds to lift. I had one beautiful day, my only one in six weeks, and got some very nice photographs of Mount Everest and its West ridge. It is surprising how a little good weather and the feeling of having really done some work affects one's spirits!