Pikey Peak
Sir Edmund Hillary’s favourite view of Everest, reached from the road.
Pikey Peak is reached by jeep rather than flight — the trailhead at Dhap sits a day's drive from Kathmandu along the Araniko Highway, well below the Khumbu's usual altitudes. Over seven days the trail climbs through Solu's farmland and forest ridges to Pikey Peak Base Camp, then to the 4,065m summit itself for the pre-dawn view Sir Edmund Hillary is reported to have called his favourite of Everest. The route then descends through the Sherpa village of Junbesi, home to Thupten Chholing monastery, before ending at Phaplu.
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Route map
Waypoints
- Day 1 — Dhap 2,850 m
- Day 2 — Jhapre 2,820 m
- Day 3 — Pikey Peak Base Camp 3,640 m
- Day 4 — Pikey Peak 4,065 m
- Day 4 — Jasmane Bhanjyang 3,530 m
- Day 5 — Junbesi 2,700 m
- Day 6 — Phaplu 2,413 m
Map key
- Surveyed trail
- Follows the road — no separate trail mapped
Elevation profile
| Day | Place | Altitude | Gain from previous night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhap | 2,850 m | first night |
| 2 | Jhapre | 2,820 m | -30 m |
| 3 | Pikey Peak Base Camp | 3,640 m | +820 m |
| 4 | Jasmane Bhanjyang | 3,530 m | -110 m |
| 5 | Junbesi | 2,700 m | -830 m |
| 6 | Phaplu | 2,413 m | -287 m |
Terrain elevation interpolated between waypoints by SRTM30m — not the route's sourced altitudes. May read above or below maxAltitude/maxSleepAltitude (both cited, manual figures); render or label accordingly, do not treat as the same number.
Acclimatisation
1 night on this itinerary gains more than 500 m of sleeping altitude: Pikey Peak Base Camp (+820 m). It schedules no rest day at altitude. The highest night is 3,640 m.
| Day | Sleeping at | Altitude | Gain from previous night | Rest day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dhap | 2,850 m | first night | |
| 2 | Jhapre | 2,820 m | -30 m | |
| 3 | Pikey Peak Base Camp | 3,640 m | +820 m (above the 500 m guideline) | |
| 4 | Jasmane Bhanjyang | 3,530 m | -110 m | |
| 5 | Junbesi | 2,700 m | -830 m | |
| 6 | Phaplu | 2,413 m | -287 m |
Cited to the Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines (2024): above 3,000 m, do not increase sleeping elevation by more than 500 m per day, and take a rest day every 3–4 days. WMS itself notes that terrain often makes strict adherence impossible.
This is itinerary information, not medical advice, and not clearance to trek. Acclimatisation varies between individuals.
Your trip, day by day — all 7 days, travel included
Every day of the 7-day trip in the order it happens, including the flights, drives and rest days that have no walking stage. These are trip day numbers. The next section numbers walking days instead, starting again at 1, so a day number here and a walking day number there are not the same day.
- Day 1 of 7
Kathmandu to Dhap (2,850m)
The trek begins with a full day's drive along the Araniko Highway rather than a mountain flight, ending at the roadhead village of Dhap. This route has no airstrip and no permit requirement — unlike its Khumbu neighbours, Pikey Peak sits outside Sagarmatha National Park.
- Day 2 of 7
Dhap to Jhapre (2,820m)
The trail leaves the road behind and follows a forested ridge to Jhapre, a farm village worked into the hillside terraces above the valley.
- Day 3 of 7
Jhapre to Pikey Peak Base Camp (3,640m)
The ridge climbs steadily out of farmland into rhododendron and pine forest to the lodge cluster mapped as Pikey Basecamp — the staging point for the following morning's summit push.
- Day 4 of 7
Pikey Peak (4,065m) — Descend to Jasmane Bhanjyang (3,530m)
A pre-dawn climb to the summit, reported to be Sir Edmund Hillary's favourite view of Everest — wide and unobstructed rather than the closer, walled-in views from higher in the Khumbu. Nobody sleeps at the top. The trail then descends to Jasmane Bhanjyang, a small lodge settlement also mapped in OSM as "Jasmane Bayang".
- Day 5 of 7
Jasmane Bhanjyang to Junbesi (2,700m)
The trail drops into the lower Solu region, a gentler landscape of terraced fields and pine forest below the alpine terrain further north. Junbesi is a Sherpa village home to Thupten Chholing monastery.
- Day 6 of 7
Junbesi to Phaplu (2,413m)
A shorter final trekking day follows the ridge down to Phaplu, an airstrip village in the Solu district and the end of the walking route.
- Day 7 of 7
Drive to Kathmandu
The return drive retraces the Araniko Highway back to Kathmandu, closing out the trek.
Walking days on the mapped route — 6 days of sourced altitudes
Numbered by walking day: walking day 1 is the first day with a mapped stage. Every altitude below is a waypoint from this route's own sources, listed at the foot of the page.
- Dhap 2,850 m
overnight
Road-head, reached by jeep from Kathmandu via the Araniko Highway — no flight for this route.
- Jhapre 2,820 m
overnight
Farm village on the ridge approach.
- Pikey Peak Base Camp 3,640 m
overnight
Staging lodge cluster below the summit, mapped in OSM as "Pikey Basecamp".
- Pikey Peak 4,065 m
day stop
Pre-dawn summit push. Sir Edmund Hillary's reported favourite view of Everest. Nobody sleeps at the summit.
- Jasmane Bhanjyang 3,530 m
overnight
Descent to a small lodge settlement, mapped in OSM as "Jasmane Bayang" (surveyed on foot).
- Junbesi 2,700 m
overnight
Sherpa village in the lower Solu; home to Thupten Chholing monastery.
- Phaplu 2,413 m
overnight
Ends at Phaplu's airstrip village. Day 7 is the drive back to Kathmandu — no further waypoint.
The remaining 1 day of this 7-day trip cover travel to and from the trailhead, and buffer time for delays en route — the specifics vary by route.
Permits
No permit is required for this route. This has been verified, not left unresearched.
Cost breakdown
- Permits
- No permit is required for this route.
Permit fees above are the only figures on this page we have re-verified against the issuing authority; the route's itinerary and altitudes are built from the sources listed further down this page, not independently re-verified with one. Other trip costs — teahouse accommodation, a guide, a porter, and flights where the route requires one — vary by season, operator and party size and are not itemised here.
When to go
Month-by-month fit for Pikey Peak, based on this route's own best-months window.
- Jan avoid
- Feb shoulder
- Mar best
- Apr best
- May best
- Jun shoulder
- Jul avoid
- Aug avoid
- Sep shoulder
- Oct best
- Nov best
- Dec shoulder
Sources
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7 days in the Everest (Khumbu) region, highest night at 3,640 m, from USD 650.