Overview
Mera Peak is 6,476 metres, the highest of Nepal's permitted trekking peaks, and technically among the easiest things you can climb at that height. The route is a roped glacier walk with a single short steep step near the top.
What makes it hard is the number. Mera's summit is more than a kilometre above Everest Base Camp, and the approach spends eighteen days in a valley with no road, no helicopter pad worth the name and very few people.
The route
Out of Lukla the trail turns south immediately, away from the Everest traffic, and crosses the Zatrwa La at 4,610 m into the Hinku — a long, empty, forested valley that sees a fraction of the Khumbu's numbers.
Kothe, Thangnak and Khare step the altitude up to 5,045 m. Above Khare the party ropes up at the Mera La and camps at about 5,800 m on a rock shelf with the whole valley beneath it.
Summit day leaves around two in the morning for a long, steady plod up the glacier, with one pitch of fixed rope below the central summit.
The view
Five eight-thousanders: Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu and Kanchenjunga. That panorama is why people come, and it is the best summit view in Nepal available without an expedition permit.
What it costs
USD 2,400 to 4,200. The NMA Group B permit is USD 250 in spring and USD 125 in autumn; Makalu Barun National Park and the municipality add about NPR 6,000 between them. The rest is Lukla flights, a full climbing crew, and the camps above Khare — the Hinku has no lodges once you leave it.
Day by day
The 18 days itinerary
Distances, walking times, altitudes and accommodation for every stage — stored as structured data, not written into the prose.
- Day 1
Kathmandu to Lukla, walk to Chutanga
Kathmandu (1,400 m) → Lukla (2,860 m) → Chutanga (3,050 m)
- Distance
- 5 km
- Walking
- 3 hours after the flight
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 3,050 m
- Elevation
- +190 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Chutanga
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
The Mera approach turns south out of Lukla immediately, away from the Everest trail. Within an hour there is nobody else on the path.
- Day 2
Chutanga — acclimatisation day
Chutanga (3,050 m) and the ridge above
- Distance
- 5 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 3,050 m → 3,050 m
- Elevation
- +500 m / −500 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Chutanga
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 3
Chutanga over the Zatrwa La to Thuli Kharka
Chutanga (3,050 m) → Zatrwa La (4,610 m) → Thuli Kharka (4,300 m)
- Distance
- 10 km
- Walking
- 7 hours
- Altitude
- 3,050 m → 4,300 m
- Elevation
- +1560 m / −310 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Thuli Kharka
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A big day and the first test — 1,560 metres of ascent to a 4,610 m pass on day three. Groups that fly in and push straight over often feel it here.
- Zatrwa La
- The Hinku valley opening south
- Day 4
Thuli Kharka to Kothe
Thuli Kharka (4,300 m) → Kothe (3,600 m)
- Distance
- 12 km
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 4,300 m → 3,600 m
- Elevation
- −700 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Kothe
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Rhododendron and birch forest
- First sight of Mera's north face
- Day 5
Kothe to Thangnak
Kothe (3,600 m) → Thangnak (4,350 m)
- Distance
- 9 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 3,600 m → 4,350 m
- Elevation
- +750 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Thangnak
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Gompa at Gondishung
- Charpati Himal
- Day 6
Thangnak — acclimatisation day
Thangnak (4,350 m) → Sabai Tsho (4,500 m) → Thangnak
- Distance
- 6 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 4,350 m → 4,350 m
- Elevation
- +400 m / −400 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Thangnak
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Sabai Tsho glacial lake
- Day 7
Thangnak to Khare
Thangnak (4,350 m) → Khare (5,045 m)
- Distance
- 7 km
- Walking
- 5 hours
- Altitude
- 4,350 m → 5,045 m
- Elevation
- +695 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Khare
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Khare is the last settlement and where everything changes — the Mera glacier is visible above and the lodges are the last roof for three nights.
- Day 8
Khare — acclimatisation and skills
Khare (5,045 m) and the moraine above
- Distance
- 5 km
- Walking
- 4 hours
- Altitude
- 5,045 m → 5,045 m
- Elevation
- +350 m / −350 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Khare
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Crampon and rope practice on the glacier snout
- Day 9
Khare to Mera La high camp
Khare (5,045 m) → Mera La (5,415 m) → high camp (5,800 m)
- Distance
- 7 km
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 5,045 m → 5,800 m
- Elevation
- +755 m
- Sleep
- Tented high camp
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Roped from the Mera La onwards. High camp sits on a rock shelf at about 5,800 m with the whole Hinku below it — a spectacular and very cold place to spend a night.
- Mera La
- Camp on the rock shelf above the glacier
- Day 10
Summit day, and down to Khare
High camp (5,800 m) → Mera Peak (6,476 m) → Khare (5,045 m)
- Distance
- 12 km
- Walking
- 10–12 hours
- Altitude
- 5,800 m → 5,045 m
- Elevation
- +676 m / −1431 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Khare
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Away around two in the morning. A long, steady, roped glacier plod at altitude with one short steep step of fixed rope to the true central summit. No technical difficulty — just 676 metres of ascent starting at 5,800 m, in the cold and dark, which is quite enough.
- Everest
- Lhotse
- Makalu
- Cho Oyu and Kanchenjunga from the top
- Day 11
Contingency day
Reserved at Khare
- Altitude
- 5,045 m → 5,045 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Khare
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 12
Khare to Kothe
Khare (5,045 m) → Thangnak → Kothe (3,600 m)
- Distance
- 16 km
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 5,045 m → 3,600 m
- Elevation
- −1445 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Kothe
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 13
Kothe to Thuli Kharka
Kothe (3,600 m) → Thuli Kharka (4,300 m)
- Distance
- 12 km
- Walking
- 6 hours
- Altitude
- 3,600 m → 4,300 m
- Elevation
- +700 m
- Sleep
- Lodge or camp, Thuli Kharka
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 14
Thuli Kharka over the Zatrwa La to Lukla
Thuli Kharka (4,300 m) → Zatrwa La (4,610 m) → Lukla (2,860 m)
- Distance
- 14 km
- Walking
- 8 hours
- Altitude
- 4,300 m → 2,860 m
- Elevation
- +310 m / −1750 m
- Sleep
- Lodge, Lukla
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Day 15
Lukla to Kathmandu
Lukla (2,860 m) → Kathmandu (1,400 m)
- Walking
- 35 minutes by air
- Altitude
- 2,860 m → 1,400 m
- Meals
- Breakfast
- Day 16
Contingency day in Kathmandu
Reserved for a delayed Lukla flight
- Altitude
- 1,400 m → 1,400 m
- Meals
- Breakfast
Route map
Where the trail goes
Route line, start and end points, and every overnight stop. Locations are shared entities — the same record powers the destination and itinerary pages.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mera really the highest trekking peak?
How technical is it?
Why is the failure rate high, then?
What can you see from the top?
When should you go?
About the author
Tom Eriksen
Gear editor & photographer
Tom tests trekking equipment the only way that produces honest answers: by carrying it for weeks at a time above 4,000 metres. He shoots most of the photography on this site and writes the gear reviews, comparison tables and packing lists.
Writes about: Trekking gear · Photography · Packing and weight
