Saturday, November 19, 2011

Namche to Namche - 3 passes, 3 peaks, and Everest Base Camp

We've had no internet service, so it's been a little while since my last update.  We've done an  incredible amount of hiking in the past week.  We slept above 15,000 feet for 7 nights in a row.  We also climbed above 17,000 feet 4 times and above 18,000 feet 3 times.

Another great day.

The first section was from Namche Bazaar to Pangboche. This was a really nice hike through a lot of forest. The next day took us to Chuckhung, where the high elevation began.  From here, we climbed up Chuckhung Ri.  It was the highest elevation we would reach for the trip, 18,238 feet.  The climb was tough.  We ascended 2600 feet in 1.5 miles.  For those in Fort Collins, that's about double the elevation gain of horsetooth in half the distance and at 18,000 feet.  Needless to say my legs were burning.


Ryan on Chukhung Ri - 18,238 feet.

The next day we left Chukhung for Lobuche.  Tom and I took different routes.  Tom was feeling tired and went down and around.  I took the Kongma La route which took me over 18,000 feet for the second day in a row.  This ended up being the toughest hike of the trip.  Especially since I had done the Chuckhung Ri the day before.

Ryan on the Kongma La - 18,159 ft.

Lobuche was the coldest night yet.  It was -7C in our room.  The walls were also 1/8" plywood, so you could here everything.  The guy in the next room snored all night and I barely got any sleep. 

From Lobuche we headed up to Gorak Shep.  From here we set out to Everest Base Camp.  I thought this was a very nice hike.  Great views along the whole stretch.  Everest Base Camp itself is empty this time of year, because all the Everest attempts are made in the spring when there is good snowpack.
Ryan and Tom at Everest Base Camp - 17,721 ft.

 From Gorak Shep, we also summited Kala Pattar.  This would be the third time above 18,000 feet.  It was also cloudy that morning.  It was the only cloudy morning we had in over 30 days of trekking.  Even though the views weren't great, the clouds made for an interesting feel.


Ryan and Tom on Kala Pattar - 18,223 feet.
After Gorak Shep, we hiked to Dzonglha to prepare for the Cho La.  Dzonglha was completly packed.  We had to sleep in the dormatory with about 12 other people.  It worked out OK because no one snored.  The following morning we headed out to hike the Cho La.  This was the shortest of the 3 passes, and also the most traveled because it connects the Everest region with Gokyo. 

The trekking crew on Cho La (17,782 ft) - Ryan, Govinda, Tom, and Nima

The final part of the trek to Gokyo was very different than our normal treks.  You cross the Ngozumpa Glacier.  It felt like being on another planet.  It's also hard to tell you're on a glacier because it's covered in gray dirt and rocks.


Crossing Ngozumpa Glacier.

The Gokyo region was very nice.  Gokyo has a very large blue lake at the base of the town.  From here, we summited the Gokyo Ri.  This was another tough hike that was straight up a steep hill.


Ryan and Tom on Gokyo Ri with Everest in the background - 17,519 ft.
The next day we set out for Renjo La.  This is the third and final pass.  It also turned out to be the nicest.  Very few people do this pass, and we only passed one trekker on the way down.  The hike really felt like you went back in time, to how trekking in the Himalays probably felt 20 years ago, before there was more development and tourists.  It was a great hike to end our trip with.


The trekking crew on Renjo La (17,772 ft.) - Govinda, Ryan, Nima, and Tom
After completing the Renjo La, we spent a night in Thame.  It was a nice quiet place with a good lodge.  The lodge is owned by Aba Sherpa who climbed Everest a record 21 times.

Today we reached Namche Bazaar, which takes us back to where we started this loop.  All that's left is to hike to Lukla and get a flight to Kathmandu.  We've done so much it's hard to process everything.  Everything went very well with no weather delays or major illnesses.  To say this was the trip of a lifetime would be an understatement.  It was an absolutly incredible experience, from the hiking, to the people, to the culture, to the mountains, to the lack of media/news/technology.   Like any trip this long, there were some frustrating moments.  This is somewhat expected since you are pushing yourself physically very hard every day, often with very little sleep.  It does feel nice to be going lower and feeling a bit warmer as we head out.  I will definatly need to spend some time reflecting back on the entire trip when I get home. 


Ama Dablam.




Thursday, November 10, 2011

Lukla to Namchee Bazaar - The start of Everest Base Camp

The trip started with our flight to Lukla.  The Lukla airport is definitely a chaotic place.  We thought our flight was going to go in about 2 hours, but all of a sudden we were up and on the plane.  The flight wasn't nearly as scary as I expected.  Probably because the weather was perfect.  On a day with worse weather, it may be a pretty rough flight.  It was neat to see the small landing strip on the side of the mountain. The land was very smooth though. 

Starting the trek feels a little weird.  We are half way through the trip, but it feels like we are starting over.  Lower elevation, warmer temperatures, new people.  After our flight to Lukla, we hiked to Phakding to spend the night.  It was a nice place and quiet. The rooms are generally small with two small beds.  You only go in the bedroom to sleep though.  Most of your free time in the evening is spent in the common areas.

Our room in Phakding, which is typical of the trek.
The next day we hiked to Namchee Bazaar.  This was a pretty tough hike.  It had a lot of up and down for awhile, before it climbed about 2600 feet up.  Namchee Bazaar is unique from the other towns we've seen.  Most of the towns are a single row of teahouses and shops along each side of the road.  Namchee is built similar to an amphitheater.  I think it would be impossible to live here and not be in shape.  You constantly walk up and down to get anywhere. 

Tom above Namchee Bazaar.


For our acclimatization day, we hiked over to Khumjung.  We past a group of school girls heading the same direction.  They were probably in 4th grade.  They hike 1-1.5 hours and 1200feet of elevation one way everyday just to goto school.  Seeing what some of the Nepali people do makes you appreciate how much access we have to schools, food, safety, health clinics...

Of course, the best part is that we are finally getting views of the large Himalayan mountains we came to see.  We've had several opportunities to view Everest.  We've also been having great weather, so the views have been fantastic.  The flights to Lukla were cancelled for 7 days straight before we got there, but luckily the weather cleared and we flew.

Everest and Lhotse to the right.

Next we will trek to Tengboche where there is a festival going on.  After that, we hit our first high pass, the Kongma La (also the first time we will get above 18,000 feet), and head towards Everest Base Camp. 

Ryan and Tom with Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam.


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Manang to Pokhara - End of the Annapurna Circuit

We completed the Annapurna circuit last night with our arrival into Pokhara.  The final segment had it's ups and downs.

The first part of the trek was from Manang to Khangsar.  Manang was a nice place with great views of Gangapurna and it's glacial lake.  There was an old gompa that we visited that took about an hour to climb to.  It was very interesting.  The monk there lived in rooms carved out of the rock face, similar to Mesa Verde. 

Gangapurna with it's glacial lake.  View from Monk's home in Manang.

We've had a chance to visit many monasteries and gompas.  We received several blessings for safe passage over Thorong La.

Having my luck stat increased by +10.

Following Khangsar, we had 4 tough days in a row.  First was Khangsar to Tilicho Lake and back to Tilicho Lake Base Camp.  This was a very long and tough day.  Not quite as long as Long's Peak, but we've been hiking for several days straight, carrying a lot more weight, and hiking at 16,000 feet.  Tilicho Lake was beautiful.  The left side had high snow covered mountains which came down to the lake.  In the back you could see far off snow capped peaks.  Tilicho Lake is one of the highest lakes in the world at ~16,200 feet.  The base camp there was at 13,500 feet, the highest elevation we've slept at so far.  The accommodations there were very meager.  It was a bit like sleeping in a cave, and some small rodent got into Tom's energy bars during the nights.

Ryan and Tom and Tilicho Lake.

After Tilicho Lake we headed to Yak Kharka.  It was a nice hike, but just back along the same mountain range, so not too much new to see.  It was still a very long day with a lot of up and down hiking.

After Yak Kharka we headed to Thorong La high camp to spend the night at 15,500 feet.  It was between Yak Kharka and Thorong La that both Tom and I had trouble sleeping with the altitude.  One minute you were laying fine in your bed, and the next you were gasping for air.  It was a very weird feeling and made it scary to try and fall asleep.  Since we weren't getting much sleep, it also made the treks harder.  High camp was another very basic lodge.  That was our earliest trekking start thus far, at 4:45AM.  Everyone starts that early to avoid the high winds that can start later in the morning.  The hike to Thorong La (the highest point on the Annpapurna circuit at ~17,700 feet), was tough and incredibly cold.  The temperature at the top was 14F.  We only stayed for a few minutes to capture some photos and enjoy the view before we started down due to the cold.  The hike down was a very steep 5000 foot decent.  Although it was tough, we hiked from above the clouds to below which was a very neat experience.

Tom and Ryan on top of Thorong La.

After the decent of Thorong La, we spent the night in Muktinath.  This is a pilgrimage site for many people in India and Nepal.  We got to visit the temples and monasteries there.  It was a larger town with a lot of shops.  It was also a little warmer, which felt great after going over the Thorong La.

After Muktinath, we hiked to Khagbeni, and then to Jomsom.  Khagbeni was a very interesting town.  It had a newer part with shops and restaurants, but also had a very old part which was very mid-evil looking.  There was a very old gompa there which we visited.

The downside to the hike after Muktinath is that the road there is somewhat heavily traveled by buses, jeeps, and motor bikes.  This means you are always going off the side of the road, and breathing in a lot of dust.  For how nice the Annapurna trail is, it's ashame to end it hiking on a road like that.  The views are still beautiful, but it does distract from the ability to lose yourself in the environment.

Our flight from Jomsom was delayed due to bad weather in Pokhara, so we decided to take the bus since the planes might not fly for several days. We also hear that the flights to Lukla to start the Everest Base Camp trek have been delayed for 6 days now.  We are hoping this will clear out by the time we get there.  I can't imagine what the people are thinking that are stuck in Lukla trying to get home.  But back to Pokhara.  The flight delay meant a 20min plane ride turned into a 12 hour bus/car ride.  The bus ride was neat for about 1 hour.  It was loud, dusty, crowded, and uncomfortable.  The road is just a bumpy dirt road, so you were constantly bouncing all over the bus.  The seats had metal bars which would constantly bang my shins and arms. 

We finally arrived in Pokhara at 9:30PM, had some dal bhat and went to bed.  The next day in Pokhara was great though.  Pokhara is a very neat and relaxing town.  I feel like I could spend a week here just walking around and drinking tea.  We almost skipped this town, but I'm glad we got to spend a full day here.  It was nice to just relax as we start to prepare for the Everest Trek.

From Pokhara we will go to Kathmandu by a 5hour car ride.  The next day we will try to get our flight to Lukla, and start trekking towards Everest Base Camp.  I hope to update the blog again when we get to Namchee Bazaar in 3-4 days.

Sunrise in the Himalayas.











Thursday, October 27, 2011

Chame to Manang

The first part of this leg of the trip took us from Chame to Upper Pisang.  Chame was one of the larger towns we stayed in.  It had a decent number of shops.  The trek from Chame to Upper Pisang was amazing.  The weather was perfect.  We spent a lot of time down in a very peaceful valley, before starting to climb towards Upper Pisang.  It was hard not to just stare an Annapurna II for hours.  I couldn't stop taking pictures.  While we were sitting drinking tea, we saw an avalanche on Annapurna II.  It looked small compared to the sheer size of the mountain, but it reality it was probably a half mile wide.  Just before dinner we hiked up to the monestary where we got to see the monks chanting.

Ryan and Tom at Upper Pisang Monestary with Annapuran II in the background.
The next day we hiked from Upper Pisang to Ngawal.  This is the high pass over to Manang.  Most people take the low pass because it's a lot easier and you don't have to climb the extra elevation.  But in my opinion, to do this would mean missing out on one of the highlights of the trek.  The path from Upper Pisang to Nagwal is just fantastic.  We also had another beautiful day.  In Ngwal, there were only 3 people at the guest house.  So the family envited us to spend the evening and eat in the kitchen with them.  It felt like a very special experience that most trekkers don't get to enjoy.  The kitchen was a small room with a central wood burning stove.  We got to watch them make our food and enjoy the warmth of the fire.


Looking back on Upper Pisang on our way to Ngawal.

Tonight we are staying in Manang.  We arrived here fairly early, so we will get to do some side trips after lunch.

The food here has been very good.  I pretty much eat the same thing every day:  2 pieces of chapati bread, 2 boiled eggs and milk coffee for breakfast,  egg noodle soup and vegetable momos (steam dumplings) for lunch, and as much dal bhat as I can possibly eat for dinner.  Dal bhat is the national dish of Nepal.  It's boiled rice, lentil soup, and curried vegetables.   The locals eat it twice a day every day and it's actually very good.  It's also great to get on the trail, because it's the only item that's basically all you can eat because the teahouse owners will bring you as much as you want.  I've also taken a liking to honey tea and ginger tea.  Tom has really enjoyed the tibetan bread, which is a slightly raised flat bread which is also a little sweet.

Dal Bhat.  The  national dish of Nepal.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Kathmandu to Chame

Tom on the Annapurna Circuit.
Arrived at Kathmandu after ~34 hours of travel. Getting through immigration/customs is a very different experience than that of the US.  After a quick tour of Thamel in Kathmandu, we headed out for the trek.  The scenery is absolutely beautiful.  The mountains are just stunning in their size.  We're starting to get higher up now, so the nights are getting colder.  Tonight we are staying in Chame, which is one of the larger town we've passed through.  Met a lot of interesting people from all over the world.  Surprisingly, we don't pass too many trekkers on the trail, it's mostly locals.  It's really interesting to see the daily lives of the Nepal people.  Everything is manual labor, and it's amazing to see women who must be in their 70's carry heavy packs up the mountain.

Pisang Himal behind Tal.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Leaving for Kathmandu

We're now packed and ready to leave for Kathmandu.  We fly Denver -> Los Angeles -> Seoul -> Kathmandu, on Korean Air arriving in Kathmandu around 12PM on Saturday.

My house prior to packing.

Since I live in Colorado, we were able to do a few training hikes up to 13,000 feet (~4000m) .  It would have been nice to do some 14ers, unfortunately snow has already started to fall in the mountains.  We carried the backpacks and gear that we plan on carrying in Nepal.  Each of us will carry about 20lbs (~10kg), leaving about 40lbs (~20kg) for the porter.   Yes, I'm trying to learn to think in terms of meters and kilograms since that is the standard unit of measurement in Nepal.  And yes, we will have a porter and a guide.  I like to think of it as having a little entourage while I trek in Nepal.

I'm glad the trip is finally here.  I've been thinking about it every day for about 5 months, so I'm ready to stop planning and start trekking.

Donna, Tom, and Ryan on Twin Sisters

 

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Getting Close

Only two weeks remaining before our departure to Kathmandu.
Still can't believe it‘s almost here! We started planning this trip 10 months ago.
Tomorrow I head out from Leesport PA to Fort Collins CO where I’ll meet up with Ryan. We’ll spend our remaining time making final preparations for the trip. I’ll have to see how much of my stuff I can get Ryan to carry - hope he’s not reading this.

Our current itinerary is to depart from Denver 10/20, connect through Seoul Korea, then on to Kathmandu Nepal. After arriving in Nepal we will only have one day to prepare for our first of two planned treks, the Annapurna Circuit. Our trek will begin in Besisahar and our plan is to travel, by taxi, from Kathmandu. From Besisahar we will take the standard Annapurna trail. It should take us about 4 days to reach Pisang where we will head up the high pass via Upper Pisang through Ngwal to Manang. Spending two days in Manang resting and acclimatizing should prepare us for the next phase of the trek - Tilicho Lake.
Listed as one of the highest lakes in the world at 16,000ft. This may be one of the most difficult parts of the entire trek! From Tilicho lake we will head back and meet up with the standard Annapurna route. The trail will take us up over ThorungLa Pass which is at an elevation of 17,768 ft.. Once over the pass we will head down to Jomson where we will catch a flight to Pokhara. Total length of the trek is 13 days. Spending a rest day in Pokhara we will make our way back to Kathmandu via air.

Not much time to catch our breath as the following day we are off to begin our second trek, Everest Base Camp “Modified”. It begins by catching a flight to Lukla which is listed as the most dangerous airports to land and depart from in the world. Should be an interesting flight! Once we touch down we will make our way from Lukla to Namche Bazaar. We will spend one day here acclimatizing and taking a few side trips. Then it’s off to Dingboche for another rest day. From there we will traverse over KongmaLa Pass, elevation of 18,159ft, on our way to Gorak Shep. From Gorak Shep we will climb to Everest Base camp, 17,400ft. and Kala Patter, 18,192ft.
Then it’s on to Gokyo via ChoLa Pass ,17,611ft.. We will spend 3 days in Gokyo making day trips seeing all 5 lakes along the Ngozumpa glacier. Our final leg home will be via RenjoLa Pass,17,585ft., through Thame back to Lukla. Total length of the trek is 17 days.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

19 days from Nepal departure

We're now 19 days from our October 20th departure for Nepal.  My Dad and I will be doing both the Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp treks from Oct 20 - Nov 26.  We've both spent a lot of time preparing.  Partly in that we're both engineers, so we tend to over-analyze decisions (or at least I do).  But mainly because we have to carry everything we bring.  This means that every item that comes with us has to be useful, and weight matters.  In addition, we've decided to create a documentary of the trip.   This forced us to do a lot of research into cameras, lenses, videography techniques, and video editing software.  It also means that about 30% of the weight I'll be carrying will be camera equipment.  So I might have to sacrifice some clothing to bring an extra lens.

I'm both excited and nervous for the trip.  I've never done a big international trip, or a backpacking trip for this long.  But as the trip gets closer, I find myself getting more excited and less nervous.  When my Dad would visit me in Colorado, we would often watch documentaries of Nepal/Tibet/Everest, so it seems almost sureal that we are actually going there.  It always seemed like a place that captured my imagination, but so distant that I would never actually go there.