October 3, 2013
Heading for the pass with the mules (Lobsang Sherpa)
Adam Angel reports the Dolpo team continues flirting with the Himalayan watershed demarcation line. Today they trekked 8 hours further up the Panzang Valley (on the Tibet side of the watershed) to their next high camp at Larja (about 15,500 feet). Tomorrow they will cross the Choyela Pass (about 16,500 feet) back over to the Nepal side of the watershed and drop down to the town of Dho in the Tarap Valley. The weather today was a mixed bag for them, with sun, wind, rain, and everything in between. The last shot of moisture from the monsoon is pushing up into the Himalayas over the next few days, and then the dry autumn air (much colder up high) air is scheduled to arrive by October 7.
Over on Cho Oyu, Mike Hamill reports that they got snow at ABC today, as the sherpas brought down the final loads and the team continues getting packed up.
Eric Simonson