October 11, 2013

Dhaulagiri from near Muktinath (Charlotte Austin)

The Dolpo trekkers descended out of the mountains today to Kagbeni on the floor of the Kali Gandaki river valley at about 9500 feet, where they are now enjoying the thick air!  The Kali Gandaki is one of the most famous rivers in Nepal and among just a few that actually cross the Himalayas (the river kept cutting down as the mountains rose) resulting in a very deep valley (with Annapurna on the east side and Dhaulagiri on the west side).  Kagbeni is an ancient trading town on this north/south trade route across the Himalayas and is at the crossroads of a number of important Himalayan trails including the route to Dolpo (west), Mustang (north), Muktinath and the Annapurna circuit (east), and Jomsom and Nepal to the south.  Tomorrow the team will hike about 4 hours down the valley to Jomsom, from where they are scheduled to fly to Pohkara the following day.  So far so good!

Eric Simonson

October 8, 2013

Prayer flags marking the pass (Lobsang Sherpa)

The last two days were big ones for the Dolpo Trekkers. Yesterday they ascended the long pastoral valley on the Dolpo side of the pass, with miles and miles of lush yak pastures as they followed the river up to the high camp.  Then, today, they ascended up and over the 18,200 foot Niwal Pass which Adam says was the most difficult crossing so far on the trip.  The weather was great and they hung some prayer flags and enjoyed fantastic views from the summit of the Dhaulagiri range and also the Annapurna range before descending 5000 feet of steep and rocky trail down to the Sangda valley.  Now they have left Dolpo and entered Mustang, which is a more accessible area for trekking.  After several weeks of virtually nobody else around, just this afternoon Adam says they have already run into three other trekking groups.  Tomorrow they have a short day of trekking to Sangda village with time in the afternoon for showers, laundry, and some rest.  Then, the following day, they are up and over the eighth and final high pass of the trip (Sangda pass at 15,800 feet) and then from there it is pretty much a cruise into Jomsom.  Well done, team.  Enjoy your last couple days on the trail!

Eric Simonson

October 6, 2013

Climbing to the pass (Lobsang Sherpa)

Adam Angel reports that today the team crossed Tsharka (Chharka) Pass (16,530 feet) and descended to Tsharka Bhot (13,600 feet) which is a Tibetan style village nestled in the high valley.  They are now back on the south side of the watershed in the Tsharka valley.  Adam said that they hit a few inches of fresh snow up in the pass but their mules were able to negotiate it without problems.  The group is getting super strong and acclimatized by now.  This was their sixth big pass in excess of 15,000 feet that they have crossed, and they still have two more big passes to go!  Tomorrow they will move up to the yak kharka (grazing area) high camp below the Niwal Pass (which will be the highest, at over 18,000 feet).

Eric Simonson