Dhaulagiri Circuit and Dhampus Peak - A Review

It is definitely a personal weakness but I'm a sucker for recommendations.  I booked a trip to Kanchenjunga after seeing a claim that the base camp there was the most beautiful campsite in the world and I did something similar with Mera Peak after reading that it provided the best mountain landscape a trekker is ever likely to experience. Once I had seen that Dhaulagiri Circuit was No 1 Adventure Travel's top 100 treks I was caught - hook, line and sinker!

Dhaulagiri Circuit

Days 15 -17 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Back to Kathmandu

The last few days were frustrating and perhaps Jagged Globe need to think again about the schedule for future trips.

It's standard practice on a trip like this to have a contingency day. But by combining the last two days into one - the descent down to Marpha, we ended up with two.  This meant three nights hanging about: two at Marpha and one at Jonsom, before we could get the plane back from Jonsom via Pokora to Kathmandu.  Having watched the planes fly in and out on Monday and Tuesday it was ominously quiet on Wednesday.  It turned out it was foggy in Pokara so no flights, and we ended up having to get back to Kathmandu by "road".

With any other group this could have been totally grim but with this group it was just grim.  In my experience groups go through a distinct life cycle. As the trip draws to a close you start to think about the journey home and life after the trip. The group, whose only purpose is the trip, starts to lose cohesion as people disappear into their own thoughts.  With this group this didn't happen and everyone continued to get enjoyment out of each other's company to the end.

Day 14 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Marpha

Everyone has been focused on getting across the French Col and climbing Dhampus Peak and hadn't really given the last day of the trek much thought.  It turned out to be a real sting in the tail and longer and harder than anyone had expected.

Actually, according to the schedule, it was a two rather than a one day walk but no one had noticed.  We knew it involved a massive descent (2,000 metres) but had all somehow assumed that this would start almost immediately and not after a tough three hour walk through the snow.

The campsite we stayed in last night was not exactly comfortable.  Just beyond the Dhampus Pass it had been carved out of deep snow at just a smidgen below 5,000 metres.  The weather had also changed, the wind had got up, spindrift was blowing of the top of Dhampus Peak, and cloud building up in the valley below.  After yesterday's perfect weather today felt just a bit ominous.

Tougher than expected final trudge through snow

Day 13 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Dhampus Peak

Pasang went round the tents with the "early morning cup of tea" at 4.30 and it was very cold. Everyone sees the cup of tea as some sort of starting gun rather than a chance to gently wake up.  All around me there are noises of zips being zipped and bags being tossed out of tents and already I felt off the pace.

Everything seems harder to pack in the cold, bigger and less malleable. Even without the huge plastic boots it seems impossible to get everything into the bags.

Apart from Steve I'm the last person to get to the mess tent for breakfast.  The casualty list from last night has shrunk, Mandy and Andy are going to attempt to summit.  I manage two bowls of porridge but can't stomach the stodgy pancakes and Nick's discovery of a rotten one puts me off the eggs.  Despite the limited breakfast I'm still the last person to leave the table and have only had time to put on one of a decidedly suspect pair of gaiters from Shonas before we set off.

Everyone had their head torches on as we crossed the valley but within minutes the summits of the mountains to the south west were starting to glow from a sort of pre-dawn light.  The Swiss party had already left but there was no sign of them ahead or any indication of the route they had taken. Ominously one of the Sherpas was walking well to right of the group and may well have been looking for a trail. If he was he didn't find one.

Day 12 - Dhaulagiri Circuit - Hidden Valley

Two massive days at the end of this trek - French Col and Dhamphus Peak. We all got over the Col today but I'm totally knackered.  To be honest I'm not sure if I have anything left for what is a bigger climb tomorrow.

It was a very cold night last, Chris registered -7C inside his tent - but I did get a good night's sleep.  The only disturbances were rumbles from avalanches and rock falls and the occasional loud cracks as the glacier moved beneath the tent.

Cold nights seem to herald sunny days and that's exactly what we got.  Tenzing has crossed the French Col 5 times and this is the first time he has done it in the sun.

Brad and Deborah climbing towards the moraine

I ended up wearing the huge chunky plastic two layer climbing boots and given the cold and the amount of snow I'm glad I did.  I hired them from Jagged Globe without trying them on and they are a bit too tight.  With hindsight I would have been better getting them in Kathmandu at Shonas, which is what I did on the Mera Peak trip last year.  They were old, battered and bright yellow but at least they were the right size.

Day 11 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Dhaulagiri Base Camp - Rest Day

It's hard to exaggerate how much the temperature changes when the sunlight hits a particular spot. It's like a switch being turned and the transformation is almost instant. The temperature increase must be around 20 degrees and knowing when the sun is going to hit the campsite or the trail is an important piece of information.

Last night was particularly cold, minus five inside, and that and the fact that we are sleeping on ice made for a very cold tent. Despite that I had a good night's sleep helped I think by the Diamox. I'm taking half a tablet a day and the irregular breathing I suffered from on my last high altitude trip, known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration (according to my medical team) has not recurred.

Hanging around on the campsite gives you a chance to see the whole support team in one place. There are 26 people in all including 17 porters and 3 kitchen boys. Pemchhii is the lead Sherpa, the Sidr, and his No 2 is the cook Kacheman.  There are the 4 other Sherpas, Tenzing the most experienced, Rakes, and Pasangs 1 and 2.  It's a big team reflecting the fact that it's a camping trip, it's a long trip and high altitude and a lot of gear is being carried all the way around the Dhaulagiri circuit.

Day 10 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Dhaulagiri Base Camp

So at 3 o'clock last night I decided that this was the last high altitude trip I was going to do.

Having gone to bed at 7.30 I had been awake since 2am. I was cold and uncomfortable and was clearly not going back to sleep.  I just couldn't understand why I was there - why am I paying money to be cold and uncomfortable?

Writing this and the whole thing has flipped again. The cold cloud free night meant a beautiful day - clear blue skies and, once the sun cleared the mountain, a warm day. The walk up the valley along the glacier was the best of the trip so far and, until 3 o'clock tomorrow morning it all seems worth it.

It wasn't a long walk, perhaps 4 hours, but it was perfectly paced and very relaxed.  Yesterday's anxiety about rock falls and beating the thaw had disappeared and there was plenty of time to chat and take in the views.

I had a particularly interesting talk with Pem. He told me that the weather had actually been worse when they did the trip last year and when they got to altitude it was snowing.  I asked him whether I would need to wear heavy plastic boots to go over the French Col, the big pass we do the day after tomorrow, and he said if conditions stay as they are he didn't think we would.  My boots are the lightest Miendl's money can buy so to continue in these rather than the clod hopping plastic boots would a great relief.

He also compared trips and admitted that from his point of view Dhaulagiri is a hard trip to organise.  It's not popular with the porters who find the number of days at altitude difficult; they prefer the Annapurna Circuit.  The only way to recruit them is to pay them more, 1000 Rupees at day plus food at altitude compared to the 600 Pem gets.

Day 9 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Chhonbardan Glacier Camp

Despite my best efforts to convince everyone we were doomed, the news last night was good. A Sherpa and porters have been all the way to Dhaulagiri Base camp and Pem still thinks we can complete the trek.  Either the Dutch guys coming back from the camp yesterday were exaggerating or the snow has gone in the day it took them to descend.

The weather is definitely better.  We had sun for most of yesterday and compared to the night before last night was not so cold.

Today's walk took us to a camp 600 metres higher and onto a glacier.

We left Italian Base Camp at about 7-30am.  Pem wanted to complete the walk before the sun had melted the frozen moraine on the side of the valley.  Once melted these moraines become unstable and dangerous.

Porters leaving Italian Base Camp

Day 8 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Italian Base Camp - Rest Day

For the first time in three days I'm writing a blog when it's not raining. The weather has definitely improved and the question is, has it improved in time?

Early morning at Italian Base Camp

Day 7 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Italian Base Camp

Apologies if yesterday's blog was on the gloomy side but it was miserable. Today things are more cheerful, although as I write this blog it's once again raining outside. At least the sun shone this morning and gave us the chance to see what felt like a different world.

Yesterday we were given hints about an unstable landscape; today we were shown natural destruction on an epic scale.

Crossing the Landslide above Soligari

Day 6 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Soligari

It's official: it's unseasonably wet in this part of Nepal.  October is supposed to be the best month for trekking in Nepal.  It's post monsoon, relatively dry and the best time to see the mountains. This year the monsoon has decided to linger and at the time of writing I'm in my tent and the rain is crashing down outside.

Of course it could get better but it is worrying. Even before today, last week's rain meant that there was likely to be a lot of snow to get past as we get higher up. The current storm has just made the problem worse. Everyone is saying "what will be will be" but I must admit I struggle to be sanguine.  I'm lucky to be able to do lots of these trips but even I won't be back here again.  I want to see everything!

We get glimpses of Dhaulagiri and the views are amazing but they are glimpses only. It's also starting to get uncomfortable - the tents don't get a chance to dry out, are damp and I'm starting to get surrounded by damp, sweaty, smelly items of clothing.

At least the rain came today and not on yesterday's long walk and we had completed most it of the walk before the really heavy stuff arrived.

Day 5 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Dobang

Yet another good night's sleep with the noise of the nearby river, at times sounding like a jet engine at full throttle, proving surprisingly soporific.  The only confusion was bird song at about 2 in the morning which had me thinking that the dawn had come.  Apparently there was a big storm in the night which I missed.

Fabulous path hacked out of the cliff by the Nepalese Army

The trek today was long and tough.  Because the first day was shorter than originally planned we had to put in a long one to get back on schedule, and today was that day.

Day 4 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Naura

Yesterday's walk was all about getting used to the regime. Today's felt like the real thing. The trek has really started.

Terraces of rice near Sibang

Personally I feel good.  Had a great night's sleep last night in a tent on my own unspoilt by any lingering sense of guilt at the speed at which I had grabbed possession.

Day 3 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Sibang

It rained on and off all night and with yesterday's weather forecast I was anticipating a day in waterproofs. Although it was damp first thing it wasn't raining and the weather improved as the day went on. Three days of solid rain and it clears up on the first day's walking - definitely a reason to be cheerful.

Campsite in Darbang

Day 2 Dhaulagiri Circuit - Darbang

After another horribly wet day and two bus journeys we have arrived at our first campsite and the beginning of the trek proper.  I'm a fair weather camper and never saw the point of going out when it's raining; given that the forecast is for still more rain, I'm finding it hard to muster enthusiasm for tomorrow's trek.

It's a shame about the weather because the scenery is interesting. We are at about 1,000 metres and have been following a river in a deep but very fertile terraced valley.  The little terraces are full of rice which is in ear and perhaps just a couple of weeks away from being harvested. The trees look amazing, incredibly lush and green including some which were in flower. At this altitude it doesn't get cold and banana trees and bamboo are much in evidence.

The villages are busy and despite the rain people are out and about.  We're passing through a Hindu part of Nepal and the build up to the Diwali festival is taking place. There is clearly a lot of visiting going on with the visitors decorating themselves with sticky pink rice - great lumps of it stuck to their foreheads.

We stopped for lunch and a change of bus at Beni.  Beni, I suspect, would never qualify as a candidate for a weekend retreat but on a wet day it was a dump.  It felt dirty and grimy and not a place where you really wanted to take your hands out of your pockets, never mind linger and eat food.

At Beni we changed to a much smaller public bus which amazingly had the same number of seats as the larger bus we had enjoyed earlier in the day.  Now I'm not exactly tall but even I struggled to get my knees into the space provided and for some of my bigger comrades it was an almost impossible task.

Dhaulagiri Circuit Day 1 - to Pokara

The first two days in Nepal on the Dhaulagiri Circuit are all about getting to the start of the trek. As it happens, the weather has made it a lot harder than expected. There is a big cyclone in India and as a consequence it has rained non-stop since arriving in Kathmandu yesterday.  Internal travel in Nepal is precarious at the best of times and the weather has now messed things up completely.

Last night we stayed in the Summit Hotel, by far the best hotel I have stayed in in Kathmandu although it's quite a way out of the city centre.  The rooms are good, the food is excellent and everything is spick and span.

After a quick trip into Thamel to pick up some last minute items from the wonderful Shonas I was already for the next stage - a flight to Pokara. The rain was hammering down and in airports like Pokara if the pilots can't see the runway the planes don't fly.  The flight was cancelled and after a bit of consultation the local agent for Jagged Globe decided that we would have go by bus to Pokara. It's a 6/7 hour trip but given that the weather forecast for tomorrow is not good this seemed like a good decision.

Dhaulagiri Circuit Day 0 - to Kathmandu

Safe and comfortable at home, in the middle of last winter, I was thinking about trips for the year ahead.  Looking back my trip to Mera Peak had been a real adventure so why not have a go at something similar?   I had written an article in Adventure Travel on Mera and in the same edition there was a list of their top 100 treks. Topping the list was the trip around Dhaulagiri (the world's seventh highest mountain at 8,179 metres).  Nine months ago that was enough information - I had to go.

Dhaulagiri Circuit