Showing posts with label Treks in Nepal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Treks in Nepal. Show all posts

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

Mera Peak - March/April 2012

Doing Annapurna Circuit and the Mera Peak expedition back to back, it’s hard not to compare the two treks. Employing any rational criteria Annapurna Circuit would come out on top.   The scenery, both in terms of its scale and variety, is better on the Annapurna Circuit.   You're closer to really big mountains, they come earlier in the trip and stay with you day after day.  The landscape also changes from deep river - cut valleys to wide flat bottomed gorges, and from the wetter Indian -facing mountains to the dry Tibetan style terrain in Lower Mustang.  The scenery on the Mera Peak trek is wonderful, really interesting, but you're a long way into it before you have anything that compares with what you get by day three of the Annapurna Circuit.
It's my trip to Mera Peak though and not Annapurna which has left the stronger impression.  I'm struggling a bit to understand why but even at my age, perhaps particularly at my age, I think it's the word "adventure" that nails it.  Mera was an adventure and for some reason Annapurna just didn't score on what apparently remains a much more important criteria.

Mera Peak - Finishing

One of the special things about trekking in Nepal is the sense of community you have with other trekkers.  Because we had come down a day ahead of schedule we had an extra day in Lukla, a Lukla which was filling up with trekkers whose flights had been cancelled by the bad weather.  So we had an extra day to get stressed about our own flight but also an extra day to exchange stories with other walkers in town, most of whom had come down from Everest Base camp. So it was talking and not walking while we waited.

The weather was bad, there were only a couple of flights all day, and if asked to do a risk assessment on the next day's weather and chances of a flight out then it wouldn't be good.  If you miss your slot than you go to the bottom of the list and have to wait for everyone else before your turn comes around.  It could hardly be more stressful.

Mera Peak Day 16 Lukla


Last night Nigel suggested that we walk all the way to Lukla next day rather than stop for another night at Chutanga in tents. This meant another two hours walking, and it was good that the suggestion came from Nigel as he has found the going tougher than everyone else. The proposal didn't get unanimous support, always a challenge to change a plan, but we agreed to talk about it in the morning.
Last morning tea

Mera Peak Day 15 Thuli Kharka


Despite being on the homeward leg today showed that the Mera Peak trip is definitely not over.

To get from Koto to Lukla and the flight to Kathmandu we have to cross the Zatrwa La Pass over the Charpate Himal.  It's a 4,600 metre pass and is covered with the same snow which gave us the storm we experienced at High Camp last Friday.  It's a three day trip.  On the first day out of Kote we climb up to Thuli Kharka and spend another night camping high, at 4,300 at Thuli Kharka.  On the next day we cross the pass and head down to Chutanga for the last night in tents before a short walk the next day into Lukla.

Snowy start at Kote

The weather has been the classic combination of morning sunshine and afternoon cloud.  To be honest I can do without the sun, my face is badly sunburnt and my lips in particular are in a terrible mess.

Mera Peak Day 14 Kote


Today was a short day, late start and a three hour walk back down to Kote where we stayed 8 days ago.  We are now on the final run and conversation is very much turning to home. 

Almost perversely however, and given what we have been through over the last three days, we have a final big climb up nearly 1600 metres, to over 4,600 metres, camping on either side of the pass, before dropping down to Lukla on Wednesday and a flight back to Kathmandu, weather permitting, on Thursday. We are not quite out of the woods yet.

Mera Peak - Day 13 Tangnag


Perfect blue skies and stunning views of what must be leading contender for the best mountain scape in the world.  Jangbu had got us up early, no kitchen porters to prepare breakfast and we were heading down.

Kanchenjunga

Mera Peak - Day 12 Summit Day


So much happened today that I'm still trying to understand what really went on.

Started last night with the tent by tent briefing from Jangbu, no mess tent space on this tiny rocky outcrop in the middle of a glacier. He told us we would be getting woken up at 12.30 am and be leaving around 1.30, and to put on all our clothes because it would be very cold.

We had already been warned that  nature can be savage in these parts when a lump of ice broke away from the glacier sending a large bang around the camp site. It then got dramatically worse. At about 8pm the wind started to blow, really blow, gale force, and I still don't understand how the tents - especially the lofty toilet tent - stayed intact. Later the wind dropped and after a short sleep intermission I lay in my sleeping bag listening and watching the most sustained thunder storm I have ever witnessed. The tent shone orange but even with my eyes shut the pyrotechnics penetrated.  
A broken trail

Mera Peak - Day 11 High Camp


To be honest the trip had started to feel a bit of an ordeal.  I've been away from home for nearly six weeks and haven't been able to make any contact for two. Really missing Christine and the family.  Also it's a small group, all men, and the conversation often struggles to get going. The Annapurna Circuit trip group was just the opposite, you really got to know everyone and at dinner the chat just buzzed.

The tiny dimple is Mera Central

Mera Peak Day 8 Tangnag Acclimatisation


Still at Tangnag and today is one of our two acclimatisation days before summiting next Saturday morning. I'm lying in my tent early in the afternoon having finished the acclimatisation walk this morning, have had my first shower of the trip and eaten a large if slightly strange lunch. The tent is lovely and warm, the weather is a mixture of sun, cloud and wind, just a bit too cold outside but in here it's perfect.

We are at about 4,150 metres and you can feel the effects of the altitude. I now have a huge Exodus Five Season sleeping bag and cold nights are no longer an issue.  Although it was seriously cold outside last night I slept with my head out the bag and without all the cords being pulled tight, unthinkable with my old bag. My sleep however is now broken by the need to get up, get dressed and leave the tent for a piss - it's also broken by uneven breathing. Apart from that I'm feeling really good, still no headaches and no need for medication any sort.

Mera Peak - Day 9 Khare


Was a bit suspicious about the weather this morning. Instead of the usual bright start clouds had already formed and it didn't feel at all settled.  Sure enough, after we had been walking for an hour it started to snow and by the the time we reached Khare at miday - after walking about 3 and half hours - there was about 3 inches of fresh snow on the ground and it was still falling.

Sabai Tsho Lake and the Sabai Glacier

Mera Peak - Day 10 Khare Acclimatisation


Had a dreadful night's sleep last night, a combination of the altitude and thoughts going through my head just kept me awake.

The weather this morning was much the same as yesterday, it continued to snow. None of this helped my mood.

Today is the day we put on our climbing gear, practice rope work and abseiling.  I have never used any of this sort of gear before and felt a bit out of my depth. The guides however, and Jangbu in particular, really know their stuff and it's clear they are not going to let us fall off the mountain.

Mera Peak - Day 7 Tangnag


If the first six days of the walk were the starter the next six are the main course - we are now getting ready to climb Mera Peak.

Jack the American mountain man

Mera Peak - Day 6 Kote


On the sleep front last night was much better. It was a very cold night, ice on the inside of the tent, but I was OK inside my sleeping, used the fleece liner for the first time and it certainly improved things. Still I don't think my sleeping bag is good enough for the 5,000 plus metre nights and if I can hire a 5 season bag at Tangnag I will do.
Leaving Changbu Kharka

Mera Peak - Day 5 Changbu Kharka


Had a poor night's sleep last, too cold, the camp was at 3,500m and I'm just a bit worried that my sleeping bag is not up to the job. High Camp, the last night before we summit, is at 5,800m so it's going to be a lot colder - have still not used my fleece liner, and have lots of thermals I can wear in the bag but I now regret not hiring a really heavy duty sleeping bag.

The porters piling up the pass at Chalem Kharka

Amazing path up to the top of the pass

Mera Peak - Day 4 Chalem Kharka


Another tip, if you're coming on a supported camping trip to Nepal, bring a metal drinks tin. They make fantastic hot water bottles and are a brilliant way of drying out your sweaty socks. It's amazing, if you dry them out the smell seems to disappear and you feel OK about wearing them for more days.  The socks also provide some insulation for the bottle which if you get it just right carries on giving out a gentle heat all night.

Today's walk was a relatively short 5/6 hour session. Water is essential for lunch and the limited number of available water options meant a late start, 8.30, early lunch 11.30 and an early finish (3.30).
Al fresco breakfast

Mera Peak - Day 3 Nashing Dingma


Today we got our first sighting of Mera Peak and it might be a trekking mountain but it's big, scarily big. For the first time I was grabbed by a challenge of climbing it, both the excitement about getting to the top and concern that I might not be able to do it. I got the same feeling when I started the walk along the E4 last year.
First hazy sight of Mera (the one in the middle!)

Mera Peak - Day 2 Pangkongma

My number 1 tip if you're doing an altitude walk in the Himalayas is hire a sleeping bag rather than bring your own. The ones you get with Exodus are by all accounts excellent and cost £25 for the 17 day trek.  You can hire them at Shona's in Kathmandu for even less.  I've got a four season sleeping bag with a fleece liner which theoretically should be warm enough but isn't.  I'm already feeling the cold and last night was only 2,900 metres - seriously worrying.  If I had hired one I would also have had far more room in by bag to take home loads of goodies from Kathmandu - yak blankets and things - and my previous storage space at home wouldn't be filled up with hanging sleeping bags. 

Mera Peak - Day 1 Puyan

Said goodbye to the last of the Annapurna group and started to get to know the new Mera Peak team. Counting me there are 7 men, all with the same or more experience of altitude trekking than me.  Christine of course left for England yesterday. Started the day feeling just slightly apprehensive.

The trip really began yesterday with inspection and briefing.  Jangbu is a the tour leader again and knowing him already is a big help. He has a nice way with him, good sense of humour, cracks jokes, but happy to act as a leader.  His kit inspection was not a formality and a number of items were politely rejected.