Wednesday March 30, 2011
1:08PM
I arrived back in Pheriche yesterday around lunch time after nearly 4 days on the opposite side of the mountains to the west. The plan was to hike down-valley to where two major rivers converge, set off up that particular drainage and return over a high mountain pass to the east which ultimately leads down to Pheriche. It was the same hike that Alun and Lauren just did and I was optimistic that I would have equally good weather. Plans did not turn out quite as anticipated.
Day 1: Pheriche to Macherma
After a quick Skype session with the wife and parents to let them know my plans I headed southeast into light winds and sunny skies. My plan was to descend through Somare and Pangboche to Phorche before heading up the opposite river valley to Dhole and Macherma, where our friends with IPPG have a medical outpost similar to our own. I had decided, based on my colleagues’ experience, to travel fast and light with waterproof shoes, a few extra layers, snacks, water and sleeping bag. I figured that with this setup I could make better time than they had assuring completion of the trek in the three allotted days. I let the family know my schedule and that I would be in contact when I got back to Pheriche.
The first few hours of walking were pretty casual and the weather was warm and sunny. The trail gradually descends from Pheriche to Pangboche and allowed me to make good time without working too hard. From Pangboche to Phorche the way changes from a broad thoroughfare to a narrow path carved into a steep hillside. At times there were sections that had obviously washed out in the past and were now rocks and dirt supported by logs on wooden pegs. Not exactly North American construction standards but I figured it must hold up several tons of yak each day so surely it would hold me. Nonetheless, I tended to hug the cliff-line as much as possible where the ground looked a little more solid and a slip wouldn’t result in a tumble to the river channel 1000 feet below.
After reaching Phorche the trail descended sharply to the river where I crossed a bridge and started up the other side toward Dhole. This was harder work by far, but having descended a couple thousand feet thus far, I was well within my acclimatization range and felt surprisingly good going up. The trail on this side was a little more crowded and I passed around 2 dozen other trekkers on their way up.
Upon reaching Dhole, I decided it was time for a break, as I had been at it for around 5 hours, was out of water and had eaten only a granola bar since breakfast. I refilled my bottles and sat down to a warm bowl of Sherpa stew and a small pot of hot lemon tea. While eating I inquired about the remainder of my journey to Macherma and was informed that it was another 3 hours walk. It felt like I had been walking pretty fast but I was going to have to pick up the pace a little if I was going to avoid finishing my hike in the dark. I resigned myself to the fact that this could no longer be a relaxing lunch break and scarfed down my food.
The trail immediately ascended around 600 feet up and over a ridgeline to the north of the village. By the time I reached the top, my stomach was in a serious knot due to the exertion and preceding gorging. To make matters worse, it began to snow. Initially there were only small little pellets but this quickly transitioned to large fluffy flakes. The trail remained easily visible but the rate of snow fall and accompanying wind started to concern me a little bit. As I had just turned myself inside out getting up the hill, the idea of turning back didn’t appeal. So I proceeded onward with the thought that I could go back to Dhole if conditions deteriorated. Along the way I passed through another small village consisting of 2 houses and again told myself that I could return to this place if things got worse. A short while later the snow really started coming down and began to fill in the path, but navigation remained relatively easy as there was only two ways to go, forwards and backwards. Just when I thought that I might have to turn around and make for one of the houses I had passed, I pulled over a small rise and looked down into Macherma valley.
It was a relieving site to see the clinic at the top of the valley and I walked through the door just as they were finishing the afternoon altitude-illness lecture. I welcomed a cup of milk tea and visited with Laurie and Helen while warming up by the stove for a few minutes. They recommended the Namgyal Lodge in the village proper, so that is where I decided to call home for the night.
One of the great things about trekking in Nepal is that you don’t have to carry much equipment because you typically go from village to village where there is always a warm stove, bed (not usually warm), and good food waiting. The other nice aspect is that one can travel alone and usually find company with whom to share dinner and a few stories.
At the Namgyal, I enjoyed my nightly dahl-baat with Christine, a retired elementary school teacher from Paris, and Karen, a high school physics teacher on a 6 month sabbatical from her job in Montreal. Our discussion mainly revolved around cultural differences between our respective countries. After the effort from the day, I retired early, but agreed to walk up to Gokyo the next day with my new companions.
Day 2: Macherma to Dragnac
Again the weather was warm and sunny, and in fact, was so nice that after breakfast at the lodge I enjoyed a cup of tea at the IPPG post wearing a T-shirt. After a slow morning, I hit the trail and quickly caught up with my companions from the previous night who had made friends with 4 French climbers from Chamonix. Our group of 3 had become 7 and the company was welcome, but the climbers’ English was about as good as my French so Karen was stuck translating as she was the only one of us fluent in both languages.
The hike was initially pretty easy but then reached steeper terrain along the margin of a large glacier. The trail ultimately flattened out and traversed the banks of a chain of 3 glacial lakes. Surprisingly we were greeted by the calls of creme colored ducks with bright orange heads swimming in the few partially melted areas of the lakes.
As usual the weather began to turn gray as we reached Gokyo and my hopes of climbing Gokyo Ri on the banks of the upper lake were dashed. Instead I decided to enjoy a last lunch with my new friends before doubling back and crossing the glacier to Dragnac. Unfortunately, the service was slow but my meal of vegetable egg fried potatoes topped with copious amounts of ketchup was worth the wait.
Outside the weather was looking more ominous, so I wrapped things up and made way for the village on the opposite side of the glacier at the base of the next day’s effort, the Cho La Pass. Vincent, one of the climbers, had made the same trek 2 years ago and was kind enough to show me the way to the start of the path. Glaciers, however, are a very dynamic land form and the route that Vincent had taken 2 years ago, which was the route on my map, was no longer passable. It really barely existed. I spent 2 exhausting hours trudging through glacial till and hopping over unstable rocks trying to find my way across the barren landscape. Meanwhile the weather was not improving, so I decided that if I could not see my way to Dragnac by 4 PM I would return to Gokyo.
I finally found what I thought was the right path, and it most likely was a few years ago, but I was turned around by a wide glacial stream that had washed away the trail. There was no choice but to return the way I came, which proved to be no easy task as cairns marking numerous paths went in almost every direction. Thoughts of spending the night on the glacier crossed my mind and I actually scoped out a few sheltered areas amongst the rocks that would make the night survivable, though highly uncomfortable. Once again, like the day before, a little good luck was on my side, because just as thick clouds rolled in reducing visibility to about 50 feet, I arrived at the large cairn marking the main trail to Gokyo. My friends were surprised to see me emerge from the developing snow storm, exhausted and a little frazzled. Over dinner, I discussed my route-finding difficulties with two guys from England who had come over from the other direction. They had been informed by a guide that the old route really no longer exists and that the new route has not appeared on maps as of yet. That would have been good to know.
Day 3: Gokyo to Dragnac or ?
I woke up in the middle of the night debating with myself on whether or not I should go to Dragnac the next day and then do the Cho La Pass the day after that or whether I should try to get over the pass to Zhungla or even all the way back to Pheriche. The latter, however, would be an enormously long day. Ultimately, I decided on trying to email the HRA and family back home to let them know that I would be delayed an extra day and then climbing Gokyo Ri before proceeding to Dragnac and on to the Cho La.
Again, all of my plans were forced to change as I woke up to 3 inches of fresh snow. Gokyo Ri was out of the question and the likelihood of getting over the Cho La in the next 2 days was unlikely, especially given my lightweight gear and lack of familiarity with the route. The only choice was to go back the way I came. I waited a couple of hours to let other groups pack down the path a little so that the snow wouldn’t continually spill over my low-top shoes. I enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes smothered in honey along with some milk tea before hiking back down to Macherma in yet another driving snow storm.
I arrived back at the IPPG post cold and with soaked feet. I think they must have felt sorry for me, because I was treated to one of the best lunches I have had in Nepal - grilled vegetable and cheese sandwiches.
The snow continued to fall outside and was now blowing horizontally, so I was far from inspired to venture further down the trail. About the time I had conceded to staying in Macherma for another night, Christine, my Parisian friend, came through the door looking for a quick check of her oxygen saturations. She was going to continue on with her guide to Dhole, so I decided to go along.
The trail was surprisingly easy to follow due to the deep ruts cut by Yak trains. A few areas were difficult where the ground was smooth and exposed to wind but still manageable. The pace of Christine’s group was frustratingly slow so I forged ahead with the thought of possibly continuing on to Phorche or Phorche Thanga. I stopped briefly at a lodge in Dhole to call the HRA so that they would know where I was and so that someone could email the family my whereabouts, but the cloud-cover prevented a decent signal. My plans of going on to Phorche came to a screeching halt when I rounded the first bend and started the descent out of Dhole where the snow had stopped but the trail was icy and the visibility minimal.
I returned the long 20 feet to Dhole and stopped at the lodge belonging to a woman who I recognized from my flight to Lukkla several weeks ago. The lodge was a little on the cold side but still better than the post in Pheriche and the company was good. After an excellent dinner of tomato egg drop soup and fried potato momo’s, I spent the remainder of the evening playing strange Nepali card games with the lodge owners and a group of trekkers from Lithuania, Germany, and Argentina.
Day 4: Dhole to Pheriche
Waking up and putting on damp, dirty clothes is never fun, but after a couple of days of gradually increasing sogginess it was tolerable. I said goodbye to the previous evening’s company and set out for the post. I had the thought of getting back in time for lunch, which was doable, but I also was feeling a bit beat down from the previous days so I wasn’t really interested in trying to go too quickly. I also hadn’t taken many pictures of the surrounding country in the previous days due to the horrendous weather so I definitely had to do a little photo-documentation along the way.
Shortly after arriving in Phorche, the desire for a hot meal, hot shower, and a clean change of clothes took over and I turned up the pace significantly. I also noticed that I was going to be racing the weather yet again as the clouds were starting to build in the lower valley. 5 hours of nonstop hiking later, I pulled into the post just as the group was finishing lunch, but not too late to get my shower and 3 peanut butter on chipati sandwiches.
The previous days didn’t go nearly according to plan but they did have a few semi-epic moments and I’m happy to be back relatively intact. My feet are suffering from the numerous miles in soaking wet shoes and socks, but they should recover within a day or two. I’m not sure that the Himalayas are the place for fast and light, especially when you don’t have access to a weather report. Sometime next month I’ll have to make the trek across the Cho La but suspect I’ll just go directly up from here and then back rather than down and around the whole valley.
No comments:
Post a Comment