West Quoddy Head Light

Sticking out into the Bay of Fundy, West Quoddy Head is the easternmost point of land in the United States.  Just off shore is Grand Manan Island, a part of New Brunswick.  We hiked a loop that began with coastal views and ended with a boardwalk into a bog.

West Quoddy Head trail map

West Quoddy Head Light from the coastal trail

Sea clifs

Coastal view

Apachetas!

If you’re not familiar with the term apacheta, check out my previous blog post on apachetas in the Andes.

As we headed inland, we encountered stairs of tree roots.

Steve on the tree root staircase

In October one doesn’t expect to find many wildflowers blooming except for an aster or two, so this renegade was a rarity.

An October bloom

Along the circular boardwalk around the bog there were numerous pitcher plants, lichens, mosses, dwarf trees, and berry bushes.

A carnivorous pitcher plant

In the bog

Moss?

More moss?

Reindeer lichen

Oops, that turned out to be 13 elephant pictures, so here’s a photo I liked that didn’t fit with any of my Chitwan storylines.

Poon Hill

Unfortunately, it was too cloudy and hazy for great pictures, but here are the best of the lot.

Machhapuchhare just before sunrise

Dhaulagiri at sunrise

Sunrise from Poon Hill

Annapurna South and Machhapuchhare at sunrise from Poon Hill

On the way back to the lodge for breakfast, I spied a tall tree with yellow flowers–the only one I saw.

After breakfast, we began the descent in earnest.  From Ghorepani to Ulleria involved a descent of over 2200 feet.

The steps outside the hotel

The steps through town

The Medical Outpost & The steps at the edge of town

More steps

There were, of course, more rhododendrons, but I also happened upon some orchids.

Orchids

As we followed a stream, there were waterfalls large and small.

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We encountered a pack train of mules laden with food supplies for the lodges.

Would you like chicken for dinner?

Check-out the path, more steps

The driver wore crocs!

Many of the men from these villages serve in Gurkha regiments of the British Army overseas.

I really have to concentrate on my feet going down hill, so I don’t see much of my surroundings unless I stop.  That coupled with the haze and low-hanging clouds which obscured the mountain peaks meant I took no mountain pictures the entire day after leaving the top of Poon Hill.

We stopped in Banthanti (7,546′) for lunch around 11:30. 

My porter in Banthanti

It took less than an hour to reach Ulleri (6791′).  As this was our stopping point, I had lots of time to take pictures.

Sawing wood

Thatch-roofed building

How do you like the steps to the woodpile?

I stayed at the Mira or Meera Guest House.

Mira Guesthouse, Ulleri

The terrace of the Mira Guesthouse in Ulleri

The Mira's dining room

The Mira's nasturtiums

The Mira's toilet

I had a great corner room here that would have provided fantastic views if it hadn’t been engulfed in clouds.  It also had a bathroom, a most interesting one.

The shower

The toilet

From my window I could look down at the activity at the spigot.

An interesting way to scrub your clothes

Since the Hungry Eye sat at the base of a cliff, I have no pictures of the sunrise on the mountains.

Rhododendrons at first light

Starting at the base of a cliff, the trail headed up through a glen with numerous little waterfalls.

Waterfall near Banthanti

We passed a point where a child died, but I cannot find any further information than what was on the sign.  This was the only place along the entire trail that I saw something like this.

Saranga Riv, son of trekking guide Ganga Bahadur Ghale and Jacqueline Doens

Prayer flags for Saranga Riv Ghale

There were more primroses

and some rare pine trees near Deurali and the top of the pass.

Annapurna South through the rhododendrons

These rhododendron were much reder than most

Annapurna South

We were approaching civilization.

Ghorepani Medical Post, 1 hr

Up to this point, we had seen few large groups of trekkers.  But from here on down to the road, we saw many.  It was the end of March and clearly a lot of college students from all over the world were on holiday.  There were also groups of older folks.

A group heading up to the Sanctuary

Our mountain views now included Dhaulagiri, the world’s 7th highest mountain,

Dhaulagiri

and Machhapuchhare was disappearing behind the mountains we’d crossed.

Machhapuchhare is disappearing from sight

A rest stop

The rhododendron were mostly in various shades of pink

Dhaulagiri

We arrived in Ghorepani before lunch time and checked into the Nice View Lodge in the upper part of town.

Nice Viewpoint Lodge, Ghorepani

Being back in “civilization”, I had my own bathroom–the nicest I had on the trek.

Shower and sink

A western toilet!

But somehow, they forgot about the ceiling.

Bathroom ceiling

The lodge had a huge dining area with fantastic views,

View from Nice Viewpoint

and it served chicken!

When we’d passed through the lower town, I had spied an internet sign, so after lunch and a shower, I went hunting for it. 

"Downtown" Ghorepani

The "central square"

Unfortunately, the service was down.  I gathered that the land-line telephone service was rather spotty, but there also seemed to be problems with the electricity.  I left my camera battery charging for hours and the light never turned green.

Map of MBC to Chomrong

It’s uphill out of Bamboo.

Steps heading up and south from Bamboo

Rhododendron (stopping to take a picture gives me an excuse to stop)

I forgot to take my sunrise picture, so here’s one at about 8:45a.

Machhapuchhare is back to looking like a fishtail

Now it was time to start down.

A short stretch of nice and easy downhill

They're like a magnet, always drawing your attention

We stopped at Hilltop after 2+ hours of walking for tea.

Hen-and-chicks

Cabbage patch

From Hilltop to the Sherpa Lodge at Sinuwa was 45 minutes, mostly on steps.  You can see Chomrong strung out along the opposite hillside.  Remember the Kalpana, my destination, is near the top of the escarpment.

My porter starting down from Hilltop towards Sinuwa

Sherpa Guesthouse at Sinuwa

The Sherpa's store

We were a little early for lunch, so I ordered pizza because it would take a while.  That gave me lots of time to investigate my surroundings, a luxury I usually didn’t have.

Notice the shape of the saw this carpenter is using

Every day is laundry day for these guest houses.

Step 1: at the "well"

Step 2: Scrub and rinse

Step 3: Early in the day there's sun & wind for drying

Meanwhile, there’s the garden to tend.

Here are those "tomatoes" again

Those bright colored buckets are used for everything

Another species of Sempervivum

A butterfly

These are the steps leading down from Sinuwa.

Steps down from Sinuwa to the Chomro Khola

Throughout the trek every once in a while there was a little sign with some eco-awareness saying.

The steps:

I'm heading up

But these kids were coming down from school

Will they ever end?

There's no spectacular morning light on Annapurna South from Chomrong

But we finally can see the fishtail of Macchapuchhare

Today’s hike in brief:

Chomrong (7,119′) down to Chomro Khola (6,200′) and then up to Dovan (8,550′), estimated time 6-7 hrs.

Partial sketch map of Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Part 1: Descend from Chomrong to river and up to Sinuwa

Today's path from Chomrong to Sinuwa, Bamboo and Dovan

Since the Kalpana Guest House was in the upper town, we began hiking by descending the long stone staircase to the Chomro Khola, which we crossed on a suspension bridge. 

Bridge over the Chomro Khola below Chomrong

And then we, of course, had to go back up the side of the mountain to Sinuwa, which had just a few of lodges.  One trekking guide called it a “stiff climb,”  an understatement.  But at least it was early in the morning.

Chhomrung after about 1/2 hour of ascent

Chomrong after 3/4 hr of ascent

I think the Kapana was the one with the green roof near the top

 At the Hilltop Lodge in Sinuwa I inhaled a Power Bar around 9:30 when we stopped for tea and wished I had another in my pack.

One last look back to where we've been; you can just make out Jhina Danda as a few specs on the lower ridge

Next is Bamboo and then Dovan

The ACAP’s Annapurna Sanctuary Special Management Zone begins at Sinuwa.  From here on, no wood fires are allowed, so all lodges must cook with kerosene or gas.  Lodges also are restricted to six or seven bedrooms in designated locations.  According to the trekking guide, about half of the lodges from Sinuwa upwards are owned by Chomrong villagers. 

Even so, we’re not in the wilderness.

Modern technology is never far away

but there's still only one way to carry stuff

I still don't know what these are

At this point the stone steps disappeared (for the most part, but not totally), and the trail narrowed.  On the ridge, the path through the forest was rocky with lots of tree roots.  Just like home on the AT!  We crossed a stream and passed the ruins of an ACAP post (Khuldigar or Khurdi Ghar, 7,800’) before starting steeply downhill to a damp bamboo forest and a collection of lodges called Bamboo, where we stopped for lunch at 12:30 at the Bamboo Guesthouse.

Bamboo forest

 The guidebook allows 4 to 4 ¾ hrs for the trip.  I did it in 5 (including the stop in Sinuwa), but I was exhausted and dehydrated.  (It’s hard to break your rhythm to stop and drink.  I did have Gatorade powder along, so most of the time I was drinking Gatorade.)   My first order of business was to drink a coke while I waited for  a plate of spaghetti and some French fries.  I finished with an apple. 

This was the only time I ended up sitting with Americans.  Most of the people I met at the guesthouses were from other places: France, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Denmark, and Great Britain, to name a few.  On the trail I saw a group of Japanese for several days, but they were camping, probably because they were a group.

From Bamboo the trail climbed steadily, crossing the Bamboo Khola and several other streams leading to the Modi Khola before reaching Dovan (8,331’) at 2:45p.

We were back in the rhododendron forest

Rhododendron alongside a waterfall

The Hotel Tip-Top had hot showers, and since it was sunny when we arrived, we all did some laundry.

Hotel Tip-Top at Dovan

Laundry with a view

There was a waterfall to help you sleep, not that I needed it.

Waterfall at the Tip-Top

And there were flowers everywhere you looked.

Dare I?

And some not so young–Some of the terraces on these hillsides

seem hardly big enough for a triple yoke of oxen to plow.

The woman is sowing seeds right behind the plow

Many of these farmers are ethnic Gurung, and many of their farmsteads have thatched roofs.

Thatching a roof

There were no silos, just outside racks.

I never saw any wild animals, and small wildflowers like the ones below were also a rarity.

On the other hand, there were orchids

and some strange trees.

I wonder if the red fruit was edible; they looked like tomatoes–at least from a distance.

Annapurna South and Hiunchuli from Pothana at sunrise

Now on the usual trekking route, I found that huge portions of the trail were “paved” with flagstones, and many steep sections had stone steps.  Note the hazy background in the afternoon photo versus the clear sky in the morning one.

Path just outside of Pothana in the afternoon

View of Annapurna South from path leaving Pothana in the morning at 7:40

We climbed gradually and then after a short steep section reached a pass at 7,085′, a little over an hour after leaving Pothana. 

Machhapuchhre or Fishtail (22,943')

Hiunchuli, 21,132'

On the other side of the pass we reached the village of Deurali (6890′) where we stopped for tea.

Annapurna South as we head into Deurali

Soon we came to a serious downhill section on crude stone steps.

We reached a stream in a side valley which we crossed on a suspension bridge.

As we followed the contours of the next hill up to the village of Tolka, I got my first glimpse of the Modi Khola valley.  I think the path in the picture is a section on the other side of the river  that I never set foot on.

In Tolka (5,938′) we stopped for lunch at the Ram Lodge.  The menu had basically the same items as the Fishtail the day before.  I soon discovered that all the guesthouses had the same basic menu, although the organization varied and the end result varied even more.  One time spaghetti with tomato sauce was just that–cooked spaghetti with some heated tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce) on it.  Another time it had almost no sauce and so much cheese, it was closer to macaroni and cheese with a little tomato flavoring.  The vegetable curry was never very spicey.  Rosti bore little resemblance to the original Swiss version; usually it was fried boxed mashed potatoes with some cheese on it, although sometimes it was doctored with onions and garlic.  Even so, it was one of my favorites.  An omelette with french fries was always good.  The pizza varied a lot, and sometimes the cook was pretty skimpy on the tomato sauce or sliced tomatoes and cheese.  If you wanted to go native, there was always Dal Bhat (I think the guides and porters ate this for every meal) or  momos (little dumplings), which sometimes were good and other times very chewy.

Leaving Tolka, there were more flagstone steps down to another side valley and another bridge.  You can see the stone abutments at the far end of the bridge.

Here’s a view from below back up towards Tolka.

Looking up to Tolka

From here we curved around the hill, not down, towards Landruk, passing a scattering of Gurung farmsteads.

That's the Modi Khola down there

Landruk sits just above the river on the eastern bank at 5,314′, 1200′ lower than where I’d started in the morning.  We arrived around 2p, so I got had plenty of time to get a shower before the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the temperature plummeted.

Hotel Sherpa, Landruk

My guesthouse in Landruk

The rooms on the second floor on the left side, the ones with the small windows have bathrooms.  Having a private bathroom was a real luxury; few guesthouses had any.  On the other hand, they weren’t quite what you’d expect.

My private "bathroom"

The sink pipe is not connected to anything; the water just goes onto the floor in hopes that it will get to the floor drain.  The shower consisted of a shower head on the wall in front of the toilet.  Be sure to close the lid to avoid a wet seat.  And there’s no way to avoid a very wet floor since there’s only the one drain.   See the beige and black on the lower left of the toilet tank?  That’s tape covering various cracks and perhaps holding a piece in place, so you need to fill the tank just before flushing & hope it holds until all the water’s out.

Do you remember the outdoor kitchen at the hotel where I started trekking?  That sink was quite luxurious compared to most.

The only source of running water

Most guesthouses had only one source of running water–an outdoor spigot.  People washed themselves, their clothes, and their dishes at these spigots which were usually fed by a hose from a free-flowing water source far, far away.  I never saw something I recognized as being  a sunken well.

Most Westerners come to Pokhara to trek in the Annapurnas, but many Indians come here for a lakeside vacation.  It’s a tourist town, not that different in concept to a place like Gatlinburg just outside of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It’s filled with hotels, restaurants, and tourist shops.

My hotel--the Four Seasons

If my hotel had no commonalities other than beds with the American hotel chain of the same name, Wal*Mart had even less in common with its American name source.

Wal*Mart Trekking Store

Most visitors make time for a boat ride on the Phewa Tal, Nepal’s second largest lake, usually as part of a trip to the small Vishnu shrine of Varahi Mandir.

Phewa Tal

Taking the boat to Varahi Mandir

Varahi Mandir

The temple's guardian lion

Temple visitors

Some locals were fishing in the lake.

Fishing in Phewa Tal

But most tourists, like me, are more interested in the mountains. 

Machhapuchhre or Fishtail

Tomorrow I start trekking up to this mountain–the primary reason for coming to Nepal.