Trails and Treasures

This last day of really hiking involved the loss of over 3,000 feet in elevation.  About half was accomplished via the infamous staircase of 3,421 stone steps.  As a comparison, the longest continual descent on stone steps on the Inca Trail of about 1300 feet took 1300 to 1500 steps.  For my description of that descent, follow this link.

Starting down the steps

Being about 500 years newer than the Inca's staircase, the steps weren't quite as high

Will they ever end?

With my eye problems I really prefer going up rather than down.  These steps were a psychological torture, along with being really hard on the knees.  To add to the agony, the thermometer on my pack reached 80 degrees in the shade by mid-morning, and there was no shade.

We finally reached the bridge over the Bhurungdi Khola

Bridge over the Bhurungdi Khola

and several waterfalls.

We still weren’t done with steps.

More steps along the Bhurungdi Khola

On a terrace along the river I saw an interesting “scarecrow”, the only reference to the Maoists I recognized as such.

Terrace "art"

To scare the crows or make a political statement?

The rhododendrons were largely replaced by other flowers.

Pointsettia

The trail eventually joined the east bank of the Bhurungdi Khola and flattened out.  The Bhurungdi Khola wasn’t much of a river at the end of March, but it had a huge collection of rocks.

Pack train along the river path

Bhurungdi Khola

We’re nearing civilization which is moving even closer with the building of a new road.

This segment of the new road doesn't connect to anything yet, and it's very hot and dusty

A work in progress

We were soon back to the old trail.

Back on the old trail

And a few more steps

The trek from Ulleri to Birethanti is supposed to take 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 hours going down.  Going up the books suggest 3 1/2 to 5 hours.  It probably took me 4 1/2 to 5 hours.  Except for lunch, we didn’t stop–a real torture for me as it was extremely hot and I got dehydrated.

After a shower at the Moonlight Hotel in Birethanti, guess what I had to drink?

The Moonlight Hotel "bar"

An Everest!

Birethanti had shops because it was just possible to reach it by road, although a high clearance SUV would have been much better than the cars I saw.

A street in Birethanti

Machhapuchhare at sunrise

A short day of walking through rhododendron forests.  We started later (around 8a) and stopped earlier (about 1:30) with a long, long stop for lunch.

We'll hike from Mountain Discovery Lodge to Banthanti

A pack train was being readied for the trail.

Pack train

From the Mountain Discovery Lodge we climbed about 1200′ to Tadapani (8,530′) through a thick rhododendron forest in full bloom.  It was a stiff climb, but absolutely fantastic.

This tree with white flowers was a rarity

Annapurna South

Trail through the rhododendron

Annapurna South and Machhapuchhare from Tadapani

We stayed a while at Tadapani–a couple of hours, until after lunch. 

Himalayan lizard

Verditer Flycatcher

Large-billed Crows

From Tadapani, it was a steep downhill to a stream and the four lodges that make up Banthanti.

Annapurna South among the rhododendron

Machhapuchhare among the rhododendron

Dishes awaiting cleaning

Walking under rhododendron

The stream

Arriving at Banthanti

We stayed at the Hungry Eye

Hungry Eye at Banthanti

where the chickens foraged among the dirty dishes

Chickens lunching on the leftovers

and I had another room with a stone floor and leaky windows.

My room at the Hungry Eye

My room at the Kalpana in Chomrong

My room at Kalpana Guesthouse in Chomrong

My stuff; all the rooms would be really cozy if you were sharing

was the best I had on the trek when it comes to a view as it had windows on two sides.

Annapurna South from my window

Annapurna South

Machhapurchhare

From Chomrong we take a different path for our return trip. 

Today we'll walk from Chomrong to the Mountain Discovery Lodge at Chiule

Even though we are heading down, on this day we’ll end up higher than when we started.  Chomrong is at 7,249′; the Mountain Discovery Lodge at 7,365′.  In between, the trail descends to a bridge crossing at 6,332′.

We were out of the Sanctuary and back to walking between villages and among the fields.  Our first “agricultural” encounter was a group of men sheering goats.

Sheering goats

Part of the flock

Nearby a new lodge was being built.

A lodge under construction

It will have some great views.

Annapurna South

For the first couple of hours the trail followed the contours of the mountains without any major ascents or descents.

The path was easy, with lots of views

We met non-trekkers,

Carrying wood home

and, for the first time on this trek, we met a mule train.

The last mule in the train that passed us

We were just over there

We also saw some birds, including this scarlet minivet.

Scarlet minivet

At the village of Ghurjung we began our descent.

Starting down to Ghurjung

The hills were aflame with rhododendron

A child at Ghurjung

I see a bridge and think we’re nearing the bottom.

A bridge over a feeder stream to the Kimrong Khola

But, it’s just a side stream. 

The bridge is over this canyon

As if that wasn’t enough of a downer, my guide points out our destination at the top of the far ridge–the little depression minus trees coming in from the left in the photo below.  We won’t make it there today, but early tomorrow.

We're heading for the lodge at the top of the far ridge

Just before the bridge, we stopped at the Green Hill Lodge for tea.

Green Hill Lodge

Children at Green Hill Lodge

Crossing the canyon

There were several more guesthouses and a school between this bridge and the river.  At one guesthouse, a woman was carding,

A woman carding

and I finally found real tomatoes!

Tomatoes that look like tomatoes!

We finally reached the bottom and the bridge over the Kimrong Khola.

Bridge over the Kimrong Khola between Ghudrung and Siprong

From here it was a steep uphill climb to the British Gurkha Guesthouse where we stopped for lunch.  There were several monks here, and this woman was filling butter lamps.

Melting butter

Filling a lamp

She had quite a few to fill

The courtyard of the guesthouse was a busy place.  Along with the woman filling butter lamps, a girl was practicing soccer moves, and some of the locals were eating their lunch.  Some people use a knife to peel a piece of fruit (note the Giants T-shirt),

Peeling fruit with a knife

but this guy preferred his machete.

Peeling fruit with a machete

Some parts of the uphill path weren’t so great,

I suppose these rocks are useful when it's raining, but--

but some places had stone steps, although they weren’t nearly as nice as those at Chomrong.

Crude stone steps heading up from Kimrong Khola

As we climb ever higher, there are great views of where we’ve come from.

We started way around on the other side of the mountain

Like in Bhutan, obtaining forage for the livestock isn’t easy.  One favorite means is to denude whatever kind of tree this is.

A tree shorn of its leaves for forage

Bundling the leaves to carry them home

A less common method was to scrounge for dead organic matter.

More walking trees!

This was one steep climb!

Up, up, up, and we're not there yet

We took another rest stop at a burned out guesthouse which must have had great views from its rooms.

Looking north towards Annapurna South

Looking towards Machhapuchhre and the way we came from the northeast

We finally reached the Mountain Discovery Lodge on a small ledge that is used for pasturing mules.

Note the small eco-friendly sign

Additional rooms are being added to the 2nd floor

Hand-made building blocks

I assume the new bricks will be used for creating walls between the rooms

The partially completed new WC  has a wall covering I never saw anyplace else.  I wonder what they will put on the top part of the walls.

New WC

This was a very, very popular stopping place.  It was full.  A large portion of the guests were members of a Korean trekking club that brought their own chef.  They had been camping, and some of their sleeping bags must have gotten wet as they were spread out all over the lawn.  Did I say lawn?  Yes, this place had a lawn.

Lawn of the Mountain Discovery Lodge

And it used recycled glass to edge its flowerbeds.

A novel flower bed edging material

In the sanctuary beyond Chomrong, bottles are not allowed.  Both soda and beer must be in cans.

The Koreans were into karaoke.  They played music and sang until about 10 p.m.–mostly American songs.

A day of backtracking, so you might remember some of these locations.  But, then again, some of them were bathed in fog the day before.  Plus, I see more when I’m going downhill–something besides my feet!

I started trekking around 7:30a at MBC and ended the day at Bamboo a little after 3p.  With my eye problems, downhill is no piece of cake, so it usually takes me as long as going up.

A repeat of one ice field, but this time you can see Annapurna III

There's new snow on the sides of the mountains

An interesting crossing

One can see the meandering river through the rocks of the valley when going in this direction

Turn around, and Annapurna is in your face

I've been walking 45 min & I'm not done with the ice yet

Remember this on the way up, there was awall of fog just beyond the ice field. Now you can see the path.

One of the bridges over the Modi Khola

Without the struggle to breathe going up and the need to beat the storm, one can stop and examine the river

The view from the bridge; there's more water after the storm

It's hard to not keep looking back; the mountain is like a magnet

Cathedrals along the river

Can you find the cairn? I was glad I had a guide.

There it is!

Do I go up and over or around?

Deurali is just ahead

Looking back to Deurali; going down doesn't mean one is always descending

Lunchtime at Himalaya, and the warm clothes have disappeared into the pack

We're back in the bamboo forest heading for Dovan

Black-faced Langur

Langur in the tree tops

Langur on the ground

If the vegetation were different, this could be a bit of the AT

Then again, our rhododendron never get this big or showy

The Tip Top at Dovan was full when we arrived around 2, so we had to proceed to Bamboo.  At the Bomboo Lodge, I got a hot shower!!! and renewed acquaintance with three Swedes I’d met at Chomrong.  (And there was glass in the window, so no draft!)

After some vacillating back and forth about going up to Annapurna Base Camp or not, I decided not to go.  It usually takes about 2 hours each way.  It’s not very far (maybe two miles), and it’s not even very steep with about 1300′ of elevation gain.  But, it was going to be almost all on ice.  Now it wouldn’t be as bad going up because of the overnight freezing, but I really dreaded the coming down.  And then I would have to continue on for several more hours to get back to Deurali.  Besides, it just wasn’t going to look like this in March with all the snow still on the ground.

Since I couldn’t take any pictures when I arrived at MBC, I’m limiting this post to my early morning shots before we started down at about 7:30a.

Gurung Co-op Guest House sign

Annapurna South and the way to ABC are behind me

Tharpa Chuli or Tent Peak towers over MBC

One of the reasons we began our descent about 15 minutes after we left the lodge was that we had to wait for an event.  It began by several men shoveling some snow.  [Note the icy path in front of them.]

Shoveling snow in front of the Gurung Co-op

Soon we heard a chopper.

And it landed right beside the path.

Several of these people below climbed aboard,

and by the time we got down the path to their level, the chopper was taking off.

Deb thought probably someone in the party was suffering from altitude sickness, but I heard from someone else later in the day that they had flown up the day before, hiked to ABC, spent the night, and flown out.

My porter with the lodge and Tent Peak behind

The way to ABC

Tharpu Chuli

ABC is just over the hill

Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC)

The way down

I wonder how long it takes to dry

Today’s the toughest day.  We’ll start at 8,550′ and end at something over 12,000′.   (Depending on the source, MBC is at  anywhere from 12,136′ to 12, 477′.)  Since I’ve trekked to higher places both in California and Colorado, the altitude shouldn’t be a problem.

At the Tip Top in Dovan, I had to put pillows in the window which had no glass in order to cut the draft.  The rock floor meant it took a while to get my feet warm even though I had a heavy cover over my sleeping bag.  When I got up in the morning, it was 40°–a lot warmer than the 18 on a February night in Joshua Tree NP. 

Sunrise on Machhapuchhare from Dovan

The day in brief:

Dovan, 8,550’ OR 8218’, 7:23a

Himalayan Hotel  9514’ or 9318’ OR 10,1168’ OR 9580’, ar 9:11, lv 9:30

Deurali  10,597’ OR 10,398’, ar 11:20, lv 12:08

Machhapuchhare Base Camp  12,477’ or 12,139’ or 12,136’, ar abt 3

Dovan to MBC

The posted signboard times were:

Dovan to Himalaya 2 hr

Himalaya to Deurali, 1 ½ hr

Deurali to MBC 2 hr

 At Doran the trail is high above the river with thick stands of bamboo blocking the view of the rushing river and waterfalls on the other side of the river.  

The trail just outside of Dovan

Bamboo and rhododendron rainforest

Primroses, a sign of spring

The river was gaining elevation faster than we were.

The Modi Khola with the Himalaya Guest House in the distance

Approaching the Himalaya Guest House

After crossing a landslide and another avalanche track, we arrived at the Himalayan Hotel where we stopped for a cup of tea.

Boulders in the Modi Khola

Is that Annapurna III peeking out behind Machhapuchhare?

The forest disappeared opening up views of the many waterfalls.

One of many waterfalls (and avalanche chutes) in the area

Deurali is still about a 1/2 hour away at this point.  See those blue roofs in the distance?  They look so near, but there are lots of rocks between here and there.

Approaching Deurali

The first small patch of ice to be crossed

The path is narrow

Another waterfall

Waterfalls and rocks

A water crossing without a bridge

In Deurali  we stopped for lunch at the Panorama Guest House.  

Panorama Guest House in Deurali

From Deurali, we followed the flank of the river to a point where the trail crossed the river to avoid an area heavily prone to avalanches. 

The raging Modi Khola

Crossing the river involved some rock-hopping and a small bridge that could be moved as necessary.

Bridge to the east side of the Modi Khola

About this time the clouds descended.

The bridge back over the Modi Khola

Back on the west side of the river, we soon left its banks to climb up onto a terrace above the river.

We're going to cross the snow and ice to work our way up the side valley

Another ice field to be crossed

It’s supposedly “a gentle climb to  reach Macchapuchre Base Camp” from here,  BUT–

Because it was late spring, the surface of the ice had been constantly melting and then refreezing over night.  Where no one had tread, it was hard and slick.  Where people had tread, it was slushy and slippery.  Most people’s strides were longer than mine, meaning it was difficult to get traction.  Moreover, finding holes for my poles required careful placement rather than just the usual; otherwise, they would just go sliding.  I probably should have stopped to remove the rubber tips, but by the time I figured that out, it was too late.   Moreover, it had started to precipitate, a combination of rain, sleet and snow.  

I packed my camera away in a dry bag, so I have no more pictures for the day.  Besides, it was so foggy when we arrived at MBC, I couldn’t see more than 100′ or so.

Because we were behind most arrivals for the night, Deb had to try several guesthouses before he found one with a single room—the Gurung Cooperative.  There was no electricity in the room.

 It was cold.  A put on all my layers of clothing to sit in the great room where they finally turned on the propane heater under the table at 5 p.m.   At 5 MBC was totally socked in; you couldn’t see the next guesthouse.  By 6, it was clear.