If you want to see pictures from the trip, check out my web album at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/getout.domore/Nepal0902?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6vofLY3vf7Ow&feat=directlink
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Finished the Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary Treks...
I have returned from hiking the Annapurna Circuit and the trek up to Annapurna Base Camp/ Annapurna Sanctuary. I will continue to put updates about the treks up in the next couple days... but for now, let me just say I am safely back and it was spectacular! More coming...
Monday, May 11, 2009
SOCKED IN!!!
Woke up to watch the sunrise... ran into Clive just outside my door, "You may as well go back to bed." He told me, the clouds had set in and we couldn't even see down the valley, let alone up to the peaks! Everyone about the place was equally bummed as we all sorta milled about, no one went back to bed. A few of us ordered breakfast right away, and as we ate, the clouds slowly started to lift and break up! Everyone was abuzz, in and out of the dining hall as a new summit peaked out! It was really something to watch the clouds lift and slowly reveal different views! The clouds really added something to the views too! We ended up getting at least a peak at everything but Annapurna I.
As we started to descend after breakfast, the clouds settled back in. We hiked through the fresh snow down to MBC and shortly after that we entered the rain... hiked in the rain most of the morning. Just after Deurali on the way down, we encountered a flock of the most brilliant blue birds I've ever seen! They were amazing!
The rain slowly lessened and we only had off and on sprinkles down to Sinuwa. We stopped for tea and biscuits there and then proceeded to Chomrong. On the way up the steps from the river through Chomrong, I had been counting the steps and at 2000 I stopped and announced to NP that that was the 2000th step from the river! He smiled and took about eight more steps and announced to me that that was the 2000th step! We'd both been counting! What nerds... At the top I had 2301 and NP had 2295, so we agreed on 2300 to make it easy! That was a lot of steps!
That evening the rain settled back in and it got pretty dark with thunder and all! Met a Kiwi girl on her way up to ABC, she's headed to Montana to work at a teen outdoor program. She's been working similar jobs in NZ and summers in Antarctica! How cool is that, she works as a field instructor, teaching survival, glacial travel and safety, as well as heading up the Search and Rescue for Scott Base! Sounds like a cool gig!
As we started to descend after breakfast, the clouds settled back in. We hiked through the fresh snow down to MBC and shortly after that we entered the rain... hiked in the rain most of the morning. Just after Deurali on the way down, we encountered a flock of the most brilliant blue birds I've ever seen! They were amazing!
The rain slowly lessened and we only had off and on sprinkles down to Sinuwa. We stopped for tea and biscuits there and then proceeded to Chomrong. On the way up the steps from the river through Chomrong, I had been counting the steps and at 2000 I stopped and announced to NP that that was the 2000th step from the river! He smiled and took about eight more steps and announced to me that that was the 2000th step! We'd both been counting! What nerds... At the top I had 2301 and NP had 2295, so we agreed on 2300 to make it easy! That was a lot of steps!
That evening the rain settled back in and it got pretty dark with thunder and all! Met a Kiwi girl on her way up to ABC, she's headed to Montana to work at a teen outdoor program. She's been working similar jobs in NZ and summers in Antarctica! How cool is that, she works as a field instructor, teaching survival, glacial travel and safety, as well as heading up the Search and Rescue for Scott Base! Sounds like a cool gig!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Rain and speedy Germans!
After we ate lunch in Deurali it started to rain a little and we ducked under cover. There the German couple that had passed us on our way out of Manang showed up. I remembered them, because they were the only people to pass NP and I on the trail while we were walking. Their names were Mark and Judith, hiked with them the rest of the way up to Annapurna Base Camp. Found out they started their travels by bicycle from Germany. They travelled down through Europe and all over the Middle East before leaving their bikes in Israel and flying to Nepal.
We stopped at Machhapuchhre Base Camp as it was starting to rain again, had tea and met an Australian meteorologist. When the weather seemed to be lifting a little we made a break for the last hours hike to ABC. About five or ten minutes out of MBC it started snowing and continued to snow on us all the way to ABC. I can't complain too much. This was the first day of my time in Annapurna that I had to wear my rain jacket! It was really quite a spectacular last half hour as we hiked with about 100ft visibility, snowing heavily and thunder booming in the distance and echoing off the mountains surrounding us!
At ABC they had heaters roaring in the dining hall and everything dried quite quickly and we all stayed toasty warm! Visited with a lovely British couple, doing this trek to celebrate 130 years! Clive's 70th and Caroline's 60th! I was impressed, and they had all kinds of wonderful stories from their travels over the years!
Had brief glimpses of the sun setting on Machhapuchhre through the clouds, that was spectacular... not sure if any of the pictures turned out though.
We stopped at Machhapuchhre Base Camp as it was starting to rain again, had tea and met an Australian meteorologist. When the weather seemed to be lifting a little we made a break for the last hours hike to ABC. About five or ten minutes out of MBC it started snowing and continued to snow on us all the way to ABC. I can't complain too much. This was the first day of my time in Annapurna that I had to wear my rain jacket! It was really quite a spectacular last half hour as we hiked with about 100ft visibility, snowing heavily and thunder booming in the distance and echoing off the mountains surrounding us!
At ABC they had heaters roaring in the dining hall and everything dried quite quickly and we all stayed toasty warm! Visited with a lovely British couple, doing this trek to celebrate 130 years! Clive's 70th and Caroline's 60th! I was impressed, and they had all kinds of wonderful stories from their travels over the years!
Had brief glimpses of the sun setting on Machhapuchhre through the clouds, that was spectacular... not sure if any of the pictures turned out though.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Poon hill, missionaries, and unnumbered stairs!
The next morning we got up around 4:30am and made it up Poon Hill by 5:10 to watch the sunrise. The sun rose over Machhapuchhre and illuminated Dhaulagiri! Just beautiful, no wonder over 200 people got up this early to hike up here! Had a cup of tea at the top, and watched the sun come up. After almost an hour on top, we headed down to breakfast in Ghorepani.
Great example of the Nepali Flats today... up to the top of a hill or ridge, then down the other side to the riverbed before heading back up to the top of the next hill or ridge! It would be amazing to know how much elevation gain and loss there is between Ghorepani and Chomrong! We did a shorter day, stopped by 2pm at a lovely little lodge in Chiule. Watched a storm coming up the valley and listened to the thunder rolling in the distance for a little while, drained my blister again, then I took a nap! Woke up three hours later to rain on the roof, nothing quite like the sound of rain on a tin roof!
Met a Korean/Hawaiian who comes over here each year to help at a church in Jomsom, he's travelling with the local Nepali pastor to visit other churches in the outlying communities.
The next day I felt much better, the extra rest worked its magic! Another day of much elevation gained and lost, but the views were stunning and the trail beautiful. It is very lush here, and especially after the Kali Gandaki it seems amazingly green!
We made it to Dovan for the night... but barely got a room! Of the three lodges in Dovan the last one had one room left. I was going to ask if I could sleep on a bench in the dining hall if they didn't have a room. Met a charming Texan couple at the beginning of an eight month honeymoon! They were playing cards with their guide in the dining hall and invited me to join them. Good fun! Egyptian War, but the rules were pretty lax!
Great example of the Nepali Flats today... up to the top of a hill or ridge, then down the other side to the riverbed before heading back up to the top of the next hill or ridge! It would be amazing to know how much elevation gain and loss there is between Ghorepani and Chomrong! We did a shorter day, stopped by 2pm at a lovely little lodge in Chiule. Watched a storm coming up the valley and listened to the thunder rolling in the distance for a little while, drained my blister again, then I took a nap! Woke up three hours later to rain on the roof, nothing quite like the sound of rain on a tin roof!
Met a Korean/Hawaiian who comes over here each year to help at a church in Jomsom, he's travelling with the local Nepali pastor to visit other churches in the outlying communities.
The next day I felt much better, the extra rest worked its magic! Another day of much elevation gained and lost, but the views were stunning and the trail beautiful. It is very lush here, and especially after the Kali Gandaki it seems amazingly green!
We made it to Dovan for the night... but barely got a room! Of the three lodges in Dovan the last one had one room left. I was going to ask if I could sleep on a bench in the dining hall if they didn't have a room. Met a charming Texan couple at the beginning of an eight month honeymoon! They were playing cards with their guide in the dining hall and invited me to join them. Good fun! Egyptian War, but the rules were pretty lax!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
I guess I was tired...
Today was killer, really just many things put together to make it hard. It was hot now, being back down at the lower elevations. Also, today it was muggy! The heat really saps my energy! We gained about 5,000ft and climbed innumerable stairs, but the uphill was good, was better for my toe with the blister. I think my body might be ready for a rest day... I fell asleep twice during the day today.
The first time was at lunch, while I was waiting for my food to be prepared I laid my head down and was awoken 15min later when my food was brought out. Then in the afternoon we stopped for a break and while NP made a phonecall I laid back to be more comfortable while I waited. A half hour later NP woke me up! I didn't mean to sleep, he should have woken me sooner so we could have kept on and gotten to our destination, then slept! lol
We made it to Ghorepani and planned to climb Poon hill to see the sunrise in the morning.
The first time was at lunch, while I was waiting for my food to be prepared I laid my head down and was awoken 15min later when my food was brought out. Then in the afternoon we stopped for a break and while NP made a phonecall I laid back to be more comfortable while I waited. A half hour later NP woke me up! I didn't mean to sleep, he should have woken me sooner so we could have kept on and gotten to our destination, then slept! lol
We made it to Ghorepani and planned to climb Poon hill to see the sunrise in the morning.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The longest day of the trip...
We started out from Marpha, waved goodbye to Paul and Brona as they drove past in their jeep and walked down the valley. Originally we had planned to take a jeep from Jomsom or Marpha to Tatopani and then trek up to the Annapurna Sanctuary, but as we made such good time before the pass we now had time to walk the whole thing.
At the end of this day I wondered if NP and I were bad influences for each other... we ended up walking all the way to Tatopani, about 26miles or just over 40km. We stopped for lunch where we originally had said we were headed, Kalopani and felt good so kept going. By the time we were tired and ready to call it a day we were only a couple hours walk from Tatopani, which means "hot water", named because of a hot springs, so that sounded nice and we kept going. We arrived in Tatopani after about 8 hours of walking with sore feet and very tired! NP and I each had one small blister on our feet. NP said he'd never made it from Marpha to Tatopani on one day on foot. Usually they do it in two or three days, so we were both proud of our accomplishment, and Paul and Brona, as well as their guide were all surprised to see us show up on foot!
I went to bed hoping for a shorter day tomorrow!
At the end of this day I wondered if NP and I were bad influences for each other... we ended up walking all the way to Tatopani, about 26miles or just over 40km. We stopped for lunch where we originally had said we were headed, Kalopani and felt good so kept going. By the time we were tired and ready to call it a day we were only a couple hours walk from Tatopani, which means "hot water", named because of a hot springs, so that sounded nice and we kept going. We arrived in Tatopani after about 8 hours of walking with sore feet and very tired! NP and I each had one small blister on our feet. NP said he'd never made it from Marpha to Tatopani on one day on foot. Usually they do it in two or three days, so we were both proud of our accomplishment, and Paul and Brona, as well as their guide were all surprised to see us show up on foot!
I went to bed hoping for a shorter day tomorrow!
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