Magnificent Mountains

I got another chance to get into the mountains.  I again went up to Mustang valley to a town called Larjung.  This is about a six or seven hour bus ride on very rough roads, but on the way you pass some spectacular scenery including what is technically the deepest valley on Earth.  One ridge comes off the summit of Annapurna I, and the other off of Dhaulagiri and where they meet is the deepest valley because both peaks are over 8,000 meters and the place where they meet it is at about 2,300 meters.

My plan was to climb west from Larjung towards the East Dhaulagiri ice fall, and then from there up onto the southeast ridge of Dhaulagiri and make my way up to 6,000m.  I arrived in Larjung in the afternoon, found a nice guest house and then walked up on the hill to the west towards another village.


Some fields just up the hill from Larjung



Nilgiri (north and central) close up



Looking across the valley at Nilgiri



Looking at the southeast ridge of Dhaulagiri.  My plan was to climb to the saddle pictured and then climb to the northwest (right) up the ridge.

 



Looking at the Dhaulagiri Icefall in the evening light.



I really have a thing for wateralls.  These are neat.



A little temple in the woods.  Many of the people in Mustang valley are Buddhist unlike the rest of the country which is predominantly Hindu.



Dhaulagiri soon after the sun has set behind it.

As you can see, Larjung is a very beautiful place.  It is nestled between Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri.  A lovely braided glacial stream flows right by the little community, and the climate is distinctly "mountain."  It never gets that hot there due to the shade of from the two gigantic peaks, and while the breeze can be chilling, sitting in the sun and listening to the stream go by verges on a religious experience.  Mustang valley is now one of my favorite places in the world.

The next morning I got up early and was on the trail by 5:45AM.  I had a lot of elevation to gain, and really, really heavy pack.


Ready to hit the trail

As I left the hotel I looked up and saw Dhaulagiri bathed in the early morning light.

I gained elevation pretty quickly, and by mid-morning was reaching timberline at about 3,200m.  The

rhododendron (Nepal's national flower) bushes at this elevation were in full bloom still, those at lower elevations had already run their course.

 

As I passed 3,500m I paused to take in the breathtaking Annapurna range.



The summit of Nilgiri (south).  Nilgiri is gigantic, so some maps split the mountain into three different summits.

Looking south towards Annapurna I.



Nilgiri in its entirety.

Nilgiri south (left) and Annapurna I (right).

 The weather in the morning was perfect, but that was soon to change.  I had been counting on some streams that I encountered on my last trip for water, but those turned out to be very seasonal.  I was pretty parched as I reached some yak herder huts at 3,700m.  I asked one woman there for water, and she was kind enough to oblige.  I think she thought I was fairly strange when I got my filter out to filter the water that she drinks everyday, but with the huge quantity of yak poop on the surrounding hillsides I figured chances of getting giardia were pretty high.

The fog rolled in as I got to about 4,100m which made route finding fairly interesting.



Looking back the way I came

Looking towards my route up...I think.

I ended up climbing up a bit too far towards the icefall, and had to cross some very loose gullies and lose a hundred meters in elevation or so to get around large cliff that came looming out of the fog.  This was pretty frustrating at that elevation as each step up takes quite a bit of effort.

I hit snow shortly and in some places on top of the snow 15-20cm of hail had collected.

Eventually, I spotted a bench that seemed out of potentail avalanche and rockfall paths.  The snow conditions were very summer like, but recent wet slide activity was abundant so I made sure to place camp far from potential slide paths.  I got to a camp spot at about 4,600m at about 5:30PM, nearly 12 hours after I started out.  The weather was clearing, but with evening coming on the temperature was dropping, so I quickly made camp.  Making a level sleeping platform took about half an hour using only my ice axe and boots.  After that I melted some snow for water, took a few pictures, and went to bed.  My exact location was N28°39.985’ E83°32.867’.  Check it out on google maps if you want.

Tukuche in the eveing light

Close up on one of the glaciers on Tukuche.

Nilgiri in the evening light



Annapurna I

Camp with Tukuche in the background.

My plan was to get an alpine start at 4AM, but due to an inadequate sleeping pad insulating layer I spent a pretty cold and sleepless night.  Also, I was just exhausted after hiking for 12 hours with a heavy pack.  I slept in pretty late and left camp at 9AM for Dhaulagiri's southeast ridge.  I gained the ridge here N28°39.585’ E83°32.526’at about 5,000m 2 hours later and weather immediately started to move in.  Groppel started to fall pretty heavily and there was quite a bit of lightening and thunder, not to mention the wind really picked up.  I continued northwest on the leeward side of the ridge until about 1 o'clock, only gaining 30m in elevation at which point I had lunch, and made a hasty retreat back to camp.

Looking back at camp.  Can you find my tent?



There it is!!!

Bad weather hitting the ridge.

The route from the saddle.

Lunch break

Back at camp I crawled in my tent and spent about 4 very boring and lonely hours just sitting and waiting for the weather to clear.  I did have time to reflect on my plan though.  The ridge going towards Dhaulagiri was more technical than I originally thought.  The section I had climbed was doable, but it only looked like it got more rugged in the few brief glimpses I had of it earlier in the day.  I figured under perfect conditions I would be pushing my abilities and comfort level, and with the weather as it was I would probably be out of my league.  "Better safe than dead," I always say.  Actually, I have never said that, but I will from now on.  Also, reaching 6,000m on that ridge would take a very, very long time due to the technical climbing level and the low slope angle.  In a long day given the right conditions it might be possible for me, but the weather pattern was not conducive to long climbing days and the last thing I wanted was to caught on that ridge in a blizzard.  My sleeping system was also imperfect, so I didn't want too many more nights up there.  Also, due to the weather the lonliness of the experience was exacerbated.  Sitting in a tent for long hours by yourself isn't all that fun.  If conditions are nice I am more than happy to wander around camp and check out the views, but as it was I was pretty confined to my tent.

I decided to climb back up the ridge the next morning and continue southeast on the ridge until I reached a small peak at about 5,200m.  If I left early enough I figured I could climb, return to camp, pack up, and then return to Larjung in the same day.  In the evening the weather cleared again, and everything had been coated in a layer of snow which the winds quickly blew off of some areas.

Camp

Looking down at Mustang valley and the slopes of Nilgiri

The planned peak for the morning.

It snowed again during the night, but by the time I started out before 5AM the weather had cleared.  I was hoping there wasn't too much new snow up higher to make avalanche conditions unfavorable, and if there was the wind had blown it off by the time I was climbing.

First light on Tukuche

Morning light reflecting off the river in Mustang valley

What made these tracks at nearly 5,000m?  A yeti puppy perhaps...



Morning light reaching the slope I was climbing with weather beginning to move in already.  Clouds whipping up the sides of Tukuche in the background.



Looking east at some fine corpuscular rays

I reached the ridge a half an hour faster than the previous day, and fog immediately rolled in, and then cleared off about half an hour later for about 10 minutes before coming in again.  The weather continued this pattern the rest of the morning.  Sometimes I could see hardly a thing, and then shortly after the weather would clear and I would get some of the best views in the world.

My route looking up the ridge from the saddle.

The weather clearing on Manapathi to the southwest of Dhaulagiri.

Climbing through one of the steeper sections in the fog.

The ridge getting a bit more interesting

Dhaulagiri up close and personal

Another icefall on the south face

This ridge was my original plan.  Reaching 6,000m would have been quite an adventure.  Check out the knife ridge in the upper part of the picture!!

I reached the summit here N28°39.052’ E83°32.813’ at 5254m at about 8:30AM.  I took some pictures, had a quick snack, and then went back to camp.  After I descended off of the steepest sections I took off my crampons and was able to bootski/fall down much of the elevation to camp.

Ah shit, Ethan! You climbed the wrong peak!  Look behind you!



Look closely at the writing on the blade of my ice axe.  Guess I'm in the right place.

At camp, I made a hot snack and began to pack up.  As I was getting ready to leave at noon the weather dissolved into blizzard conditions.  My pack was filling with snow faster than I could fill it with my gear.  I hustled down to lower elevations and again the weather cleared a bit, but it stayed fairly blustery all the way back to Larjung.

These couloirs would have been a better option to reach 6,000m, but I don't think I have enough experience to set up a safe camp in that sort of terrain.

The infamous icefall that claimed the lives of 7 people during the 1969 American Expedition

I made it to Larjung at about 5PM and spent a nice warm night there before heading back home the next day.  That morning in Larjung waiting for the bus I truly fell in love with the place.  I wouldn't have minded much if the bus never came.  Mustang valley is magical.

I learned that I need a better sleeping system, and will need some down pants before going camping much higher than I was.  The lonliness was tough.  I like adventuring by myself from time to time, but sitting alone in a tent in bad weather is a lonely time.  Next time I should find somebody to go with, preferably with more experience in the Himalayas that I.  Also, going up a more well travelled peak would help not only with comraderie, but it would also take the stress out of route selection and campsite selection.  I also learned I can climb to higher elevations without much problem.  I was breathing hard while climbing, but other than a slight loss of appetite I was affected very little by the altitude.  Of course there is a huge difference between 5,000 and 7,000m.  2000m to be exact...I had a really good experience and am probably one of the luckiest people in the world.  Being in the mountains is something I frequently crave, and being in the midst of those mountains fills that craving like snorting heroine when all you needed was a beer.  Climbing into them really puts them in perspective.  Standing higher than I have every gone was great, but I was still staring straight up to see the summit of the peaks near me.