We woke up today at 5:45, packed our shit up real quick like, and bit the road! Our guide told us that we could just get started and he'd catch up, so we hit the trail! One thing that was quite startling was that the trail was mostly flat, if not at a nice down grade! This was quite different then the joke our guide had made a few days earlier about a Nepalese flat: where you go down for a while then up, down then up ( course this averages out to flat after a while :p ). But this was truly flat! What a day! We made it alway down to the first main "town" with out our guide or porter catching up with us (not so slow on flat ground after all!), but even though we didn't have our guide a dog from the village we were staying at followed us the whole way to the first town. We were expecting him to stop at some point, but he would just slink along and keep us company, I named him Vincent :p. Once we got to the main town we had to wait a few minutes there for the guide, then we continued on our way, only about 30 mins more, Vincent left us to our guide at that point (guess he knew we didn't need him any more!). After a short walk longer (short compared to the 5-7 we have been doing!) we were at the main road!! After a while our ride showed up, which we beat btw! And we were on the road to pokara, in the car we got a flight that was an hour and a half earlier arranged and enjoyed the sights...while not walking :p. We killed some time at a hotel in town with internets gettin caught up on what we had missed out over the last 8 days or so and then hit the airport for our plane! The security check through our check in bag was the silliest thing ever...basically jus open then at and peer into he top layer...then root around for a sec then call it good! With a shrug we entered the waiting room to await the plane. It was the same type of little plane we flew in on and dad and I made sure to grab seats on the left side so we could view the mountains as we left. While the cloud cover was very high we were able to spot fishtale, Annapurna south, and one other peak through the clouds...they were at the same height as us :p. 20 more minutes and we were on the ground and headed towards the hotel...what a great trip!! Now to enjoy Kathmandu for a bit longer and spend the last bit of time with my pops! We fly on the same plane to Bangkok tomorrow and then I hop away to visit clay :).
I'll post more of our crazy antics as the arise!
My advice...you must go trekking in the Annapurna region if you ever get the chance!! B-E-A-utiful!!!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Trek day 8: Last full day!!
Well this will be our last full day trekking! We had originally planed to have a four hour hike on the ninth day then drive back to pokara, but we decided to go an extra hour or two today to make it farther south and then we'll wake up early tomorrow morning and make it into town with hopes of catching a much earlier plane back to Kathmandu!
The first part of our journey today was down hill for a bit and then all the way back up to the top of chomgrong! Down and then back up...as usual! To pass the time I decided to count the steps up to the top of chomgrong...what a long ordeal!! By the time I got to the top I was at 2088 steps (this was counting things that looked like real steps not just rocks that I had to step over...so it's rough...but around 2200 steps! Wow!). Needless to say it was quite a ways up! The rest of the valley was beautiful as usual...waterfalls and the like! We continued much of the day along the river that we have been following from the source since ABC...not too often to you get to see the birth of a river...at his point much of it is whet water and flowing quite quickly!! We stopped at one waterfall area before lunch and rinsed our faces and hands in the cool mountain water and I also found a sweet egg shaped rock...it might be marble but I'm not sure. Lunch was good...the standard macaroni I've been having for the last few days...and then back down the trail for a few more hours!!
Fantastic!!! Finally we arrive at a lodge that has hot water! Well maybe not exactly hot, but warm enough! The shower was a concrete room with mold and other moss growing in it, no lights besides a window in one wall, but it was the best shower that I can remember in quite a while!! At least 7days :p. This was also a good opportunity to don some new clothes, so my sleep and travels tomorrow will be quite comfy! After he showers dad and I settled in for the night, I finished my book and he got bit laptop and other things-a-chargin. Tomorrow we have just 2.5 hours to hike out and then a hour or so ride into town! Hopefully we will be able to catch an earlier plane and get almost a full day in Kathmandu before we have to fly out! This trek has been all ups and downs and amazing views all around! Many more times then once have I had my breath taken away form the sights, but I Juliet say it will be good to get out of the mountains for a bit and rest my weary legs :p
The first part of our journey today was down hill for a bit and then all the way back up to the top of chomgrong! Down and then back up...as usual! To pass the time I decided to count the steps up to the top of chomgrong...what a long ordeal!! By the time I got to the top I was at 2088 steps (this was counting things that looked like real steps not just rocks that I had to step over...so it's rough...but around 2200 steps! Wow!). Needless to say it was quite a ways up! The rest of the valley was beautiful as usual...waterfalls and the like! We continued much of the day along the river that we have been following from the source since ABC...not too often to you get to see the birth of a river...at his point much of it is whet water and flowing quite quickly!! We stopped at one waterfall area before lunch and rinsed our faces and hands in the cool mountain water and I also found a sweet egg shaped rock...it might be marble but I'm not sure. Lunch was good...the standard macaroni I've been having for the last few days...and then back down the trail for a few more hours!!
Fantastic!!! Finally we arrive at a lodge that has hot water! Well maybe not exactly hot, but warm enough! The shower was a concrete room with mold and other moss growing in it, no lights besides a window in one wall, but it was the best shower that I can remember in quite a while!! At least 7days :p. This was also a good opportunity to don some new clothes, so my sleep and travels tomorrow will be quite comfy! After he showers dad and I settled in for the night, I finished my book and he got bit laptop and other things-a-chargin. Tomorrow we have just 2.5 hours to hike out and then a hour or so ride into town! Hopefully we will be able to catch an earlier plane and get almost a full day in Kathmandu before we have to fly out! This trek has been all ups and downs and amazing views all around! Many more times then once have I had my breath taken away form the sights, but I Juliet say it will be good to get out of the mountains for a bit and rest my weary legs :p
Trek day 7: Back down to Sinwa
Today we have a down hill stroll back to the lovely village of Sinwa. While our trip from Sinwa up to ABC took two days (1.5 really) MBC down to Sinwa would be done in one. This is mostly because much of our trip today was down hill! And after just about two days of mostly up hill this was quite a relief! Snatching our last few views of the mountains as we walked south the weather got warmer and more of the lush Oregon-esk greenery began to appear all around. It was a pleasant day and good to be going town hill. Oh did I mention that we were happy to be loosing elevation?? It was quite evident on peoples faces as we passed them on their upward trudge at how tough that part of the trail was at that point! (who would have thought there would be so much up and down in the Himalayas!!) Dad and I however were all smiles and well wishes for those upwards Trekkers! Really though it was all area we had seen in the way up, so mostly we just got to "sit" back and enjoy the scenery and stroll down hill!
Tomorrow will be our last full day of trekking and a good 6-7 hours at that!! It's been a great trip so far, but I know that i am looking forward to a shower when we get back to Kathmandu (still no hot water). And it'll be nice to stay off my feet for some time once this trek is over :p
Tomorrow will be our last full day of trekking and a good 6-7 hours at that!! It's been a great trip so far, but I know that i am looking forward to a shower when we get back to Kathmandu (still no hot water). And it'll be nice to stay off my feet for some time once this trek is over :p
Trek day 6: ABC!!!
More up today, practically all up when it wasn't flat. We had about two hours to climb up to MBC (where we sleep tonight) and then two more hours up to ABC. Lucky for our porter he only had to carry our bag up to MBC and then got to call it a day! We still had two more hours left and that last hour climb to the "top" was defiantly getting to me, the thin air making my breath come quicker and there was a chilled wind that swept through the valley. The views up were even more amazing then the past days! The valley we had been climbing up northward since Sinwa had narrowed from the start of our trek today to only about 50meters across and we were now looking straight up at the mountains looming above! Fishtale was to our right most of the day till we got to MBC and then after that point we turned west into the ABC area others came into view! What continues to amaze me is that most of our journey today was spent about the elevation of Mt. Hood and yet there were still mountains covered in green trees all around us, which then had the much larger snow covered mountains above those! As we made our last trudge from MBC to ABC we began to become surrounded but those giant mountains in all directions! It was an incredible sight to behold but none so amazing as finally making it to base camp! Annapurna base camp is located smack dab in the middle of the Annapurna mountain range with a good 5 snow caped monsters towering over head and fishtale looming in the distance back through the valley we hiked up through. I'm not sure if it was the altitude, finally being at the top, or the breath taking view, I found myself nearly laughing with joy at reaching the top! While everest may be the tallest mountain in the world I'm not sure it can top the since of wonder at being in the midst of so many giants! We climb up to a good viewing point, snapped our pictures, and settled in for a while to just gape in awe!! Not too long after we arrived the clouds rolled in with full force and socked in the mountain ranges leaving nothing but a white blanketed sky above us...at this point we decided to walk back down the the base camp proper and get some lunch...maybe the clouds would clear up and we'd get one last view!? They didn't...but we were quite content with seeing it in the first place!!! 13,550 ft was the max elevation we made (highest I've ever been, heh) and from here it would all be down hill! Relatively. We walked back Down to MBC firths night (a shame we couldn't stay up at ABC, but we have a long day tomorrow so it's better to be lower I guess!). The walk down only took half as long as the walk up and we even ran into some more Americans (one an Oregonian who lives in Eugene!!). We chatted for a bit and then wished them well on their climb to the top!! Its nice to be a little lower in elevation now...and tomorrow we start our journey back towards Kathmandu (maybe a bot shower in 3 days too!)
Trek day 5: Northward and up! (halfway)
Today we head out from Sinwa and travel north through the mountains towards ABC. This trail would continue a standard upward theme (about 3000ft gain over all). The path lead us through the valleys leading north and pretty much a straight shot towards the center of the mountain range! Dad was wearing his Oregon Ducks t-shirt and to our surprise we ran into a group of three women from Oregon! They were chanting "Oregon" with surprised looked on their faces! I'm guessing neither of is were expecting to encounter other Oregonians up here in the Himalayas!! Turns out they were from grants pass :). Another thing this valley presented was even more waterfalls! I for sure have seen more waterfalls on these last few days as I have in the rest of my life together! It is quite amazing to see them, and usually just around each bend or several right in a line! The going was mostly up as I previously stated, but it was not quite as steep as other days and at the end our guide told us that today was probably the hardest day (though I still think the endless stair/rain day on the second was the hardest!). We made it just in time to the lodge as well! While the clouds had rolled in over an hour before and kept threatening at rain it would only let out a few drops then stop...however not more then 10 minutes to finally arriving the rain came down in full force!! Just in the nick of time :p. It was very cold at this altitude, especially with he rain so we bundled up in coats and sleeping bags for a bit before a nice warm dinner! Tomorrow we will make it to base camp! Hopefully the clouds will hold till we get there for the view :p
Trek day 4: Onwards towards Sinwa
Another sung morning (thankfully). With the clouds away as they have been the last morning we were able to enjoy the nice view of the mountains now looming close by over head. After breakfast we packed our stuff and headed out. Today the journey was along mountain sides climbing down and up. The downs don bother too much, but after taking stone steps down for 15-30 mins (or more!) it can even make the ups a bit more pleasant in my eyes. For once many of the areas we were traveling to were with in sligt, only they were across from one side of the valley we were on, and so we would have to go down and then travel back up the other side! I also realized that he old saying "up hill both ways" must really refer to once you walk down to the bottom of a valley :p. Through the valleys we passed many terraced corn fields and little farms. Once we rounded towards the second valley just past mid day we stopped for lunch then journeyed on a little further to chomrong which is probably the largest "city" in the area! It is trickled down across a mountain side and it probably took a good 20-30 mins just walking down stairs from the top! From chomrong we were able to spot sinwa, but again it was across valley, thus we still had another hour and half to do...finishing with a lovely uphill! Going down through this area we spotted some of he grandest waterfalls! Falling from high in the mountains, they were split into many streams which wove their way back into the grand fall! We spotted three like this and they were a sift to behold! After finally making it up that last hill we were quite pleased to rest at our lodge! One funny thing from our trek today is that my neck got sunburnt, but only on the right side because of the direction we were walking :p. After dinner the clouds seemed to have rolled in and the rain started in full force! Glad to be inside we listened to the rain fall and even observed some lighting strikes (oddly enough the lighting was below us...can't say I've seen this while not in an airplane!). Glad that the rain missed us during the day we hopped into our sleeping bags to get some rest! Tomorrow we head north towards ABC and towards about 3000ft of elevation gain!! Tomorrow is an up day :p
Trek day 3: Poon hill and beyond!
Today we started our day at 6am headed up to poon hill (heh) which is just outside of he village where our lodge is. The climb was about a thousand feet and it presented an amazing view of the mountain range infront of us! And a view we had too! Sure there were quite a few clouds in the sky, and headed for the mountains we wanted to see, but we lucked out for quite a bit seeing each mountain over time! It was about an hour hike to he top of poon hill, and for a bit we were worried that dad wouldn't make it up to the top before the clouds covered the mountains, so he handed his camera off to me and I sprinted up the hill! By the time I reached the top I was quite winded and sweating like a fish! Much like trying to get to the top of Hendrix as fast as you can non stop...but the view was worth it! (of course the top of this hill was twice the height of timberline lodge!!) I snapped away with the camera and after a while dad and the guide caught up and I wad relieved of the camera. After enjoying the view and resting a bit we returned to the lodge and picked up some breakfast before heading out for the second part of our day which was to be 4-5 hours (plus the 2 from poon hill made a total of 6-7 today!!).
The rest of the day was very pleasant!! The sun was out...if not some times covered by clouds, but it wasn't raining! Intact it was quite warm, back to t-shirt and shorts. The climbs today were nothing compared to yesterday even if at our highest point we came within 500feet of mount hood's height! With no rain filling in the valleys we were able to enjoy the great views(not being soaked to he bone was nice too). Our journey to our next guest house took us over one mountain ridge down through a valley with at least 20 or more waterfalls and then sweeping up another valet to the other side. One place where we stopped for tea actually had a bunch tables with goods set up for sale...dad made a Joe about the Annapurna mall :p. Though I'd rather not come into the mountains to buy something from Kathmandu then carry it back :p. Still no not showers at this guest house (no showers at all actually...) but also no western toilets...good thing I'm a boy :). But for now we relax drink tea and stay warm...it seems much colder when we aren't walking, but tomorrow we will finish the greater part of the Annapurna loop and head a bit north towards ABC!
The rest of the day was very pleasant!! The sun was out...if not some times covered by clouds, but it wasn't raining! Intact it was quite warm, back to t-shirt and shorts. The climbs today were nothing compared to yesterday even if at our highest point we came within 500feet of mount hood's height! With no rain filling in the valleys we were able to enjoy the great views(not being soaked to he bone was nice too). Our journey to our next guest house took us over one mountain ridge down through a valley with at least 20 or more waterfalls and then sweeping up another valet to the other side. One place where we stopped for tea actually had a bunch tables with goods set up for sale...dad made a Joe about the Annapurna mall :p. Though I'd rather not come into the mountains to buy something from Kathmandu then carry it back :p. Still no not showers at this guest house (no showers at all actually...) but also no western toilets...good thing I'm a boy :). But for now we relax drink tea and stay warm...it seems much colder when we aren't walking, but tomorrow we will finish the greater part of the Annapurna loop and head a bit north towards ABC!
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