Trekking Day Seven, Eight, Nine: May 28 - 30, 2011

After six full days of trekking we decided to spend our seventh day hanging out in Manang to relax a bit. Besides it was Saturday and that is the day of rest in Nepal instead of Sunday. So we went to a little bakery to for breakfast to have some toast and coffee. By the time our meal was over, I was already bored. As most of you know, I don't do well sitting still. So I convinced Elise that we should at least do a small day hike around the area we were in. My body doesn't get tired.. I'm not bragging, it's a curse actually. So we decided that we'd like to hike up to the Gangapurna Glacier across the river from Manang. From a distance the trail seemed pretty obvious to follow so we headed out. In the midst of hiking and site seeing Elise and I somehow separated. After about an hour of climbing up a some steep scree field and big boulders, in and out of the forest, I spotted her blue jacket.

TThe glacier was enormous and you could hear avalanches in all directions. It was crystal blue and when the clouds cleared, the snow would shine. It was surely worth the hike up to see. But you can only gaze at a glacier for so long, so we decided to head back. Sometimes when you're hiking you get off trail and sometimes when you get off trail to find yourself at a dead end on the side of a long cliff that only goes down for miles to the lake at the bottom of the glacier. Oh and the storms were moving in so the winds were very strong. The only way out of the situation was to climb up the side of the cliff, which was all very loose scree. So Elise went first putting into use her climbing techniques. After about two or three graceful moves the rocks began to slide and I ran to avoid being trampled the boulders and loose gravel. She caught her breath, waited for the ground to settle and scurried on up the face. Ok now it's my turn, only all the good rock holds were now at my feet from the landslide. So steady as she goes I began to climb. When I reached the middle of the face the winds picked up strong and tried to pull my body off the cliff. I reached for a hand hold to brace myself but the rock came loose and so I had nothing. Falling I reached out and somehow grabbed the only steady boulder on the face. I pulled myself as close into the wall as I could and clung on for life. Literally I thought I was surely falling to my death. Why on earth we thought this was a good idea I still am trying to figure out. So I stayed put for a few minutes, catching my breath and my focus. I had to continue up or I was going to fall. God is my steady rock I kept telling myself and reached for a higher foot placement. Two or three more long and graceful moves and I was close to the top. There was nothing to really grab onto, a little finger pocket to steady myself. A push with my feet I reached for the finger pocket, had a good hold, and just jumped as best as I could to the higher rock to find steady ground. Landed it! Oh.. my .. word.. what did we just do! My heart was racing and when I reached Elise I was so relieved. But we weren't in the clear just yet. With strong winds we had to scurry down a narrow and steep path on top of the cliff. We could see the pleasantly paved trails below and we worked our way towards them. When we reached the bottom, my heart began to beat a little bit more steadily but my head was still spinning. I went and sat a few minutes by the river, thanking the mighty Lord for his protection! Sometimes my sense of adventure outweighs my common sense. This was one of those times.

We hurried back to our village across the river, pumped up on adrenaline. In town we ran in Max and Felix, our German friends, and with excitement tried to explain our epic journey. I do believe they thought we were crazy! We decided after that to actually give our bodies a rest and went to have lunch and tea. But again after our meal, I was ready to do something else. The day was bright and the views were clear so I pursued another hike to the higher grounds of the village that overlook all of Manang and the farm fields. From the top I took some amazing shots of the Ganggapurna mountain and the glacier. The sun light was working in my favor and the peaks were all dressed and ready for their close ups. Oh how I love shooting good pictures and video. I was having so much fun. And this time I took a nice layout trail from top to bottom.

The next day, May 29, we started our side trip to Tilicho Lake, the world's highest and biggest lake. We would be spending the night in a guest house between Manang and Tilicho Basecamp so we had no need to rush. We started our day with our usual breakfast and reading, then stopped to stock up on fresh water, and began to pass through the villages. It was a fairly simple day and we reached our guest house in the early afternoon. We were the only visitors there and nothing was in site for miles. The views however were picture perfect so we sat outside for a bit admiring the creation and wondering what the heck the guest house manager does all day up here.. so lonely he has to be. The guest house also had a nice sun room so around four the temperature began to drop rapidly and the only warm room was the sun room so we went and sat in on the pillows on the floor and read. After about an hour or two a friendly young woman from Spain came and flopped down on the floor next to us. She had just returned from hiking to the lake and was going to stay the night at the guest house. Shortly after her arrival two more trekkers came in and flopped down. One was a man from Nepal and the other was his girlfriend, a very sweet and very exhausted French girl. I never caught the woman from Spain's name, but we sat on the floor and shared dinner and conversation for a couple of hours. Se was just a delight, so full of life and so eager to share stories. The poor girl from France was too exhausted from the hike she went straight to bed, but her boyfriend use to be a guide on the circuit and knew all the local guest houses so he served us all the food we could eat and was our translator with our guest house manager who spoke no English (and my Nepali isn't that far along but I was able to get a few things across) And our new friend from Spain was giving us tips on how to get to the lake. It wasn't an easy task actually. You had to cross an enormous scree field that frequently has land slides. The field is long, extremely steep, and extremely loose. After the incident at the glacier, Elise and I were a little nervous. The advice to basically lean your body towards the rocks, put one foot in front of the other, and go very slowly. Well here goes nothing I thought! It was getting late and we had a big day ahead of us to get to the base camp. So we wished our new friends goodnight and headed to sleep.

May 30, 2011. Today is our 15th day in Nepal! Wow time has flown by and yet so many adventures had already happened! The morning was cool and refreshing as we started off to the base camp. Along the route, which climbed up high, we met a handful of men who spoke very little to no English but we all hiked in a row towards the scree field trails. The trail descended down a rocky hill crossing over a broke wooden bridge and then ascended back up a very narrow and very loose trail. This was already looking sketchy. We climbed to the top of the other side of the mountain and proceeded onto the crazy trail we've heard so much about. When you reached it there was a sign that cautioned you about the high landslide danger. I just hoped no goats or yaks were above us to send rocks crashing down on us. Lined up in a row we started to make our way across the rocks. The gravel was deep and yes very very loose. The trail went up and down, breaking in the middle with some solid dirt, and then picking back up with the loose gravel and long cliffs to make about an hour or so worth of steady well thought out moves. The views around us though were incredible! and above us were sporadically placed boulders and rock formations that just caught my eye. So of course I would stop in the most awkward and unsteady areas to take pictures and then hurry along before my feet would slip. But as you can see we made it safely across and from a distance you could see the very high trail to the lake and at the bottom the base camp we'd be staying at.

Elise and I parted from the men and sat down to enjoy the beautiful canyon and mountain scene we were a part of. It was gorgeous, vast, and strong. After about two hours of laying in the sun we went and put our packs inside the very old guest house. A rather grumpy man managed the place and didn't seem very thrilled to see us. As soon we arrived however the storms moved in and the rain started pouring. Not only that but the temperatures dropped dramatically and our room had no heat and no electricity. We were in the heart of the mountains. So we put on everything we owned and went into a small hut to seek out some hot tea and shelter. Inside were all the men we met on the trail, laying on the floor gambling over card games, eating food prepared by their wives for their travels, and drinking raksi (Nepali homemade spirits - I hear it is STRONG) They had blankets so Elise and I pulled some blankets over us, acquired some hot tea, and sat for probably a good four hours watching the men gamble, smoke, drink, and eat. They laughed and shouted and no one spoke any English. We really didn't know what to make of it and the whole time I just wanted to join in on the fun!

The winds outside howled and the rain was falling hard. All of a sudden the door flew open and a man walked in. He was a trekker from Finland who was headed to the lake as well. He came and sat with Elise and I and told us he had gotten split up from his friends, a couple of young people from Spain, and he didn't know which way they went. If they were on the scree fields in the storms, they were in a lot of danger. So he would leave to check on them and then would come back worried with no good news of seeing them. We discussed options with him and I tried to give him some comfort that they were probably at the other lodge we had stayed at the previous night.

After about an hour or two, the door flew open again and his friends had arrived. They were stuck out in the storm but were off the scree fields in times and just had to scurry to the hut at the base camp. Relieved with their arrival, we all sat huddled together freezing, wet, and hungry. The pack of Nepali men started noticing us staring at them and got up to cook us some rice. The warm food felt so good! We all ate some rice, hot water, and swapped life stories. This group had all met in Nepal and decided to hike together. The young people from Spain had been traveling all over the world and their travels included studying for some time in Ohio and Pittsburgh - small world! So that was exciting to talk about them visiting my home town.

The setting of this evening was very strange from any other moment in my life yet it was probably one of my favorite memories of the trek. Being at the base camp with very little of anything and just enjoying the company of others while the weather went nuts outside was so appealing to me. The men there really loved each other and really enjoyed their game and the company (I'm sure the alcohol had something to do with it too) But there was a lot of good positive energy in the hut and I was just soaking it up. Again I was excited to meet new friends with new wonderful stories to share. We were all eager to get to the lake the next day too, so off to bed we went. The night wasn't too cold, though I had ditched my sleeping bag, I stole the blanket from the hut and thought warm thoughts the whole night to get me through. Tomorrow's hike to the lake would be a great adventure.