ANNAPURNA BASE CAMP TREK: DAY 5 - MACHAPUCHARE BASE CAMP 11:34pm
"The Annapurna Base Camp Trek so far has exceeded all of my expectations; more pleasure - more pain. The views and the scenery are no exception in this matter either, this place is far more spectacular than what I had expected based on the photography of others, but in all fairness no camera could possibly do this place justice. For starters it's just too 3-D and alive. Multifaceted mountains soar and plummet at impossible angles. Waterfalls cascade from dizzy heights while birds chirp and small mammals scurry. The bombast of color and extreme contrast exceed the ability of the human eye and completely confound the sensor of the modern digital camera."
Armed with a map and vague idea of where we might need to go after discussing the myriad options for the trek to Annapurna Base Camp with Jeevan from Green Tara we set off in a taxi a little after 9:30 am. We were aiming for the quickest way up to base camp and we figured we could linger or visit any side attractions like Poon Hill on the way down if we were enjoying ourselves and wanting to extend our trek. We alighted at Nayapul and immediately began to inquire about the rumored Jeep transport going to villages higher up the trail. Before we could find the Jeep the Jeep found us as two Israeli sisters recruiting bodies to fill a Jeep inquired if we would be interested in sharing one. Delighted at our good fortune we joined the group and after a slow start and a quick lunch we were off. Motoring up the rocky trail in a cloud of dust we passed sweaty trekkers who met our laughing eyes with tired, confused and envious gazes as we rocketed ahead of the hard working early-risers. Disembarking at Kimchee around 2:30 pm, our jeep ride saved us three-fourths of a day of hiking and put us within a one-hour walk of Ghundruk. At this point, I had already chalked day one up as a success.
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| Road to Nyapul. Rice and Himalayan foothills. |
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| View from the road looking back down into the valley. Pokhara and Phewa lake below. |
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| Kimchee donkey depot. Where the Jeep road ends the donkey train to Annapurna begins |
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| Donkeys at Kimchee get gased up on mountain grass for the trip back up. |
While readying my gear for the hike ahead I received the best and most useful gift ever from a Korean trekker finishing her journey: A bamboo hiking staff. Whoever she was and where ever she is now- THANK YOU! I wasn't sure if I would even use the bamboo pole at first as I already had a fancy carbon fiber hiking staff I brought from home and I had never attempted a two-pole hiking get-up before, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and I am glad I didn't. The second pole was clutch killer-diller! Thanks to the poles and the patella straps (thanks Dr. Ravi!) my knees which I was worried about never bothered me in 9 straight days of trekking (the rest of my body was a different story).
After a short one and a half hour walk to Ghandruk, we bedded down for the night at the Hotel Milan. We had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed the homey charms of the inn and the hospitality of Shankur and his wife. As usual the mountains were clouded in when we arrived in the afternoon at Ghandruk. The following morning we awoke to crystal clear skies. The sight of the sunrise over the panorama of the Annapurna range with great views of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machapuchare (1, 2, 3, left to right) was easily the most majestic sight I had ever witnessed in my life. The sight was so incredible that I became emotional. I felt so lucky and blessed at that moment, so grateful to be alive. Breakfast outside on the patio of the Hotel Milan watching the sunlight transform the mountains before us that morning was one of the highlights of the trip.
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| 3 shot HDR image |
No doubt breakfast was the highlight of the day as I was soon to receive my Himalayan hiking baptism of fire. The trekking went from enjoyable, as I admired the views, quaint village life and the unique steepness of the trail, to incredulity (people fly to Nepal to hike up THIS? ) to brief flashes of anger as the trail and the merciless sun beat the hell out of us. Sweat poured off of me like a fountain as I at first marveled then cursed the impossibly steep trail which would climb so steeply for 2000 feet or more just to plunge hellishly down the exact same amount only to climb again. Over and over, up, down, steps, more steps, no steps-rocks, scree, switchbacks, more steps. More steps. Oh God! More steps???!
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| Going down to go back up |
Exhausted and deflated we arrived in Chomrong for night two, questioning the wisdom of forgoing porters or maybe even coming on this crazy trek in the first place. The family that runs Chomrong cottage were lovely and we scored a great corner room (#1) with awesome views for my birthday morning.
Thankfully, Day 3 on the trail was easier than Day 2. After our first full day or the baptism, as I called it earlier, we managed to get our gear and packs shaken out (I had to spend some time bending my pack's wire inter-frame into a more comfortable shape plus tweak my newly adopted front-carry camera pouch configuration). We began to get into a groove and the trail became more of a steady climb instead of the torturous screaming climbs and plunging descents of the day before. We enjoyed some spectacular waterfalls and we had a fantastic Dhal Bhat lunch in Bamboo. The Dhal Bhat even came with a wonderful sabji and pickle made from bamboo! We had planned to spend the night in Bamboo but instead pressed on and spent my birthday evening in Doban at around 8000 feet. Akila surprised me with a birthday pancake (chocolate chip) complete with birthday candles somehow provided by our hosts back in Ghandruk! I drank a semi-cold Everest beer and watched the peak of Machapuchare transition from sunlight to moonlight while listening to the rushing Modi Khola; Our now constant companion as we trace our way up the river up to its source, the glaciers of the gigantic bowl shaped Annapurna sanctuary. I felt self-satisfied and happy, maybe even a bit smug. For two out-of-shape city slickers with no porters we had done quite well, we were running ahead of schedule. I felt good about turning 38 in such a grand place and I was grateful to have a healthy body capable of propelling me up Himalayan mountains. This was my first real trek and beforehand I was a bit worried that I might not be able to cut it with my flat feet and rickety knees, day 2 really had me sweating, but I can see now team Denoy will reach base camp with no problems.
Day 4- The scenery definitely becomes much more dramatic as the steeply sloping mountainsides steepen even further into the 12,000 foot deep canyon walls of the Modi Khola gorge. The snowy peaks of the ring shaped sanctuary get very big and close. The air is getting thinner and cooler - thankfully - and the sanctuary is within striking distance. We set out in the morning hoping to reach Duerali but we both knew that Machapuchare base camp was do-able if we could keep pace with yesterday's hike. Doban to Duerali is probably the smartest itinerary as the elevation change between the two is about 1000 meters - the maximum a person should ascend in one day of hiking. We've both been to comparable altitudes before, the two of us in the Andes and Akila while trekking in Indian Kashmir. We reach Duerali around 2pm and decide it would be a waste to quit while we were still feeling fresh and had daylight left to spare. I was hoping to spend three days total inside the Sanctuary: Two nights one day acclimatizing at Macchapurre base camp (refered to as MBC from here on out) which is around 12,200 feet and one day/one night at ABC- 13,500 feet. It all seemed pretty reasonable plus there were lots of trekkers with more ambitious schedules than us...so on we went! About 15 minutes out of Duerali, the altitude socked us. Worried about the approaching clouds and darkness Akila set a blistering pace and quickly began to feel the onset of early altitude sickness symptoms. Feeling an incipient headache back in Doban and knowing the day's climb would entail at least 3000 feet of altitude gain I went ahead and popped a Diamox in the morning. With the Diamox in my system I felt pretty good considering the strain of the past three days, but both my hands and feet were tingly and almost totally numb. Not sure if I was experiencing Diamox side effects or the onset of altitude sickness myself we both slowed down and closely monitored our respective conditions. Pooped but triumphant we reached MBC close to dark at 5:30 pm and settled into the recommended Ghundruk Cooperative Mountain Guesthouse.
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| Most dangerous water crossing on the trek. Rumor had it a Japanese trekker fell off this narrow section before the bridge a week earlier. Game over. |
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| Trekker gets weirded-out at me photographing him on the scariest bridge on the ABC trail |
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| Somewhere between Hinku Cave and Duerali |
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| Hinku Cave- really just a very big rock overhang |
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| Pressing on through at Duerali |
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| Huffing and puffing at 12,200 feet just below MBC |
The next day the weather continued its awesome streak. We discussed pressing on to ABC, but after four days of pressing hard we felt entitled to relax, recuperate, acclimatize, and enjoy the hospitality of our MBC guesthouse. We were finally inside the sanctuary now, sitting at the base of the mighty Machapuchare, and from all accounts the accomodations just up the trail at ABC were a bit spartan to put it nicely. We took our time at breakfast, I did some futzing/repacking/rejiggering and set out to explore the next day's route sans backpack just as the clouds were starting to roll in around 10:00am. Akila was quite content to be left behind on the sunny patio of MBC with a book and a thermos pot of Chai Masala. I made it halfway to ABC, just far enough to get a peep at ABC and still keep true to my word not to go the final leg without Akila and to be back in MBC for lunch.
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| In the shadow of Machapuchare |
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| MBC view of Annapurna South |
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| AK enjoying the view from the MBC patio |
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| The beautiful trail from MBC to ABC |
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| South view of Machapuchare with MBC in the lower left foreground |
By one o'clock it was pouring rain. The rain and clouds didn't let up for the rest of the day. We fretted just a little that maybe we had blown our chance. All night it rained and for the first time the clouds and rain were still around when we woke up in the morning. Since it was pouring and cold, since there was nothing to see, and since ABC was only 1.5 to 2 hours hiking time away instead of our now customary 8 hour push, we elected to wait out the rain. It proved a good choice as the rain ended around 10:00- we made our break. Leaving MBC that morning we met some of our trail mates that we had been hiking up with earlier on their way back down. They had arrived at Annapurna base camp the previous day after the rain and clouds rolled in and were now going down empty handed! They were out of time and unable to wait any longer. No views and no souvenir photos after all of that hiking - talk about bad planning! So three bits of advice concerning the ABC trek. 1.) Less is more, (2.) Take trekking poles and (3.) Build some fudge time into your itinerary or you might end up paying the price of admission but going home without your prize. The hike to ABC from MBC is a nice stroll beside a little stream that weaves its way up a gently sloping glacial valley with the best scenery of the hike. Two hours after departing MBC we were coming into base camp with the sun just starting to peak through the clouds in places but Annapurna and all of her sisters were still hiding.
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| Korean Centipede |
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| Rich man's quickest way back to Pokhara |
We grabbed a room, dropped our stuff and ate lunch. An hour later all three base camp establishments were full. Another ABC trek lesson, don't be late to the party. I figured based on the patterns we had been seeing the weather was as good as it was going to get for the day. After lunch the clouds came back, it rained some more and I started getting pretty antsy after two full days of light activity. When I sensed a break in the rain I geared up and set out to reconnoiter a small secret trekking peak immediately behind the base camp lodges. It was a quick thirty minute goat scramble up to the top. To my surprise the rain stopped completely and it began to clear at almost five in the afternoon. I photographed Annapurna South as it appeared through the mist.
I wanted to stick around and watch the face of Annapurna One emerge from the clouds atop my stony perch high above the commotion of base camp, but I promised the boss I would be back by 5:30 pm so I had to head back down to let her know I had not perished while on my scouting mission. The mission however was a success, I definitely knew where I would be watching the sunrise in the morning if the weather cooperated. By the time I made it back down to the max capacity base camp, the place was in a photo frenzy. The trekkers who had been waiting for a clear view for 36 hours were finally being treated to stunning cloud swept views of the sanctuary for the first time. The sun was out now and Annapurna had emerged from the smoke like a rockstar. The frenzied masses were swirling on the lip of the dangerous precipice above the glacier's long stony tongue, jockeying for position, streaking in and out of other people's shots. Yep, definitely climbing back up to my secret spot for the big show in the morning. I find Akila among the goats and the crowd and join the photo orgy. It really was a glorious scene. The clouds lent a very dramatic flair to the sunset in what has to be one of the most spectacular places on earth.
Right after sunset it clouded up again, followed by rain. You may be starting to notice that in the Himalayas the weather changes frequently. People are fond of remarking you can experience four seasons in one day in such and such place. High in the Himalayas you can experience four seasons in fifteen minutes. Its incredible how fast it warms when the sun is out and how quickly it cools when it is not. I crossed my fingers, went to bed and set my alarm for midnight in hopes of seeing the sanctuary amphitheater lit up by the full moon. I awoke around 11:00pm to the sound of rain so when my alarm went off just one hour later I killed it without a second thought and went right back to sleep. My disciplined wife dutifully awoke, checked the sky and found it clear as a glass bell. Groggily I trudged out to be bowled over by the icy bright crystal clear splendor of the Annapurna Sanctuary, sharp as a tack and lit by the light of the full moon in a cloudless sky. We gapped and snapped away a few blurry handheld shots before retiring back to bed about forty five minutes later. I attempted a few shots with my shaky and ill-suited trekking pole/monopod/cheap ball-head combo before giving up and just bracing on large rocks for 5 to 6 second long exposures. One of these days I am going to splurge on a fancy Gitzco carbon fiber tripod and then maybe I can get one of those magazine-worthy starry sky shots.
My alarm went off the second time at 4:30 am. This time I was the disciplined one. Our luck held, the sky was clear and I wasn't about to squander the gift. I geared up in my warmest outfit and then threw the down parka in my bag with a Snickers bar breakfast to keep me warm after I settled into my perch. Up the escarpment I huffed and trudged in the pre-dawn light hurrying now to get set-up before the sun made its appearance. I settled for the first and lower trekking peak in the interest of time and secondly because it was more comfortable and better suited for photography with its nest of rock cairns that could be repurposed as camera braces. Moments after I settled in, the sun still not yet visible at my position, graced the peak of Annapurna with its first soft golden ray of dawn. The curtain was up and the show had began inside the amphitheater of the sanctuary.
Back down in base camp you could have heard a pin drop by eight o'clock. Everyone cleared out shockingly fast after sunrise. I was further confused by human behavior. Some people embark on five or more days of hiking to get to an incredible place but then don't give themselves time to see it properly after they arrive, while others standing in mist of one of the most beautiful and majestic places on earth, with perfect weather conditions no less, are content with a mere glance or two, an obligatory souvenir photo and then off they rush to where? Why? Slow down and smell the mountains people. Even my hurry-up wife was dawdling, dragging her feet, and lingering for just one more photo as we attempted to say goodbye to base camp. It was great. My camera battery was completely dead after some intense use during my sunrise session so I was able to relax and drink it all in. Thankfully Akila's camera still had some juice!
As we made our way down the weather clouded up early again and misted us with a few sprinkles. No trace of blue remained by the time we reached MBC. The clouds rolling through the dark canyons of the Modi Khola gorge with the angry white water of the river made for some really spooky and dramatic landscapes.
We bedded down for the night in a damp crook of the Modi Khola gorge known as Himalaya. The lodges were almost empty as everyone else seemed to stop either lower or higher for the night. The wet dishrag quality of the bedding and the root cellar like feel of the rooms might explain Himalaya's lack of popularity. We began to dream of nice bedding and private bathrooms. The next day we retraced our steps back to the pleasant Chomrong Cottage for the night. The steps were still brutal and the views were still beautiful. After some more practice with two trekking poles I changed my mind deciding that going down was in fact a bit easier for me than going up. Akila was totally pooped. We awoke once more to a beautiful sunrise above Machapuchare.
That morning over breakfast the lodge owner's son told us about possible Jeep transport to Pokhara at a little known spot off the main trekker's trail called Sewai. It was possible to reach Sewai in one day of walking. At this point Akila decided she had enough trekking and became absolutely hellbent on making it to Pokhara by nightfall. We had a new goal and our heads danced with images of hot juicy steaks (me) and private toilets and Tibetan jewelry (Akila). On the way down feeling optimistic about our progress thus-far we made what we thought would be a quick side excursion from Jhinu Danda to visit the hot springs. Strangely again the local's estimate of "fifteen minutes" from the village to the springs ended up being more like 40 minutes even without our packs. The springs were very nice but came at the price of our first leach assault. The tiny little devils hid themselves in our socks, shoes, and clothing while we were bathing. The small bottle of 100% DEET finally came in handy, as I can confirm now that leaches really do immediately release their bloodthirsty grip when they encounter pure DEET. Wet, sweaty, bleeding and hustling, we made our way down towards the rumored Jeep station at Sewai. Akila suffered a frightening fall with only minor injury thankfully, and a animal attack - the dreaded Korean centipede from MBC two days before. One member of the centipede made the near fatal mistake of attempting to push aside a now wounded Kokani female on a quest for private ensuite bathrooms and shopping in Pokhara. He survived, but narrowly... Buddhist non-violence prevails.
Just as we emerged in Sewai, the trail erupted into a Noah's Ark rainbow explosion of cute baby animals. Giant packs of baby goats, sheep, rabbits, ducks and chickens scurried and frolicked about begging for photos and our attention, but it was 5:45 pm, the jeep depot was in sight and we did not want to lose the last jeep going down to Pokhara to other less-deserving hikers. We need steak and a private toilet damnit! After cramming into the back of a very uncomfortable, over-capacity jeep for what we thought was a quick half-hour ride to a paved road where we would then take a private taxi to Pokhara we discovered that we had signed up for a miserable 3-hour, ass-numbing, pretzel ride with backpacks and farm products packed around and on top of our tired, sore bodies. I had a sack of full buttermilk bottles on my swollen achey feet. It was like being encased in concrete from the chest down in the most uncomfortable position possible, then being strapped to a mechanical bull inside a fart chamber. The road was scary, bumpy, and dark. It poured rain nonstop and the jeep had no wipers or defogger- but we survived. It was probably the most miserable motorized transport of my life and I have had some doozies. Exhausted and more than a little cranky after our jeep ordeal we checked back into the hotel Green Tara, showered and drug ourselves out for a victor's meal of steak and beer at the Everest Steak house. The huge $5 double steak platter was delicious, but it was tough to enjoy. We would have to wait until the next day to feel the warm afterglow of our fantastic success. Our bodies were simply too shattered. One more day on the trail or a few more questions asked at the jeep depot would have probably been the wiser course, but hey... WE DID IT!
Final tally; Nine days total for the ABC trek counting our day and a half of relaxing at MBC with no fatalities, serious injuries or equipment losses or failures.
Nepal, Annapurna, Trekking - Team Denoy Verdict: Yes, yes and yes. Highly Recommended.
