We were on the trail for 28 days, passing through many villages that had seldom seen foreigners. At this time, the Rolwaling area was not heavily trekked due to its remoteness, length and difficulty. I had two guests who were in good physical condition, but this was their first trip to Nepal One cannot overestimate the combined cultural impact and length of time on the trail.
The Rolwaling valley lies between the Everest and Langtang Himalayan ranges, shadowed by Gauri Shanker (23,440') on Tibet's southern border. The region has alpine lakes, hanging valleys, glaciers and moraines, alpine pastures, waterfalls, isolated villages and a rich diversity of flora and fauna.
The Rolwaling valley lies between the Everest and Langtang Himalayan ranges, shadowed by Gauri Shanker (23,440') on Tibet's southern border. The region has alpine lakes, hanging valleys, glaciers and moraines, alpine pastures, waterfalls, isolated villages and a rich diversity of flora and fauna.
We began in Charikot, after a 7 hour drive from Kathmandu. The trek would take us through Beding (12,110') across Tamakoshi, past Tsho Rolpa, up to the lateral moraines of the Rolwaling Glacier situated below the Rolwaling icefall, up the moraine and onto Drolumbau Glacier, over Trashi Lapcha @ 18,820', (group rest day and leader climb of Pachermo Peak (20,300'), descent to Thame (12,467') up to Machhermo (14,663'), continuing to Gokyo (14,744') with an ascent of Gokyo Ri (17,570), descent to Dzongla (15846') then over Cho La (17, 782) to Lobuche (16,109') and on to Gorak Shep (16,865'), Everest base camp (17,598') and Kala Patar (18,192) before descending to Tengboche (12,687), Namche Bazaar (11,482') and on to Phakding (8,562'), Surke (7,513) and reaching the end of our trek at Jiri.
Our team included our Sirdar, Pratap, cook, Ram, his two assistants plus 15 low altitude porters who would be relieved when we reached Na (13,525') or the last settlement, Kharka Na, after a steep climb into the hanging valley.
One of the problems during those early trekking years was security. Not that any of our members or staff was at any risk, but theft was a major issue. We did not have a head porter to oversee the transition from our low altitude porters to the high altitude we hired at Kharka Na. We knew that all equipment and supplies were included in the high altitude porter loads, but not all of our equipment and supplies were present after we crossed Trashi Lapcha.
An unexpected altitude problem occurred at camp on the Drolumbau Glacier. Our Sirdar, Pratap, had high altitude sickness and I spent the night checking his breathing and giving him diamox and fluids. In the morning, he could not walk and we calculated the risks of a descent vs continuing our ascent over Trashi Lapcha and reaching a lower altitude. We divided his pack among the porters and one carried Pratap over the pass, after which he was able to stand, walk and continue the trek. When releasing this group of porters, we had lost (they had taken) food supplies, a sleeping bag, jacket and several other items of equipment. None of the loss jeopardized our trek at it was completed after several resupplies when food was available.
I was surprised to recently find multiple sheets of slides from the trek. Surprised, because I didn't remember having a camera, but obviously did. I will post some photos from the trek. Not all the photos will indicate the location, since I cannot recall those details.
Let me conclude by recognizing that this was the longest and most difficult trek that I guided in the Himalayas. It was good to have completed while I was still young and in very good physical condition.
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| Trek Map minus Cho La to Namche Bazaar Route |
