One month ago we had no idea we'd be in Nepal in April, but our good friend Rob was invited to climb Makalu and we were able to get to Kathmandu and tag along with the expedition to base camp. The expedition was led by Rolwaling Excursion and Chhiring Dorje Sherpa, an amazing person and climber with 10 Everest summits among his accomplishments. The U.S. team was joined by a French team and Leslie and I and another trekker, Ann, and about 150 porters set out for Makalu.
We met everyone in Kathmandu at the Hotel Annapurna and, on April 14th, flew to a small village called Tumlingtar. The elevation at Tumlingtar is about 300 meters above sea level. Base camp is at 5000 meters and the summit of Makalu that the climbers hope to reach is 8,463 meters. That's a lot of elevation gain!
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The experience of being with a climbing expedition like this was certainly unique. There were 13 of us altogether plus about half a dozen guides, eight kitchen staff and about 150 porters. We had quite the army. It takes a while to get used to the concept of porters. Leslie and I are used to going it alone. The Sherpas depend on the business trekkers and climbers bring them though and are absolutely essential to the climbers who have much more gear to bring up the mountain than we did.
We end up carrying very little. A daypack with rain gear and maybe a warm pair of clothes for when we arrive in the next camp. The porters carry everything else. Each porter has a basket which they carry on their back supported by a strap that goes over their head. Most are carrying in the neighborhood of 30 to 45 kgs!
A typical day begins with us being brought tea and/or coffee to our tents at about 5:30 AM. At 6:30 we make our way to the dining tent for breakfast. Meals were incredible. Tons of food and very well prepared. At 7:30 we hit the trail. Most porters have already left by then. We had about 4-6 hours of hiking each day. Some days we were given pack lunches, other days the kitchen would be set up and a full hot lunch prepared. The porters would set up our tent city and by mid-afternoon we would have tea and soup. Dinner, again, was a huge, incredibly prepared many course meal. After dinner, Chhiring would lay out the plan for the next day.
Everyone we were with was great. All of the Americans (Chris, Rob, Eric, Brad, and Ann) and the French (Sylvie, Alexia, Sadrine, Philippe, Michael and Christoph... better known as "Yeti") all got along great and made the trip that much more enjoyable.
So back to Tumlingtar and day one. After the hour flight we piled into jeeps that took us to the village of Khandbari. We stayed at a small hotel that night and slept indoors for the last time on the trip. From Khandbari we drove to Chichila, pretty much as far as the road goes. From there we would walk. That second day we made it too the village of Num. The villages get progressively smaller the higher you go and Num was very small. We had our first tent village set up here and had fun playing with the local children. One of the great things about the Makalu trek is that it isn't nearly as frequently traveled by westerners as other routes such as the Khumbu to the Everest region or the Annapurna. We were an infrequent sort of diversion for the villagers it seemed and they were as curious about us as we were about them. The children in particular loved to shout "namaste" at us as we walked by, knowing we would respond in kind like a parrot. And everyone loved the digital cameras and the ability to see themselves on the LCD screen.
The next day was not long, but the first of any difficulty. We went 1000 meters straight down a steep valley to the Arun river. It was hot and humid as it was rainforest at this elevation. Many of us took the opportunity to take a brief dip in the river before crossing the suspension bridge. And Leslie had her first leech encounter!
The ascent on the other side of the river went up over a 1000 meters to the village of Sedua. We were certainly conspicuous in this tiny village and many of the villagers came out to see us.
The next day we climbed to Tashigoan, the last village of the trek. It was here that I made my contribution to the American climbers' blog:
Of Monsoons and Sutures
We awoke in Seduwa just inside the Makalu Barun National Park at 5:12 AM -- 18 minutes earlier than was hoped -- to the sound of a barking dog. The dog beat our alarms to the punch. Still spirits were high; the weather wasn't perfect, but there was no rain and we had a relatively easy day in front of us. The hike was beautiful through the cloud forest and we came across many smiling faces along the way. The team members all made the hike to Tashigaon before lunch and we were glad for it as the clouds began to descend. During lunch the rains came. We were sheltered, but many of the porters had not yet arrived in Tashigaon and were not so lucky. But a little rain didn't slow them down and they carried their heavy loads down and up the steep valley sides.
Shortly after lunch Eric and Rob broke out the medical kit to treat a Sherpa who had an open suturable lac approx 5cm from a mishap with mini sledge while pounding a chisel. The Sherpa, Lhakpa, had sustained an injury that received sutures approx 3 weeks ago and now he had cellulitis. The sutures were removed and the wound was once again dressed, though this time it was left open. Cleaned, dressed and PO antibiotics, we sent him on his way to be seen again on our return trip out.
This was all made a bit more interesting as the weather continued to intensify and the monsoon rains came in sideways mixed with hail. Lhakpa successfully patched up, he headed into the yard to show off his new bandages to his friends.
The rains (and hail) did let up a bit. Brad and I enjoyed watching about a dozen Sherpas chasing tonight's dinner (chicken) through town. Coops may be a bit easier, but this was certainly more entertaining for chasers and onlookers alike (if not for the chicken). So now we sit awaiting dinner and our sleeping bags that will surely follow closely on dinner's heels. Tomorrow is our first long, hard day. About eight hours of hiking and lots of steep ascents away, Khongma awaits.
- Jim Kendrick (with help from Rob)
17 April 2010
That was one of two minor surgeries our docs, Eric and Rob, performed on the trek. It was great to see these guys able to help these villagers. A few days later Eric helped a 16 year old girl who had a smashed finger.
From there we really started climbing into the mountains. We arrived at the teahouse at Khongma after catching our first real glimpses of the snowcapped peaks of the Makalu region. By the time we reached Khongma, though, the clouds had built and we could barely see ten feet in front of us. From this point on we would be staying at teahouses as there are no more villages. The teahouses are pretty rustic and the Sherpa people sleep inside and set up makeshift kitchens. We still sleep in our tents set up just outside the teahouses.
From Khongma we hiked up and over two passes at Shipton La and Keke La to the Dobate teahouse. By this time we were getting accustomed to the weather patterns: beautiful mornings with clouds steadily building into the afternoon. We were always able to get to the next camp before any real bad weather hit though. After dinner we talked about the rest of the trek and made a plan. The teahouses don't lay out ideally for proper acclimatization. The next teahouse was at Yangle Kharka but that is actually lower in elevation than Dobate, so we decided to make a two day push to base camp. We stayed the next night at Riphuk Kharka at the same elevation as Dobate, which made for a long day. At Riphuk Kharka Eric entertained the Sherpas with his yoga.
The next day we covered the 1,100 meters from Riphuk Kharka at 3,900 meters to base camp at 5,000 meters in one day. It is certainly not ideal to ascend more than 1000 meters in a single day when at that altitude and some of us certainly felt the effects. For me it triggered migraine like headaches and others were bit sick as well. Luckily we had a rest day at base camp.
Base camp was beautiful. Leslie and I had, for the whole trek, been lamenting the fact that we were not going to be able to climb for the summit. When we came into the valley and saw the imposing Makalu before us as we stood already at 5,000 meters, we found ourselves relieved that this was as high as we were going. Pictures can't possibly do it justice.
Our time at base camp was too short, but the climbers needed to get to ABC (advance base camp) and continue to acclimatize. It was sad to leave everyone, but our considerably smaller group (three trekkers, one guide, four kitchen staff and seven porters) started our journey back, leaving the climbers for their further month long climb to the summit.
The walk down retraced our steps. Unfortunately Ann, the other trekker, fell ill from exhaustion on the way down. The porters did a superhuman job helping her down the mountain until we could get to a phone in Tashigoan. From there a helicopter was called and Ann was evac'd. The sight of the helicopter landing in the small village was something and the whole village turned out to see.
In Sedua we were lucky to be there while they had a village market day. The people were selling clothes and shoes brought up from the cities as well as local foods. This area produces a lot of millet, and so one of the major foods was a cooked millet soup. The women of the village wore tribal piercings in their noses that were scorpions hanging down. Again, these villagers were very friendly and were inviting us to sit with them (so long as we showed them the pictures of themselves!)
A few more days of hiking and we came to the end of the journey. A flight from Tumlingtar to Kathmandu and we finally got showers. Makalu was an incredible journey for us and one of the major highlights of our whole trip. We have to thank Passang, our guide, Chhiring and everyone at Rolwaling, all the Sherpa people that helped us up and down, Rob for inviting us and Chris for making it possible.
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