Salpa-Arun to Gokyo Trek, Oct 2009

[andyoxus]

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd share some photos of this trek:

http://www.stemhaus.com/firefox/foxclocks/news/2009/12/06/back-to-nepal-part-i-salpa-arun-to-gokyo-october-2009

I'm hoping to get some useful content up in the near future, and am happy to answer questions. Our route was:

Kathmandu->Balawa Besi+, Tallo Phedi-, Jau Bari, Sanam, Bung, Najing Dingma, Bupsa, Thado Kosi, Namche, Namche, Mong, Dole, Luza, Gokyo, Gokyo, Gokyo (Sixth Lakes), Lungden (Renjo La), Namche, Lukla

Andy

[James]

Andy
Outstanding pictures, I just want to grab my bag and go!

[Lars]

Great pictures!

When I see the lovely green of the trek between Tumlingtar and Namche I really
think that those who fly in to Lukla miss out on a very nice part of the trekking
experience. It is not all about high mountains!

[Ging]

Salpa La map

http://www.lirung.com/map/map_etc/Salpa_La_Map.html

[trek_lover]

Thank you for sharing wonderful pictures. THey are really awesome.
I was wondering which map did you use on your trek.

I managed to scan one map from my college and this is from LUkla to GOkyo. It is a detailed map. Can you please let me know if this map was somewhere close to the map you used ? I can recommend my visitors on my website.

The link to the map is http://nepal-kathmandu.com/download/Images/lukla-to-gokyo.jpg

Another thing I would like to feature some pictures on my website. I would give you credit while referencing.

Thanks again.

[cyclingpaul]

Andy thanks for sharing the photos, they are brilliant.

The early part of the trek is particularly stunning and it is nice to see the contrast between the lush greens of the lower altitudes with the harsh high mountain tones of the upper Khumbu.

Paul

[andyoxus]

Thanks for the kind words!

I used Nepal Map Publisher's 'Jiri Pikey Peak (Tumlingtar Rumjatar Phaplu)' 1:125,000 - I only know that because it's sitting right in front of me! I remember spending hours in Kathmandu trying to figure out what map to get; I also remember this one really not being much use. (I'd been to Khumbu before, so I didn't need a really good map of it, but the Lukla-to-Gokyo scan looks pretty good.)

I did enjoy the Tumlingtar-Lukla route, but it was _hard_ (and for once I was in reasonable shape when I started); combined with the fact that there were limited places to stay, it wasn't the most relaxing trek I've done. I think the idea of using it as a walk-out is a good one.

I was of course using Jamie McGuinness's excellent 'Trekking in the Everest Region' - http://trailblazer-guides.com/book/trekking-in-the-everest-region - but found the time estimates for Tumlingtar-Lukla to be way too optimistic (I normally hit the fast times for the Khumbu; here I couldn't make the slow times...).

Oh, I thought I'd share a view that a lot of people here are familiar with:

http://www.stemhaus.com/firefox/foxclocks/news/2010/04/27/gokyo_ri/

It's 3776x2520 so would make a good PC desktop image.

Andy

[mtncanyon]

Thx for the info and photos. It looks like an interesting alternative into the Khumbu. Did you have a porter and or guide? How were the views of the high peaks before you descended to the main path? Did you have different views of Makalu, Kusum Kangguru? How was staying in the local lodges? Thx, AVsfan

[andyoxus]

No porters or guide, just by preference. I'm sure it would be pretty easy to find a porter for some of the tougher days; and you don't really need a guide, although the route-finding wasn't completely simple.

Except for brief views of Mera, we didn't really get any mountain views at all until north of Lukla, mostly because that's just the nature of the trail, but also we had pretty cloudy/rainy weather until Namche - the monsoon ended late. The fun part about entering the Khumbu this way is of course that you know you're going to get epic views eventually; the lowland part is just a completely different experience.

The local lodges are very mixed, and mostly very simple (no menus; eat with the owner); that's part of the charm of course. The area was very badly affected by the Maoists and a number of lodges closed - there definitely aren't enough to give you much flexibility in your days.

Andy

[kegarne]

Hi andyoxus,

We did this trek as well in October 2009, must have just missed each other !

It is without doubt the hardest trek in I have ever done in the Himalaya.

Our route was:

Tumlingtar – Marduwa – Phedi – Gurase – Gudel – Kiraunle Gompa - Chubuche – Lukla.

The last day was absolute murder, carrying 25kg packs from Chubuche to Lukla, we meant to turn off to Bupsa however went the higher route so ended up going all the way to Lukla.

I t was however an amazing trek and I agree with you regarding the mountain views, there weren’t many on the way in at all. The best views we had were coming out of Tumlingtar on the first day when we had an amzing view of Makalu and Mera peak in the distance. Its’ funny to see that lady sherpas dining room in Chubuche, we ate in hat very spot ourselves !!

As you would agree you can definitely tea house the route and there are no others on the way. The only stop we didnt tea house was Gurase but we had camping gear so it was all OK. However if we had stopped further down the ridge we could have stayed in a teahouse.

I hope to go back and do it again one day....

[zemmo]

Terrific photos, much enjoyed!