This is the 16th post of a 19-post series. Please visit the “Adventure Journal” page of our website and start with “Why Nepal?” to read in order! As always, I have added perspectives from the kids (as they allow me to).

Cover Photo: Beautiful Manaslu during sunrise.

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Day 15: Samdo (3,875 m) – Dharamsala (4,460 m)

June 12, 2019

Stats:

Walked: 4hrs 18mins
Distance: 7.95 miles
Ascent: 2,039 ft
Descent: 141 ft
Elevation Gain: 1,898 ft

I woke up at 4:45am from after 13 hours of solid sleep. I felt much better…and pretty hungry! I bundled up and unzipped the tent to head to the nature toilet when my eye caught the sunrise over the Manaslu range and surrounding Himals against a crystal clear sky. I was awestruck. I quickly woke everyone up and told them they just had to come and look at this view. I swear, it was the fastest wake-up in history. Everyone came out to see the beautiful sight, while the rest of the camp was still asleep.

Kaysee and Kenza went back into their tents to sleep for another hour or so and I started slowly getting ready for the day. Kapil and Zayan walked out of the teahouse area to get an unobstructed view of Manaslu—just 20 yards up from camp.

Ten minutes later, Zayan came back to camp and energetically told me that I needed to see this sight and walked me to the place he and Kapil went to—a small stupa at the outskirts of the Samdo village. It was gorgeous. We watched the mountain turn from bright pink and peach to lighter pink, until the sun got higher and the mountain revealed its stark white snow-covered color.

The stupa from which we watched the sunrise on the Manaslu range. Himal Manaslu is the one in the middle. No editing has been done to these sunrise pictures.

Now whites of the Himals begin to show against the sunrise-colored sky.

And this is what our camp looked like after sunrise (Manaslu on the left).

As we walked the few steps back to camp, I could feel the difference in elevation. Yes, it was cold and I still had lower energy, but my head could feel the thinness of the air and my breathing was a bit more hurried. We may have woken the camp up, because tea was served about 15 mins earlier than usual and by 7:30am, we had eaten, packed, taken our altitude medication and were ready to go! Today was the last hike before the crowning moment of the circuit—getting over Larke Pass. We could all feel the anxiety and excitement in the air and truthfully, we were all ready to do it so we could move past the suspense.

The hike itself wasn’t too bad. The views of the mountain and glaciers kept us motivated and the yaks and mammuts (golden gopher-like animals) kept us entertained. The terrain of the trail fluctuated between green slanted meadows to rocky waterfalls. We took water breaks and rested when we needed to.

The altitude meds gave most of us a tingle in our fingers and toes that felt like the ends of our limbs were asleep. It was slightly harder to grip poles and walk with certainty of footing, but we stayed hydrated and carried on. I could tell Zayan didn’t feel 100% well. He walked slowly but steadily and we still ended up making good time, ahead of lunch at our “wild” [how Nepalis refer to non-teahouse-owned land] camping.

As usual, storytelling carried the day…only this time, it was about real life. At a break, we interviewed Mingmar and listened as he told stories of growing up in a small village with a single mom and needing to find a well-paying job. As a Sherpa, he recognized that he could make good money in assisting mountain-climbers so he took safety classes and passed mountaineering exams to be able to do so. He told us stories of his mountaineering days, decades of climbing technical Himals like Annapurna, Everest, and more. He talked of friends that died on expeditions and his transition several years ago to minimizing personal risks by guiding trekkers.

Mingmar has literally stolen all of our hearts. He is strong, smart, kind, very easygoing, and knows the mountains like the back of his hand. But among all of us, it is clear that the greatest bond with Mingmar lies with Kaysee. They walked for many hours with each other and Kaysee talked his ear off throughout that time. Kaysee is drawn to people he admires and Mingmar’s mountaineering past and active trekking lifestyle at age 50 is very impressive to Kaysee. If there was any doubt about Kaysee’s infatuation with Mingmar, it was eliminated when Mingmar answered Kaysee’s interview question:

Aila: Wow! Thank you so much for trusting us with your story Mingmar and sharing yourself with us. [Then to the group] Does anyone have anymore questions for Mingmar?

Kaysee: Have you every seen a yeti?

Mingmar: No…but there is a yeti skeleton in the Gumba at my village.

Everyone, except Kaysee: [Awkward chuckles followed by awkward silences while everyone realizes, wait, he is serious.]

Kaysee: I knew yetis were real.

Mingmar and Kaysee then had a conversation about yetis and what they looked like. We all joined into the conversation and recalled how Patagonians (and the name itself) derived from European explorers mistaking indigenous people as a “Big Foot” species, because of their tall stature and fur clothing. I knew then that Mingmar would forever stay in Kaysee’s memory as one of the coolest role models ever!

Camp was cold and windy so we mainly rested in our tents until dinner, whereupon, we quickly ate while standing around the cooking fire and talking about the next day. As Kapil and I listened, we knew the kids had already made it. Their persistence this far was commendable and even unbelievable. Tomorrow’s ascent will be less than they have done on previous hikes, and the adrenaline will carry them up to the pass and then all the way down. As we talked, Kapil and I both commented that as far as were concerned, Larke Pass WAS the completion of the circuit and perhaps we could cut our remaining nights on the trek by one night/day (driving back to Kathmandu on Day 18 instead of Day 19)…after all, it would all be downhill after tomorrow, literally. We spoke with Mingmar and he agreed with the plan, since that was how most trekkers did it anyway. We all agreed that the kids would be ready to get off the trail and remain in high-spirits on the 30-ish miles of walking back. We turned-in early (around 7pm) and let our thoughts get a head start on processing tomorrow’s adventure.

This photo was taken earlier on the trail when we found some “signage” by the locals. We learned that Mingmar means “Tuesday” in Tibetan, at which point, Kaysee nicknamed Mingmar as such!

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Excerpt from Zayan’s Journal (12 years):

Today was a pretty bad day. I felt lightheaded and sleepy. At one point my knees locked out and Mingmar had to carry my backpack. At this point, if I had the opportunity to quit, I would have.

Perseverance has been a very interesting sensation. But I won’t feel truly accomplished until I am done with this trek which is hard because I need some sort of motivation. I miss Wi-Fi, toilets, and showers…and to be honest, I don’t know how people enjoy living so basically. I know this is just the perspective of a city kid, but if the road means development, frankly, I am all for it. As long as the snow-capped mountains stay snow capped, I don’t see the problem in making the surroundings a little more comfortable and accessible. I do hope for all the best for this region. Goodnight!

Kaysan took this picture of Zayan napping before dinner. He was so tired.

Excerpt from Kaysan’s Journal (7 years):

Today was a little bit up and I am really starting to feel the altitude. I am really scared for Larke Pass. We saw a different mountains which was really pretty. I felt a little tired which ruined the enjoyment a little bit. We saw our first mammut today. Mammuts are a little beaver/hamster kind of thing. We also saw a deal blue sheep. Blue sheep are very rare to see in the flesh, but don’t get excited because they are not actually blue.

Tomorrow, we will tackle Larke Pass.

Among the mammuts and yaks (which we will add to the video), we found a carcass of a rare blue mountain goat.

Excerpt from Kaysan’s Journal (7 years):

Today was the most highest altitude I have ever been up to!!!!! The only thing that made this day a 10 was the amazing view. While waking up, everywhere we looked we could see snowy mountains.

Later on in the middle of the hike, everyone had to cross a big river coming down the side of one of the mountains. We got wet socks and shoes after crossing!

This morning we had to switch mules because the altitude was too high for our original ones. I am sad that our original mules left because these new mules (the altitude ones) are not as funny and cute. Kenza and I haven’t even named them yet!

Also when we were hiking we saw mammuts running around the yaks. They look like golden beavers. We couldn’t get close to them because they were too shy.

When we were close to camp, we had to walk up a really steep hill. At first I was behind Zayan, Mommy, and Mingmar but then I caut up to Daddy and Kenza and beat them all!