This is the 17h 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: We did it! This is our group picture at the top of Larke Pass!

*Please note that to see Cover Photo on email notification, you will need to click “Read On” at the bottom of the email.

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Day 16: Larke Pass (5,160 m) - Bimtheng (3,590 m)

June 13, 2018

Stats:

Walked: 8hrs 52mins
Distance: 10.2 miles
Ascent: 1,718 ft
Descent: 4,466 ft
Elevation Gain: -2,748 ft

I didn’t sleep that well and woke up at 3am to pee. I slept in my warm clothes (i.e. thermals, beanie, socks, etc.) so all I needed was a jacket over it all to exit the tent. As I stepped out, it felt like another world. The air was still and I was surrounded by snowy Himals reflecting the light of the soon-to-be full moon. The bright stars abundantly covered the sky and it was all so clear and beautiful that I just stood there, mesmerized. after standing there, and taking a mental photograph, I went back into the tent to get the point-and-shoot camera and tried to photograph it…but gave up after two tries. Oh, how I missed my camera in that moment! I went back to bed and tried to close my eyes for the next few hours.

Camera Background: Two countries before Nepal (in South Africa) my Canon DLSR camera randomly malfunctioned and it had to be sent to the USA Canon Repair (under warranty). There is really no way to get it back before the end of the trip because we are never at one address for too long and, given that Canon only ships to USA addresses, it would’ve required too much effort (not knowing when the camera would be ready), and likely expense, to get it back to me. On this trip, we tried to have one package shipped to us, or rather chase us over three countries, and it was a nightmare. So, back to this magical moment--

Our 4am wake-up tea (kids at 4:30am) was two and a half hours earlier than usual, but everyone was excited and woke up willingly, even if we were all still a bit tired. Breakfast, consisting of a vegetable enhanced Ramen soup, bread, and cereal, was quick so we could get to the pass while the weather was on our side.

We began the hike which was largely uphill and on a rocky trail, lined with icy remains from winter. We were instructed to pack only one liter of water in our backpacks (to lighten the load), as Ramesh Bhai, one of the porters, would carry water alongside the whole team that day. We started strong but soon thereafter, Zayan was feeling weak and had a bad stomach. He was moving too slowly and Mingmar was concerned that we would have an issue making Larke Pass in good weather if we didn’t pick up our pace.

The beginning of our hike towards Larke Pass.

Amazingly, the porters rigged up a basketless doko, or a seat that would allow for a piggy back with a strap also going on the porter’s head. Three amazingly strong porters took turns carrying Zayan for a few minutes which got him enough ahead of us and the booster he needed to get back on the trail.

This is a doko which usually holds about 40-50 kg (~80-100l lb) of weight that the porters carry on their backs/head.

As we got higher and higher, we crossed glacial melt streams, and moved from terrain of grassy meadows to rock-loving plants with small flowers, and eventually, to pure rock and ice. We saw a a beautifully turquoise glacial lake. The surroundings were gorgeous, and the weather was perfect.

In about three hours, we reached the top of Larke Pass! We saw prayer flags, stone ruins of a seasonal teahouse, and our team! We were all so proud of each other. After a 15 Days, we made it and it felt great. We ate our packed second breakfast/lunch of cheese, boiled eggs, and a piece of chocolate. We had a mini-homeschool moment as Kaysee observed the puffy air-filled packaging of one of his granola bars which yielded a conversation about air expansion and compression. It was the perfect opportunity to talk about our gassy stomachs which seemed to resonate strongly with the kids :)

We took some victory pictures by a Larke Pass sign (everyone wanted selfies with Kapil) and then went to hang-up two of our prayer flags that were blessed at Mu Gumba. As the flags fluttered in the wind with prayers for the harmony of all of the beings and elements on our planet, I was overwhelmed with gratitude…for this family, for our trip around the world, for the Nepal trek, and of course for this moment of accomplishment.

Kapil and Zayan tying our prayer flags together.

Mingmar could tell that we wanted to linger (and the kids wanted to keep taking selfies with Kapil) there but he could see clouds coming in on the horizon. He told us how lucky we were to get such great weather and we had read that great weather on the pass meant that one was to have a lucky life. Mingmar urged us to keep moving and reminded us that we had a long way to go to camp.

Riding our adrenaline, we began walking back down the other side of Larke Pass. This downhill, however, was filled with extremely loose rocks and gravel. It required a lot of concentration just to make it down without slipping (which we all did a few times). We now know, that because of our focus on the pass, we completely underestimated the walk down to camp. The technical nature of the downhill was not easy, especially after not having slept well the night before. All of us were anxious to get downhill so that we could stop looking downwards and straighten our posture!

We took a rest at the bottom of the hill and had a warm cup of Tibetan salt tea. We exchanged kudos with each other and suddenly, though we still had two more nights on the trail, it felt like the trek was over. Kapil and I were so proud of the kids…of our family. We held a joint space for the acknowledgement of the journey it took to get to this day with the celebration of reaching this goal.

I’m glad this wasn’t an easy experience because it made the achievement that much sweeter. This trek epitomized the growth of our family. In these short weeks, we shared our dreams with each other, lived out our fears, and accomplished a collective goal with resilience and strength. And like all things, this trek happened exactly as it should have, and just when it was supposed to, because after 11+ months of travel, we all know each other extremely well—we know how to live in discomfort and how to predict and cope with each other’s moods. At 11 months, though far from perfect, we are a well-experienced team where the players are versatile and play different positions depending on the nature of the game. This precious trek offered us a chance to test our mettle; to practice our learnings and graduate from the junior varsity bench. Together, we rose to the occasion and surpassed any and all expectations we had for ourselves and each other.

As we walked for hours down to our second to last camp, Bimtheng, we were tired, exhausted, drained, but oh so happy; and that night, we slept like champs.

ABOVE LEFT PICTURE: Our AMAZING Team who we couldn’t have done this trek without. (From Left to Right: Chef Dawa Dhai, Ramesh Bhai, Laal Bhai, Amar (the high altitude mule-man), Mingmar, Dorje Bhai, and Pasand Bhai). The picture on the left was supposed to be the “funny face” picture, which apparently only applied to our family! RiIGHT PICTURE: Our main mule-man, Myla who turned around with our mules at Shayala because even mules can get altitude sickness!

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Excerpt from Zayan’s Journal (12 years):

I am really proud of myself. I have just completed the hardest day of the Manaslu Circuit. Let me rewind to the beginning of the day, so my older self reading this 20 years from now can remember how I really feel.

We woke up at 4:30am to the sound of Laal Bhai’s voice telling us that breakfast was ready and was going to be served in the tent. The broth of the hot ramen running down my throat woke me up instantly. I sat in my sleeping bag for a couple of minutes before packing my stuff and stepping out of the tent to begin the day’s walk.

About 20 minutes into the hike, I had already taken two poops and my stomach hurt. Because I was moving so slowly, the porters had to devise a seat which they could carry me on. My stomach was in knots and I felt defeated as the porters struggled to carry me.

After about 10 minutes, I was done with being carried. The rest of the way up was exhausting, but when I was done, I felt like I had battled the Kraken and won. My head was pounding and I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my entire body. Needless to say, after that, the rest of the day felt like child’s play. Now, I am so ready to go to sleep. Goodnight!

Excerpt from Kenza’s Journal (9 years):

Today we did the Pass (tun, tun, tun). As we got higher, I could feel the air getting thinner and thinner. We started seeing snow very early on in the hike, but surprisingly, it wasn’t that cold.

Once we finally got to the end of the Pass, I felt this weird feeling of gratitude almost. I felt like it was the first time in my life that I actually accomplished something more than I knew I could (if that makes sense). It was like my whole life had been surrounded around that moment and I will never forget that one millisecond where my mind almost talked to me and said a word which made my heart warm—“finally.” To myself, before that moment I kind of felt like a nobody but that one second made me remember how much of a somebody I am. I can’t even write how I felt in words, but one thing I can say is that I was STARVING! After that long half day of uphill, it was literally and figuratively, all downhill and flat from there.

On the last hour of the hike, I was joined by Kaysan and Laal Bhai (one of the guides/porters) and I remember Kaysan trying to explain tennis to him, He said stuff like, “you use this thing called a racket which is like a stick with lots of holes inside”; and “a tennis ball is like a ball that is really green and really bouncy.”

Daddy made-up the idea that instead of doing a half day and then another one, we would just bang it all out and make tomorrow the last day. Let’s see what happens!

Excerpt from Kaysan’s Journal (7 years):

Today was a hard day because the morning was all up hill!!! In the morning it was so cold that I had to put on one shirt, a long sleev shirt, another long sleev shirt, and a jacket!!!! When we were hiking there was a small amount of snow. We also got lunch in a paper bag.

In the beginning of the hike, I thought Mingmar said we need to walk five hours until the beginning of the hike to get to Larke Pass. So when we got to the top of the pass in a few hours, I was surprised.

The top of Larke Pass wasn’t as snowy as I expected. There were lots of prayer flags there and we attached our own flags that were blessed by a monk in Tsum Valley.

Mingmar asked me to take a picture with him because I’m the smallest hiker he has ever taken to that altitude (5,160m). He is going to check with the Nepali records to see if I hold the youngest record for a permit.

After staying at the top for about 15 minutes we had to hike down the mountain for almost four hours!! At first I walked down holding Mingmar’s hand. Then I tripped on the rocky path…and it was painful for a minute. To help me rest for a little bit, Laal Bhai carried me “piggy back” for a few minutes. After he put me down, I started talking to him a lot. I talked about Grandma’s cooking, good food, and tennis. Finally, we got to a small teahouse to drink tea and rest for about 20 minutes. Mingmar bought me some coconut cookies.

When I finally got to camp, my legs hurt a bit and me, Kenza, and Zayan all watched bewitched again on the ipad. I am not super proud of Larke Pass because it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting, but I was pretty happy with myself.