Today I bought the flights to Kathmandu, which means this year’s Nepal trip has firmed up enough for a Where Next blogpost.
Steffi and I, and maybe a few others (hopefully) are off to the long awaited Kan[g]chenjunga trek, first discussed with Val back in October 2020 as Storm Alex battered the walls and windows of Steffi’s caravan perched on the coast of Far West Wales.
Destination: Kanchenjunga, Eastern Nepal, and back west over the Nango La (4,776 m) and Lumba Sumba pass (5,160 m), and maybe as far as the Makalu-Barun National Park.
When: October / November 2023
What: Trekking to Kangchenjunga North Base Camp in the far east of Nepal right on the border with Sikkim, India, and then heading back west to cross over the Nango La and the Lumba Sumba / Lumbha Sambha passes into the Makalu-Barun National Park.
Hopefully we will be able to do the extra 4-5 days along the Barun River to Mera village to explore the valley there before turning south and the long journey back to KTM.
Precise route TBC – depends on what condition the trails are in after the winter snows and the summer monsoon (landslides) and how far the road(s) have got….
How: With Val Pitkethly, of course.
Why: Hiking high in the big mountains with old friends, and another chunk of the Great Himalayan Trail – this time, the eastern section from Kangchenjunga / कञ्चनजङ्घा (8,586 m / 28,169 ft) almost to Makalu / मकालु हिमाल (8,481 m / 27,825 ft) – but Makalu Base Camp will need to wait for another trip….
Flights: We are flying with BA/Qatar. Flights have got so much more expensive… these come in at over £1000 each.
Resources
- Günter Seyfferth’s Die Berge des Himalaya / The mountains of the Himalayas / www.himalaya-info.org:
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- Kangchenjunga Himal
- Arun, Lumba Sumba, Ama Drime (between Kangchenjunga and Makalu) > D. Via the Lumba Sumba Pass to the west to the Arun
- Roger Nix’s Nepal 2017: GHT-Makalu Flickr Album, which covers Lumba Sumba pass and the high trails to Makalu basecamp.
- Walking with Wired > Nepal / GHT 2018 > Day 13: The Lumbha Sambha Hurdle
Map & Route
I do have an outline route from Val, but I’ll wait until nearer the time to share that as it’s likely to change after the monsoon and depending how far the road building had reached …
In the meantime, here’s Val’s original sketch map of the possible routes, from October 2020:
