April 2023 Khopra Ridge Trek, Nepal

Altitude Loss : 6,561 ft to 3,871 ft Trek Distance : 4.7 km | Trek Duration: 3 hours Bus Drive Distance: 110 km | Drive Duration: 5 hours Today we would officially complete our trek & will be back in our hotel rooms at Pokhara, i.e. by the end of day today and that will be after 3 hours of further trekking and a looong travel by bus. As we complete our trek, I thought of sharing this map showing what we have done over the past 10 days. Before retiring to bed yesterday, the group had a brief chat about collecting a small purse / gratuity to the porters, Bhim kaka & Choten. Yours truly was in charge of this project. After a quick breakfast & tea, all group members were ready to start trekking by 745 AM. By 8 AM we started the last leg of this Khopra Ridge trek. We had to cross a school sports ground before we hit the trail downhill. We saw a few students playing ball in the ground. Also a cage containing few domesticated animals.     Practically the full descent was ...

Altitude Loss : 11,975 ft to 6,561 ft Trek Distance : 8.5 km | Trek Duration: 6.5 hours Today was another morning when I preferred to enjoy my sleep over going for an early morning walk. One group of trekkers wanted to make the most of the mountains. They got up early and went for a short trek in the early morning snow. Vivek was mentioning that the day's walk would be long. My only concern was that the trail should be free of snow. Shure & Vivek confirmed that since the direction in which we would be descending is on the sun facing side, it is unlikely to have snow on the path. I felt thankful for that, because the little distance that I did walk on snow, I was not comfortable. After tea, pack up & breakfast (I repeated porridge & honey) the members assembled for a group photo. We had 2 sets of group foto of the full group, one with the Indian tricolour national flag & the second one with the TTH banner. Sridhar had got along the tricolour & all group members p...

Altitude Gain : 9,678 ft to 11,975 ft Trek Distance: 3.5 km | Trek Duration: 3 hours A family member who has been following my writing since past 20 years feels this blog is becoming a very serious piece of writing, like a thesis. His opinion is that a blog unless it belongs to the academic type, should include some humour, else who ever it is who are reading may lose interest. So at this point of time, let me see if I am able to bring a smile to those who have read this far & continue to do so..... Today was the last day of ascent, the day we would reach the summit, the highest point of our trek. I have heard trekkers (literally) behaving as though they have reached a "high" when they reach the summit. However all that is for a bit later. This is just the beginning of the day, another 3.5 km or 3 hours of teetering along remains... Having managed to take care of my stomach without getting it upset with the variety of foods that I have been stuffing down my throat in the ...

Altitude Gain & Loss: 11,220 ft to 11,811 ft and ended with 9,678 ft Trek Distance: 9.2 km | Trek Duration: 6-7 hours Today's trek was very difficult. The distance was the biggest reason, and the walk included both ascent and descent. To tackle this, Vivek had scheduled an earlier start than usual, and we began with a light breakfast. Before setting off, we took a group photo with our hostess and her children outside the hotel where we had stayed for two nights. We started walking at 8:30 AM, and for the first hour, we had to trudge through snow. As one of the slower walkers, I had to follow the path created by those ahead of me, which can be challenging in snowy conditions. Since we didn't have crampons or micro spikes, we had to be extra careful, but Vivek helped me and other members of the group whenever we faced difficulties. After two hours of trekking, we reached a narrow trail flanked by mountains on one side and valleys on the other. At that point, we got mobile con...

    For the first time since we began our trek, we were unable to follow our planned schedule. Due to excessive snowfall at higher elevations, the trek scheduled for the day was cancelled. Porters and trekkers whom we encountered mentioned the heavy snowfall at the Khayer Lake area, which prohibited trekking to that location. Five out of the eleven trekkers in the group, however, opted for an early morning trek to a sunrise point located at a slightly higher elevation. I was happy to stay back in the room and enjoy my sleep. Breakfast was served at 7:30 AM. For a change, I chose pancakes with honey. Since no trekking was possible, most of us stayed in the dining area, which was being kept warm by a central fireplace. After five days together, the break from trekking provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to interact with each other. Lunch was served at 2:00 PM, and I saw fried rice on the menu, so I opted for that. Someone took out a pack of cards and started a ga...

Altitude Gain: 8,705 ft to 11,225 ft Trek Distance: 6.2 km | Trek Duration: 6.5 hours Last night, Vivek had given us the schedule for the day as follows: Wake up by 5:30 or 6:00 AM, with or without an alarm. Have tea by 6:30 AM, breakfast by 7:00 AM, pack up, and start trekking by 8:00 AM. Yesterday night, the tea house had around 30 guests, including another trekking group who were on the same trek as us. With 3 washrooms available for all 30 guests, each member of the group had to devise their own schedule to manage the washroom facility. The view from both the rooms and the lawns was spectacular. As we finished our breakfast and were about to start the trek, a few members requested a group photo. We started trekking from Tadapani at 8 AM, passing through beautiful rhododendron forests. The trail led through the forest and ascended gradually to the ridge of Deurali. The climate was quite chilly, and the climb was a bit steep. Vivek and Shure had scheduled a short break after every ho...