High and Wild in glacier wilderness- Makalu & Manaslu Base Camp

HIGH AND WILD IN GLACIER WILDERNESS
MAKALU & MANASLU BASE CAMPS

MAKALU

Most awesome of Nepal's 8,000 meter giants, Makalu (27,825') is a perfect ice pyramid with four ridges, its huge south face rearing impressively above the moraine of the Barun Glacier. Makalu is surrounded by an equally impressive Himalayan wilderness, a 1400 square mile assemblage of peaks, passes, and glaciers now protected as Makalu Barun National Park. Very few people have ever been to this remote and rugged area.

Our trek runs the entire gamut of the Nepal geographical and cultural experience beginning with a scheduled flight to Biratnagar in the Terai region of south Nepal. We drive to Hile and begin our trek up along the Arun river to Tumlingtar at 1,500 ft. We hike along terraced rice fields and up into some of Nepal's most sublime rhododendron forests as we make our way up the Arun Valley toward the glacial Barun Valley. Entering the high altitude wilderness of Makalu Barun National Park, alpine views become more and more striking each day. At Makalu Base Camp (15,800'), amazing panoramas include four of the five highest mountains in the world: Everest (29,028'), Lhotse (27,923'), Kangchenjunga (28,208'), and Makalu (fifth highest peak), plus rare views of the sheer flanks of Chamlang (24,012'), Baruntse (23,688'), and countless lower but no less spectacular peak

Itinerary:

Day 01-16 Trek through rice terraces in the Arun Valley, passing scattered Sherpa and Rai settlements. Pass the Sherpa village of Tashi Gaon (6,800), last village we will see until we descend. Head up the Barun Valley, leaving rhododendron forests for alpine tundra. Enter the pristine glacier country of Makalu Barun National Park.
Days 17-28: After two nights at Makalu Base Camp and local explorations we retrace our route down the Barun and Arun valleys to Hile.
Day 29-30 From Hile we drive to Biratnagar and the comforts of a hotel before taking the scheduled flight from Biratnagar to Kathmandu the next day.

CIRCUMNAVIGATING MANASLU HIMAL

The trek around Manaslu (26,780'), eighth highest mountain in the world, just about has it all: spectacular geographical features, panoramic mountain views, and a diversity of unspoiled ethnic peoples.

We begin trekking north along the Buri Gandaki, a long narrow river gorge between the Manaslu and Ganesh Himals in central Nepal. As we delve deeper into the Buri Gandaki, with its nearly perpendicular walls and misty waterfalls, we cross the main Himalayan range and angle westward between the Kutang and Ganesh Himals, following a course roughly parallel to the Tibetan border. This region, known as Nupri, is inhabited by descendants of Tibetan immigrants, whose speech, dress and customs are almost exclusively Tibetan.

Now the mountain views turn from superb to sensational, as Manaslu, Manaslu North, and Naike Peak appear at the head
of the valley. As we cross the Larkya La (16,728'), a dramatic Himalayan pass bridging the Buri Gandaki and Marsyangdi Valleys, we are treated to even more spectacular views of many 7000 meter peaks, including Himlung Himal (23,373') and Annapurna II (26,041'). After descending to the Marsyangdi Valley, we follow the gorge out to Besisahar.

Itinerary:

Day 01-12 We drive to Gorkha and begin our trek along the Buri Gandaki, climbing and descending many ridges till we reach Sama Gaon, the last settlement before Manaslu base camp.
Day 13-14 We enter the Nupri region en route to the Larkya La and take time to acclimatize.
Day 15-16 Cross the Larkya La.
Day 17-20 We now trek through the Marsyangdi valley to Besisahar.
Day 21 Besishar to Kathmandu by bus.