Tilicho Lake

After restocking on food in Jomsom, an hour and a half walk away from Marpha, Quentin, Christine, Hans and I, took off for Tilicho Lake to cut across the mountains and make our way to Manang, a small town on the other side of the lake. Two days of slow walking with a steady climb brought us to a camp below the steep slope that climbed to Mesokanto Pass at 5400m. We camped at 3700m, and had 1000m to climb in a short distance. We full packs and our crampons on, we headed up the steep and icy slope which finished at the pass. It took us a few hours and we climbed to the pass and were rewarded with terrific views of Tilicho Lake. Quentin and Chrisine were far behind us when we made it to the top of the pass, and so I went down to help Quentin with his pack, which turned out to be at least 10 kilos more than mine. No wonder he was struggling behind us. We found camp in a gulley in the snow near a stream, and all huddled in my tent and made dinner in the vestibule. We slept at 5150m, and had a very cold night as the strong gusts of wind would come and shake our tent.

The next day we ventured down to the lake, using our map as a guide and thinking there was a way to get past the lake by trails on either the north or south sides. Since it didn't appear that we had far to travel, we cooked a leisurely lunch and headed around the north side of the lake. After some easy, yet somewhat technical climbing around some rocks on the lake edge, where Hans and I had to take Quentin and Christine's packs so they could climb unencumbered, we came upon a wall where the water met the rock and there would be no passing. It was quickly decided that we would spend another night by the lake, and we discussed the south side of the lake. The south side was covered in glacier that went right into the water, and as we were looking and talking about it, there was an avalanche directly on our path that went right into the water. It was quickly decided that we would take the upper trail, around the mountains that hugged the north side of the lake, and avoid the trecherous south side completely.

It was a long day without sun, so it was very cold as well. The wind went right through our clothes and many of us had very cold feet. The trail was slippery and required a lot of concentration to just walk along without slipping into the deep snow beside the trail. We finally made it to the far side of the lake after four hours, and then, after a quick lunch of cheese and crackers, we took some hurried photos and headed down the trail towards Manang. The trail was in terrific condition, and we descended quickly, stopping to watch the wild goats on the ridges above us. We made it to Tilicho Base Camp Hotel, which was deserted, but after making dinner on their outside tables, we found an unlocked door and had beds to sleep on for the night. After sleeping in relative luxury, and then cooking a leisurely breakfast, we were able to return everything as it was just before the hotel keeper came along the next morning. We escaped with a free night and were on our way. The trail wasn't steep from the hotel, but it did go along a very steep slope, with landslide signs warning of the danger. It continued for some time, and after stopping for dal bhat (rice and lentils in gut busting quantities) in Khangsar, we made it to Manang as dark fell.