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Manaslu Photo Gallery - 4. Samdo to Annapurna Circuit

In October 2003 I Trekked Around Manaslu and the Annapurna Circuit from Dharapani to Manang

Manaslu 08 05 Buri Gandaki Begins Near Samdo Just after leaving Samdo, I crossed the Buri Gandaki, now a mere stream, for the last time.

Manaslu 08 05 Buri Gandaki Begins Near Samdo

Manaslu 08 06 Samdo Benath Pang Puche I looked back to see Samdo beneath snow-topped Pang Puche (6335m). The simple houses of Samdo (3860m) stand at the junction of three valleys, with a major Tibetan trade route heading east through the village and over the Lajyang La (5098m) to Rhee village in Tibet, a day’s walk from here.

Manaslu 08 06 Samdo Benath Pang Puche

Manaslu 08 07 Manaslu From Just Before Larkya Phedi A half hour before Larkya Phedi, through a break in the mountains caused by Larkya Glacier, I had a sensational view of the full width of the north face of Manaslu from the East Pinnacle to the Main Summit. The normal route of ascent goes to the right and then crosses the large plateau to the summit.

Manaslu 08 07 Manaslu From Just Before Larkya Phedi

Manaslu 08 08 Unnamed Peak From Before Larkya Phedi Unnamed Peak (about 6170m) looks very different from the North from Larkya Phedi.

Manaslu 08 08 Unnamed Peak From Before Larkya Phedi

Manaslu 08 09 Larkya Phedi and Larkya LA Up ahead just below the moraine are a little village of tents called Larkya Phedi (4480m), with Larkya La (5213m) above and Larkya Peak (6010m) to the left on the pass.

Manaslu 08 09 Larkya Phedi and Larkya LA

Manaslu 09 01 Larkya Peak From After Larkya Phedi Last night was a little cold at -10C. An hour after leaving Larkya Phedi, I could see Larkya Peak (6010m) in the early morning sun.

Manaslu 09 01 Larkya Peak From After Larkya Phedi

Manaslu 09 02 On The Larkya La The climb overall was fairly straightforward, but seemingly never-ending, I finally reached the Larkya La (5213m) three hours after leaving Larkya Phedi. I immediately began stringing up the prayer flags. A Sherpa stopped and told me I was stringing them up backwards. He explained that the end with the blue prayer flag should be placed at the higher end since blue means sky, and at the other end yellow means earth.

Manaslu 09 02 On The Larkya La

Manaslu 09 03 Team On The Larkya La Here is my crew and I on the Larkya La (5213m). From left to right: cook Schandra, porter Ram, porter Satis, and guide Gyan Prasad Tamang (gptamang@hotmail.com).

Manaslu 09 03 Team On The Larkya La

Manaslu 09 04 Nemjung From Descent From Larkya La Just after starting the descent from the Larkya La, the vista opened up with Nemjung (7140m) on my right. Nemjung was first climbed on Oct 27, 1983 by Makito Minami, Wataru Saito, Ken Takahashi, and Kirki Lama.

Manaslu 09 04 Nemjung From Descent From Larkya La

Manaslu 09 05 Tilje Peak and Gyajikang From Descent From Larkya La Just after starting the descent from the Larkya La to the left of Nemjung, Gyajikang (7074m) was visible to the right of Tilje Peak (6532m). Gyajikang was first climbed on October 7, 1994 by Toshisada Hasegawa, Yousuke Kokubo, Osamu Tanabe, Ram Kaji Sivakoti, Pasang Tshering Sherpa, and Dambar Bahadur Gurung.

Manaslu 09 05 Tilje Peak and Gyajikang From Descent From Larkya La

Manaslu 09 06 Kang Guru From Descent From Larkya La Just after starting the descent from the Larkya La, the vista opened up with Kang Guru (6981m, also called Naurgaon) sticking up above an intervening ridge. Kang Guru was first climbed on July 2, 1955 by Germans Heinz Steinmetz, Fritz Lobbichler, and Juergen Wellenkamp. The worst disaster for an expedition in Nepal occurred on October 20, 2005 when seven French and 11 Nepalese, who were in their Kang Guru base camp tents after late afternoon tea, were swept away by a huge avalanche into a deep gorge below.

Manaslu 09 06 Kang Guru From Descent From Larkya La

Manaslu 09 07 Enjoying A Rest At Bimtang With Manaslu Behind After a long descent traversing scree slopes on a long set of steep, rough switchbacks, we reached a bit of grass and stopped for lunch. We finally arrived at the large meadow called Bimtang (3720m), where I enjoyed some refreshments. The Northwest side of Manaslu was shining in the afternoon sun.

Manaslu 09 07 Enjoying A Rest At Bimtang With Manaslu Behind

Manaslu 09 08 Manaslu From Bimtang I climbed the ridge behind Bimtang to get fantastic views of Manaslu's Northwest Face. The Pinnacle certainly looks lower than the summit from this vantage. The final leg of the normal ascent route looks a little steeper as it climbs up the left-hand ridge and passes the Pinnacle to reach the relatively flat but long, summit push.

Manaslu 09 08 Manaslu From Bimtang

Manaslu 09 09 Manaslu From Bimtang Here’s another closer view from Bimtang of the summit plateau of Manaslu with the East Pinnacle (7992m) on the left and the summit to the right.

Manaslu 09 09 Manaslu From Bimtang

Manaslu 09 10 Manaslu Summit Plateau Close Up At Sunset From Bimtang Tilman wrote in 1950: From this belvedere we looked over the dark forest to the debris of a glacier below and beyond to the cirque at the foot of Manaslu from which it flowed. On the right two sky piercing towers of rock and ice struck us with amazement, almost eclipsing by their savage splendour the calm, monumental mass of Manaslu. From a low snow col the long north ridge of the mountain climbed airily over a bump of the order of 25,000 ft., dropped 1,000 ft., and then rose sharply to a snow plateau. On this remote pedestal, standing well back, stood the summit pyramid.

Manaslu 09 10 Manaslu Summit Plateau Close Up At Sunset From Bimtang

Manaslu 09 11 Manaslu Summit Plateau Close Up At Sunset From Bimtang Here’s another extremely close up view from Bimtang at sunset of the summit plateau of Manaslu with the East Pinnacle (7992m) on the left and the summit to the right.

Manaslu 09 11 Manaslu Summit Plateau Close Up At Sunset From Bimtang

Manaslu 10 01 Manaslu North Fom Beyond Bimtang The boys had some rakshi last night, and sang and danced til 11. We got up a little later this morning, and I left at 7:30. As I looked back, I could see the glistening snow on the west face of Manaslu North, and the Manaslu ridge.

Manaslu 10 01 Manaslu North Fom Beyond Bimtang

Manaslu 10 02 Larkya Peak Fom Beyond Bimtang From this vantage point beyond Bimtang, Larkya Peak (6010m) looked very different.

Manaslu 10 02 Larkya Peak Fom Beyond Bimtang

Manaslu 10 03 Scrambling On Path Next To River After Landslide On the trek from Bimtang to Tilje, the trail forked. I walked on the upper path, but it had been cut off by a landslide. So I took the lower path, which descended to the Dudh Khola, and scrambled up and down the precariously quickly made trail. Once again, who needs an amusement park when you can have real life adventure? I arrived in the large Gurung village of Tilje (2300m) at 12:30.

Manaslu 10 03 Scrambling On Path Next To River After Landslide


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