Beauty and mud and mountains and poo

Back in Kathmandu and with a whole lot of pictures of walking across what seems like a good chunk of Bhutan. This post will be the trek and then the next post I will do Tiger's Nest since is suspect the pictures will make the Internet freak out a bit.

First a few little tidbits. We trekked over 60 miles, went over four high passes, and slept above 4000m for five nights. We had measurable snow twice. We also saw every variety of poo possible. 

The first day we did a hike up in the mountains above Paro to become acclimatized. In the past, the first day would have been a trek to the first camp site, but the path was replaced with a logging road which is not a pleasant place to walk. Of course it rained on us which was slightly unseasonable. Also Chris got a bit of altitude sickness which we all encountered at one point or another. There was also a mudslide on the road on our way to the trek.

That night we camped in what seemed like someone's backyard.

The first real day of trekking was 21k, which would have been a slog in and of itself, but the rain the day before, plus an unusually wet monsoon season had left the train a muddy mess. Even at its best, the first day of the trail was very rocky, but now we had the added bonus of hopping from rock to rock hoping that we did not end up knee deep in mud. Plus the trail was well traveled by ponies and mules who did indeed poo and so the mud was mixed with poo. It was a super special concoction. 

The walk took about nine hours. Our campsite was also a giant mudpit.

Day two was a mere 19k. It turned out the the path was much nicer, the views much prettier, and we even saw our first yaks. They also poo.

This hike took us in to base camp. Now originally we were going to do the full Jomolhari trek, but due to the weather some of the trail was terrible and maybe one of the bridges was washed out. Or now. It is possible that the guide thought about it, shook his head and opted for the more reasonable Jomolhari 2 trek which is shorter and has better views but some nasty high passes. As my hiking speed is slug like maybe th prospect of being on the trail for a zillion hours did not appeal? Who knows. In any even, we made some itinerary adjustments and we're all the better for it.

We had one "rest day" at base camp where we climbed which I like to call bulls**t mountain. This did no go week since there was no real trail and it was very steep. By the time we got back to the bottom both of my big toes were numb. We saw some blue deer which was pretty cool.

We were going to have another day at base camp and then do a 16k day, but we decided instead to head out and break things up a bit. We did 8k to the base of the highest pass of our journey. The path went through a beautiful valley with glacial lakes and the weather was gorgeous. This was also the point where I started to get a nasty cold.

That night it snowed. 

We then headed out to do the high pass. We could have just done the pass and gone down to the valley, but in order to break things up a bit we pushed on to camp in the backyard of th family of our horseman. It just so happened that the family was going to be making their seasonal move down to the valley the next day. It was great to have the opportunity to camp further up the trail. There was also a lot of poo. 

The following day we only had to do 8k because we had already done a good chunk of the next trek. That meant we got to the next campsite early. It just so happened that there was a nomadic family home next to the camp site. Of course our horseman knew then so we got to visit and Darielle was able to buy some yak cheese. They told us that they were very happy that we visited because although people camp right next door, they do not ever visit.

The house was very warm and there was a kitten who fell asleep on Darielle's lap. The family said that they were going to be staying in their summer home for ten more days before going down into the valley. 

In the summer the yaks cannot survive at the lower elevations because of the heat. Also many of the medicinal herbs are found up in the mountains. It seems like a difficult life, but the homes are very cozy.

The next day was our final push out of the mountains. We had to do one high pass and then go downhill till we were back in the Paro valley. By this point my best cold and reached raging proportions so I was a bit delirious. My usual slow and been reduced to sludge speed. Still, after the pass, it was just a matter of climbing down those rocks one after the other. And avoiding pony traffic jams.

D got back to civilizations by about 2:15 with Chris about fifteen minutes behind her. I finally made I out at 3:00 and there was celebratory beer, veggie momos, and a local wine. We then went back to Paro and I managed to strip off all my gross clothing and take a hot shower before I fell asleep for thirteen hours straight.