Langtang Valley
My first foray into the Himalayas with my Nick, Ben, and Jordan. This is when I first realized how insane humbling and powerful these mountains could be.
We took four days to trek up from Syapru Besi to Kyanjin Gompa, then Jordan and I hustled on up to Yala Peak in my first true alpine experience.
Markha Valley
A remote mountain valley in Ladakh carved by the Zanskar Range. Natalie’s first foray into Himalayan trekking and damn did we have spicy experience! Nat tells the story best in her writing HERE. Also these pictures all all Nat’s- she just took such amazing pictures with her good camera that my own couldn’t keep up!
Mustang
Upper Mustang is this mysterious land of Tibetan Buddhists extremely remote from Greater Nepal. As an American, you MUST have a guide and pay a permit of $500 to go there; meaning it is still extremely preserved in its old ways.
I took a mountain-bike just up to that border without crossing into Upper Mustang, and then rode all the way down to Pokhara.
This was an extremely spiritual place- a pilgrimage spot for Hindus and Buddhists across the subcontinent.
Lesser Himalayas
For many locations along the Great Himalayan Chain, you can’t even seen snowcapped peaks until you’ve been traveling up the mountain valleys of the foothills for days.
They are steep, and bright-green, gushing with torrents of cold mountain water and the soil is FER-TILE. The humid tropical forests of these low mountains are filled with fruit trees, birds, snakes, cats, and so much more. They are also filled with the big cities and sprawling villages of the Nepali.
Annapurna Range
Vignesh, Swathi, and I reached Ghandruk after four days of trekking on wet and green trails in the Lower Annapurna Conservation Area.
At 4 am, we awoke in our hotel to take the 45-minute hike up to “Poon Hill” and were rewarded by this awe-inspiring view of the entirety of the Annapurna Range, including the chains of peaks of Dhualagiri (8180 m), Tukcheleak (5920 m), Damps (6010 m), Nigiri (7060 m), Annapurna (8010 m), Hiunchuli (6440 m), Gangapurna (7460 m), and of course the holy mountain that towers over Pokhara- “The Fishtail” Macchapuchhre (7000 m)
The Indus Valley
That ancient, fertile valley of the Indus River stretching from Tibet to Pakistan and finally into the the Arabian Sea.
We traveled by hitchhiking a semi-truck for 2 days high on the most desolate and dangerous road I’ve experienced across four big chains of the Himalayas, only to end up in this oasis-paradise on the plateau of Tibet at 3,000 m.
Pangong Tso
This alpine lake at 4,225 m is north of five major Himalayan Chains. It spans the border between India (Ladakh) and China (Tibet) and is heavily contested between the two great powers.
We motorcycled here from Leh over the burliest of motorable passes- the 5400 m Chang La.
