Starting point: Tilicho base camp (4150 m)
Ending point: Tilicho base camp (4150 m)
Date: 18th Oct 2019
Distance covered: 13 km
This is the day when I was supposed to hike up all the way to Tilicho lake (4919 m) and then go as close as possible to the Thorang pass. However, things didn't go as planned.
Do you know that as the altitude increases, the weather prediction becomes very tough. It is because of this reason that all the high altitude summit plans are executed in a way that people start hiking up at night itself so that they could reach up there in the early day hours (6-8 am) and then they descend back down before the clouds come up again. I did something similar, I started the hike from the Tilicho base camp at 03:30 am. As I progressed on the trail I could see snow from the upper slopes falling down under the impact of lateral wind. It was very cold and as I was gaining altitude, I could experience more snowfall.
The sign board 'Landslide Area, Step Gently' looked something like this at 06:00 am on 18th Oct 2019. Due to snow, the trail was slippery, and this along with snowfall and continual whiteouts made me walk relatively slow. The main aim of sharing the hiking experiences of Day 05 and 06 together is to help the readers understand that "Mountains make their own weather".
I went all the way up to the lake on Day 05 but after waiting at the Tilicho lake (4919 m) for more than an hour, all I could witness was a glimpse of the lake for 10 seconds. I started back down with the thought, 'I should come back to the lake tomorrow, if the weather is clear' and this became the primary reason for me to stay back at the Tilicho base camp.
When I went up to the lake for the first time, the experience of hiking was really nice. It was tough but then it also meant that there were very few people, only the ones who came for the experience and not for the pictures. It was cold but very calm. I was lucky to see the lake for 10 seconds and I tried my best to soak it all in those 10 seconds that I had.
Day 06
Starting point: Tilicho base camp (4150 m)
Ending point: Shree Kharka village
Date: 19th Oct 2019
Distance covered: 20 km
I tried my luck again on the second day and I am so glad that I did it. Thanks to Kajol, for making me stay at the Tilicho Base camp. She is indeed a lucky charm.
Oh! What a sight it was. The day couldn't get any perfect. I got to see the lake till the end. It is the most beautiful lake that I have seen till date. People complain about the place being crowded but I just wasn't able to take my eyes off this natural beauty. I found a spot for myself and just kept staring at the lake for a couple of minutes.
It is really tough to stay up there at the lake because of the cold winds that blow near the flat top beside the lake. However, there is a tea shop where you can have a hot cup of tea of coffee (it will be very costly though). After staying near the lake for around 30 minutes, I started hiking back to the Tilicho base camp with Kajol. The descend was easy and fun. We arrived at the base camp, she had a cup of tea and we started out trek together towards the village called Shree Kharka so that we could get back on the circuit the next day.
As you leave the landslide section of the trail, you get back to the colourful shrubs near the Shree kharka village. We stayed in the village for the night hoping to get to the base of the Thorang pass the very next day. It was supposed to be a long walk at a relatively higher altitude. But, we were mentally prepared to do it.
The Strava account (Manvendr Singh) shows how I went little ahead of the Tilicho Base camp after visiting the lake and then when I met Kajol, I decided to come back at the base camp to give Tilicho another shot on 19th Oct. Oh, I am glad I made that decision.
Note:
Mountains make their own weather. Therefore, please include 2 buffer days in your plan whenever you plan a trek which is going to take more than a week to complete.
Day 07 was the day when I saw WILDLIFE ON THE TRAIL for the very first time.
See you in the next one.
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