A Himalayan Journey

Editor’s note: Hungry Horse News photographer Seth Anderson spent two months in Nepal this spring. The following chronicles his journey...

It all started last summer when Adam Clark, another local Flathead Valley alpinist, and I were scaling the seldom-climbed North Face of Mount Wilbur in Glacier Park. Clark mentioned he dreamed of traveling to the Himalayan mountains of Nepal again to explore and climb a steeper, more technical mountain called Kusum Khanguru, standing just under 21,000 feet in the Khumbu region, south of Mount Everest.

Our fate decided itself here, and we agreed we would train, prep, and travel to Nepal in the spring to attempt the great snowy peak. Fast forward seven months, we were boarding a Boeing 737 en route to the largest mountains in the world. 

We arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, with five bulging duffel bags and personal backpacks filled with all the gear needed for a six-week trip in hopes of climbing a new route, alpine style, on Kusum Khanguru’s north side.

Working with a local logistics company based in Nepal, Clark had used in previous years while guiding Everest and Ama Dablam; Beyul Adventures provided logistical support and in-country planning to get us to basecamp below Kusum in the Kyashar Glacier Valley of the Khumbu. After a few days of duffel-shuffling our bags, we boarded a bus to reach Manthali, where a short flight would deposit us in Lukla, the starting point for all Khumbu expeditions. 

It was here we met our Khumbu team, our Sirdar Ang Pasang Sherpa, and porter Jaman, our companions for the next five weeks as we acclimatized on a trek through the Khumbu and eventually into base camp above the town of Monjo. We planned a 12- day trek off the main Everest basecamp route that would take us west of the fray until we reached the Renjo La Pass, where we would continue back down to Monjo, and eventually basecamp in the Kyashar Valley.

Excitement bubbled from the team as we sat and ate our first of many meals of Tibetan bread and lemon ginger tea in Lukla.

Mountains larger and more jagged than I could have ever imagined dotted the skyline, piercing the blue skies above from their 6,000-plus meter perches high above the Khumbu as we began our trek. 

The acclimatization plan was to travel from village to village, staying in lodges where we could rest and recover after a daily trek higher and higher, building a base to attempt the daunting Kusum that would be the highest elevation I’d ever tried to attain, just shy of 6,500 meters. 

We would travel four to five hours everyday with light bags as our porter team would do the heavy lifting and support us in hopes of being in the best possible position to attempt Kusum Khan. From Lukla we traveled to Phakding, a quaint village above the Dudh Koshi river, before reaching the famous Namche Bazaar the next day. We weaved up Namche hill across countless switchbacks to reach one of the largest towns in the Khumbu. The views from Namche were breathtaking as we peered into great valleys harboring majestic peaks of rock, ice, and snow. 

From Namche, we broke off from the main Everest BC trek and traveled to a much quieter region where we would stay in Thame, Lungdhen and eventually up and over the famous Renjo La Pass. We enjoyed the quiet days trekking through wide valleys where it seemed that Yaks outnumbered people. 

We moved consistently from one destination to the next but still made time to enjoy the incredible monasteries and viewpoints throughout the trek. Staring up at the Renjo La Pass, we couldn’t believe how well the trail was constructed as we moved higher and higher up the perfect rock steps to reach the pass at 17,585 feet. 

The views were immaculate and we stared right at Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu, three of the tallest mountains in the world. We sat and marveled at the stunning peaks in every direction before descending past Gokyo Lake and eventually reaching the town of Gokyo, nestled below Cho Oyu, another 8,000-meter peak.

Next week... the journey continues.