Mid West Nepal - November 2015

31/10/15 - 18/11/15

Another great trek in the west of Nepal, organised and led by Jamie McGuinness of Project Himalaya.

View down the Musyang Khola from the Lurupya Pass

Summary

A trek from Simikot (in Humla) to Purano Mugu, following remote trails across high passes near the Tibetan border. From Mugu village we descended along the valley of the Mugu Nadi before following the trail towards Dolphu, and then taking an old trade route across yet more high passes to Jumla. For me, this was the second part of an extended 44-day trek from Darchula to Jumla.

Links to Photographs from this Trip

• Main photo collection on Flickr 
• Extra-wide panoramas on Google Photos
   

Trekking Route & Stats

Indicative Map

(click on map to see a larger version)

Passes (along the main route)

   -  Lurupya Pass (4665 m, lat. 29.92144°, long. 82.10041°)
   -  Chawarsing Valley to Takya Valley (5004 m, lat. 29.92735°, long. 82.48628°)
   -  Malung Lek (5209 m, lat. 29.48935°, long. 82.44981°)
   -  Kang Valley to Khare Valley (4989 m, lat. 29.44814°, long. 82.41737°)
   -  Nadai Danda (4453 m, lat. 29.3827°, long. 82.38214°)
  

Useful Maps
   -  NP110 Far West and NP109 Dolpo & Mugu (GHT-series) 1:150000 maps,
      published by Himalayan Map House (2013 edition, or more recent if available)
   -  Nepalese 1:50000 topographic maps
      (various sheets from the series - available from PAHAR )
 

A few more details ... (best read whilst viewing the photo collection on Flickr)

This trek begins in Simikot (note - that a permit is required for Simikot, which must be produced on arrival) and initially follows the main trail out of town to the south. Shortly after leaving the town, however, you need to branch off to the left onto the trail to Thehe village. Watch out for all the lammergeiers and vultures on this part of the trek. From Thehe village you ascend the valley of the Chuwa Khola to the last village of Dojam, where the valley splits (photo). This trek continues up the righthand valley, along the Lurupya Khola river. The trail goes up the true right-bank of the river (i.e. the left bank when viewed up the valley) but it is quite difficult to follow through the forest. Once above the treeline the trail becomes clearer (photo) - however, in preparation for crossing the Lurupya Pass, you now need to cross to the eastern side of the valley.
   
There is no real trail up to and over the Lurupya Pass and this side of the pass is shaded so may be covered by snow. Follow the bank of the Lurupya Khola until the silver-birch forest thins and you can see up to the pass (photo). Try and follow a stream bed up the side-valley (to avoid getting mired in the thick birch forest). Once above the tree line you should see a very big boulder in the middle of the valley. The pass itself is just to the left of a large "thumb" of rock at the head of the valley (see photo and additional comments). Once at the pass you have a great view down the Musyang Khola (photo).The initial descent is steep with loose rocks, but eventually you reach a beautiful meadow which is the only reasonable campsite (photo). The descent down the valley of the Musyang Khola, to its junction with the Take Khola / Loti Karnali Nadi, is along a narrow and difficult trail through thick forest. For most of the way the trail is on the lefthand side of the Musyang Khola, but it crosses the river via a log "bridge" to the right bank near the bottom. Eventually you arrive at the few houses which comprise Musyang (about 2 hours up the Loti Karnali valley from Nepka village).
 
Note - a much easier, but longer and perhaps less scenic, route from Simikot to Musyang would be to take the main trail down the Humla Karnali valley as far as Piplang, and then ascend up the valley of the Loti Karnali Nadi, passing through Nepka village.
 
From Musyang you are following a major trail up the beautiful valley of the Take Khola (photo) and you can relax and enjoy the views. However, at Takekharka (photo) the main trail branches off to the left, and eventually crosses the Kang La into Tibet, whilst this trek continues up the righthand valley.

Note - you would need to camp at Takekharka and have a full day if you wished to go up to the Kang La as a side excursion.

From Takekharka this trek heads eastwards up the Chawarsing Khola towards the border with Tibet, and the trail becomes much less clear. You should follow the river up towards the head of the valley (photo). At this point the valley bends sharply to the left and a faint trail heads up to another pass over to Tibet (photo) - do not go this way! Instead, when you get to the bend in the valley, head straight up the hillside to the right (photo). This takes you up to the ridge separating the Chawarsing Khola valley from the Takya Khola valley (photo). After an initial steep descent from the ridge, it is an easy walk down the valley of the Takya Khola to its junction with the Nangja Khola (the valley leading up from Mugu village to the Namja Bhanjyang). From here it is a very pleasant stroll down the major trail to Mugu village, passing through Purano Mugu (photo).

From Mugu village, with its new Buddharupa (photo), there is a major trail down-valley all the way to Gamgadhi. If you wish to continue walking, however, there are various options:

1. to cross into Upper Dolpo (with various possible routes)
2. to trek the old trade route to Jumla

For descriptions of the first option see the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) website. This blog describes the second option and the route we took back to Jumla.
 
After following the Mugu Karnali Nadi down towards Gamgadhi, we crossed the river above its junction with the Namlang Nadi, and took the trail (photo) ascending steadily to reach the delightful village of Kimri. From here, a good but long trail traverses the hillsides high above the Namlang Nadi through Karti (photo) and on towards Dolphu. Just before rounding the final spur en route to Dolphu village there is a small side trail on the right (photo, not marked on any maps) which plummets down into the valley, and leads to the bridge (photo) across the Namlang Nadi, just above its junction with the Raphu Khola. If you miss this path then head into Dolphu from where another trail descends to the same bridge.
 
From the bridge, a trail bears right and shortly crosses the Raphu Khola (little more than a stream) before ascending steeply up to the abandoned village of Wangri. The trail continues up the right bank (when looking upstream), through forest until you eventually emerge above the tree line. Shortly thereafter there is a short steep climb onto a flat pasture, marked by various cairns and chortens (photo), but if you are looking to camp it is better to continue over the next rise to another larger flat area (photo), nearer the head of the valley.
 
From here, there are two options. One trail ascends steeply up the eastern slopes of the valley (photo) to Jagannath Tal, across a pass of ca. 5100 m at (29.48340°, 82.48052°), and then descends down the valley of the Bhot Khola and further on to Matachaur - we did not investigate this option. Our route (crossing three passes) starts further up the Raphu Khola valley and ascends gradually up the western side of the valley to the first pass across the Malung Lek (ca. 5209 m).This has great views back to the east (photo) and there is an easy, albeit rocky, descent on the far side (photo). The valley on the far side of the pass descends in a westerly direction to join the Kang Khola. Make sure that you cross to the left bank of the stream before you head down the last slopes to the junction.
 
Note - it is possible that you could also reach this junction by trekking up the Puwa Khola / Kang Khola valley from Puwagau, but this is not certain.
 
Once at the junction, turn left and trek up the floor valley of the Kang Khola for 1-2 km (note - the path is incorrectly marked on the 1:50000 maps in this region). Then ascend the switchback trail up the slopes to the right. After a while it levels out and you will see a clear "notch" in the ridge ahead (photo) - this is the second pass (ca. 4989 m).

From this second pass there is a short steep section of descent (photo). After crossing a flattish plateau the trail descends and follows the Khare Khola (photo) around to a westerly direction. As you approach the junction with the valley of the Chanya Daha, which enters from the south, take the smaller path that branches off to the left, crossing the stream and traversing around into this valley. This leads up to the beautiful lake of Chanya Daha (photo). The trail continues up the hillside on the western side of the lake, passing another smaller lake, before reaching the first crest of the Nadai Danda (photo), where you can walk up the ridge to the right for excellent panoramic views. The trail crosses a second ridgeline before beginning the very long descent into the valley of the Mahari Khola (photo) and a pleasant walk-out to Jumla.
  

Pros and Cons of this Trek

Pros:

• Very few (if any) other trekkers after leaving Simikot
• Friendly and welcoming local people, with a variety of cultures
• Great variety of scenery (from alpine valleys to high ridges and passes)

Cons:

• No real path across the Lurupya Pass
• No beer worth drinking between Simikot and Jumla