Yangle Kharka > Makalu Basecamp > Yangle Kharka

An Homage to the Porters

We said goodbye to some of the coolest porters we had met, Mingma and Nupu. Mingma, in his gold boots, the true Nepali woodsman. Nupu, the unstoppable, always moving and forging ahead to find the next section of trail. They both wore their gold rubber boots up snowy mountains without socks, started fires with wet wood during snowstorms, slept under rock slabs without a tent, grabbed metal pots with bare hands straight from the flames, and honed a Khukori to clear jungle paths and construct tools along the way. We watched as Mingma made a tumpline (a strap placed on the forehead) in a matter of minutes, slicing bamboo into thin strands and weaving it with Nupu so they could more easily carry their loads. Another time making a spear just in case we came across an aggressive bear.

No adventure in Nepal, whether climbing or trekking, would happen without porters. They are much more than just the muscle carrying loads. Their humble, kind and caring nature makes the porter’s role more akin to steward’s of the trail and the people that walk it.

The hike from Yangle Kharka (~11,600ft) to Langmale (~14,500ft) was a treat compared to our last month of backpacking. Not only could we actually see the trail, but in only 4.5 hours we were at our next location. Tom joined one of the porters and went hunting for Yarsagumba.

By now the yellow rhododendrons were starting to bloom and the sun was shining. It was one of the first mornings in over a week where we got to put on dry socks and shoes.

We passed the sacred fertility rock that resembles the womb. Our friend Gombu told us that many women who are having trouble conceiving will come and pray here and then will become pregnant. We managed to walk past it without conception.

Our first night in Langmale was a dorm sleeping arrangement. We were lucky because no one in our group is much of a snorer. Unfortunately a lot of smoke seeped in from the kitchen below creating an acrid airspace. The smoky environment is the norm for locals but often leaves us feeling a decline in our respiratory health.

The two of us were craving some exploration on our rest day so we hiked up to 15,500 ft to check out Langmale Glacier Lake. This glacier lake was the site of a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in 2017. Large rockfall from a nearby peak precipitated an avalanche throwing large chunks of glacier into the lake. The waves from the lake washed over the moraine into the valley moving giant boulders and scouring the land between Langmale and Yangle Kharka. This sort of incident is among the most common and worrisome results of climate change in the Himalaya.

We spent 3 nights at Langmale resting our legs and getting ready for the big crux over Sherpani Col and West Col. We received our second load of gear which contained 5 days of backpacking food and all of our mountaineering supplies. And… we finally got to send down our hefty snowshoes we’d been carrying around for the last couple weeks! They created an extra challenge when we were bush whacking through bamboo and rhododendron forests. A friend Gombu found us 3 porters to help us over the high passes to Chukung then he headed down the trail with the gear we no longer needed.

We left Langmale and headed to Makalu Basecamp (~16,000ft) which was another gorgeous 4.5 hours hike. We stopped off at another glacier lake that sat just below the stunning Peak 7. One of the areas many holy mountains.

Tom was feeling well but Sarah was more stuffy than normal and sneezing a lot. As we hiked further up in elevation she was accompanied by an ear ache and more sinus pressure. By the time we got to Makalu it was clear she was coming down with the crud. When we were at the previous location, Yangle Kharka, the large group of British trekkers informed us that some were having cold/flu-like symptoms. So we had some concerns that Sarah was coming down with the same.

During our stay at Makalu Base Camp we were taken great care of by a nice young couple. We referred to them as the Lakpa’s, as both husband and wife had the same first name. Lakpa Kipa was the daughter of Pemba who owned the guest house. Pemba also owned the guest house in Langmale and cared for us there. The young Lakpa couple spoke great English and were so helpful during our time at the base camp. They did everything they could to help Sarah feel better and helped us with some troubles among the porters. Due to our prolonged stay the porters had a little too much time on their hands. The Chyaang (rice beer) was flowing and one particular porter didn’t handle his alcohol very well. In his drunken stupor he really wanted to make sure our group knew he had experience on our next section. He was such an overly kind drunk but his mumbling and literal charades got to the point where we could no longer entertain him anymore. The Lakpa’s helped us many times as we walked him back to his sleeping quarters and to help us get the other porters to watch him. There was a large community of porters living at the basecamp supporting climbers on Makalu, so the partying had tempted the porters that came up with us. They had also received a down payment for their work so they were flush with funds. Not all porters are alike in this regard.

Sarah spent day 2 at basecamp sick in bed eating noodle and broth soup. The kind Lakpa family heated a bowl of hot water to make a steam bath of Vicks Vapor to inhale. They even made some Nepali healing tea: ginger with some salt.

We took an extra rest day and things seemed to be on the mend. Sarah mastered the backpacker’s neti pot which wasn’t easy. (We boiled filtered water for 10 minutes to be sure it was clean then added salt). She consumed many garlic broths and more ginger tea. Our experienced guide friend, Matt, was concerned. He had been helicoptered out in the past when the crud turned to pneumonia after continuing up in altitude which eventually lead to an 8 day hospital stay in Kathmandu. “There is no recovery at altitude” he would always say. Our plan was to try going to Swiss Base Camp, up another 1500 ft in elevation, the following day to see how Sarah was feeling. But after another sleepless night the sickness got worse and moved into the lungs. Breathing at 16,000ft became challenging and the decision was made.

We had to make the heart breaking choice to skip the Sherpani Col section of the high route and head back down to Yangla Kharka. Which felt extra difficult after all the training, rappelling, and ice climbing we had done prior to the trip. Matt called this sickness the Khumbu Cough, and insisted it would probably go on for 3-4 more days and that going down was the wisest choice we had ever made. So in sickness and in health, the two of us headed down back to Yangle and got ready for a new twist in our itinerary.

We said goodbye as the other 3 went up and we went down. The hike down took about 6.5 hours and the second half was accompanied by rain, then hail, and a 2 inch covering of slush to walk through. A rough day when you are sick but getting to breathe at 11,000 feet again felt like sea level. We both decided that for some divine reason unbeknownst to us, we weren’t meant to do the Sherpani Col section this time. After discussing with the group before parting ways we made a plan to meet back back up in Namche 10 days later.

After 2 days at Yangle Kharka we received a note from one of the porters that accompanied our friends. It said that one of our teammates was very ill and was helicoptered out to Kathmandu and the rest of the team flew out after. He was accompanied by Sangita, a Nepali girl who we had met when we initially got back to Yangle Kharka. She was able to explain a little more about his condition and illness in better English. Instead of jeeping to Lukla we knew we would likely need to jeep to Tumlingtar, and then fly to Kathmandu. We had a local phone Mike had lent us but there was no service this far into the mountains to contact our group. The following day we would start the 3 day trek back out the typical Makalu trekking route to Num.