log 4

Thursday 22 October

It was a pretty cold morning, so I had all layers on apart from my down jacket - I was saving that for the really cold times.

We left Tangnag at 07.45 for the short walk further up the valley to the next camp at Dig Kharka - the short distance would give us a chance to do an afternoon walk higher up & then return back down to the overnight camp - a useful method of acclimatisation. As we set off a helicopter arrived to evacuate a Swedish trekker - the first of several we saw the same day.

The walk started through the braided outflow of glaciers, which had spread rocks right across the flat valley floor. We then climbed up the side of the huge moraine which had once dammed the lake Sabai Tsho shown on the map. However this lake had disappeared, having drained when it broke through the moraine dam, and causing the erosion we had seen downstream. The ground was covered with dried up dwarf shrub, which gave off a heady sage/rosemary smell when trodden on.

As we climbed up we had the first sight of the glacier we would have to climb up to reach the pass below Mera Peak, the Mera La; we could even spot part of the trail - it looked formidable.

The trail we followed was only a narrow path, and even that we left to pick our way through boulders to cross the valley and the river to our camp site tucked on the edge of the valley floor.

We reached the camp site at around 10.00 and were eating lunch by 11.00. During lunch we heard that a second member of our group, Noel, was going to have to be evacuated as he was suffering from chest pains. He prepared to trek back to Tangnag with one of the sherpas, where a helicopter would pick him up.

After lunch we walked up the moraine behind the camp site, climbing around 230m before sitting on rocks to admire the views all around, including Mera Peak.

Trying out our climbing skills

Walking up to Dig Kharka

Back at the camp site the sherpas had set up some fixed ropes, so that we could practice using the jumars (ascenders) going up, and abseiling to get back down. The porters, who had made their home under a huge rock above the camp, looked on with amusement.

The temperature dropped like a stone once the sun dropped behind the mountains - we were at an altitude of 4,700m after all - and for the first time I put on my down jacket for dinner. Dinner was another typical one with small portions of a variety of items: momos, rice, noodles, tough meat slices, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms and sauce. Once again dessert was warm tinned fruit salad. By the end of the meal, when the rum and chocolates were being passed around, the condensation on the inside of the tent roof was freezing.

Biri, the chief cook, checks the kitchen equipment

Friday 23 October

We had a lazy start, as the walk to the next camp at Khare was very short; in fact we didn't start until the sun had risen over the camp and starting to melt the ice on boulders in the stream we had to cross first. The walk was taken very slowly - altitude already having an impact - but we still arrived by 10.00.

The village of Khare is effectively the base camp for climbing Mera Peak. It is spread over a series of stone-faced terraces with a number of single storey stone buildings allowing plenty of space for teams to camp and facilities for the cook teams. But the village was crowded with groups - there are 24 Iranians in one group, the small Dutch and Czech groups we met earlier, two Frenchmen with their guide (one their way back) and others I didn't get to meet. George was busy talking to teams that were on their way down, and we heard that none of the 20+ who attempted Mera Peak today had made it due to high winds.

Crossing the stream above the camp site

Delphiniums still flowering in the shelter of rocks

After an early lunch we set of for another acclimatisation walk up the moraine behind the camp to an altitude of just over 5,200m.
The views all round were fabulous: down on a seriously ablated glacier; and up towards Mera Peak. We could pick out groups heading up to the high camp, and much lower down we spotted a small avalanche.

During the day we had seen a variety of birds: snow-cocks, stream chat, and best of all a Lammergeier. We also saw some small edelweiss and pale blue delphiniums that looked all the world as though they had been made from thin tissue paper

With clear skies it became cold again and the sun set in a pink glow. In the crowded village it was very noisy - obviously some groups were celebrating - so it took some time to get to sleep.

Khare village and camps, with Mera La in the background

Sunset and a sickle moon from Khare

Saturday 24 October

Climbing out of Khare

We left Khare at the relatively late time of 08.00 and I was wearing my expensive mountain boots for the first time - more to have an extra chance to wear them in than actually needing them - in fact Tony was still wearing his skimpy trainers, as his walk-in boots had fallen apart days ago.

We climbed steeply up the moraine leading to the Mera glacier, with an increasing amount of snow between the boulders.

On our third rest stop we had reached the hard-packed snow. It was fairly steep and slippery, but not deemed hard enough to put our crampons on - and the porters didn't seem to be having difficulty. The gradient leveled off at an altitude of around 5,400m, and we had the longest flat stretch of the trek so far to reach the col of Mera La at 5415m. We could see groups ahead of us either ascending or descending the trail in the snow to or from Mera Peak. I was not out of breath after the climb, but my head did feel slightly odd and with a slight headache.

Stopping only to watch an eagle soar over the pass we dropped rapidly over the east side to our base camp about 130m below the col. Part-way down we were met by the cook-boys bringing us hot lemon squash.

The porters set off up the Mera glacier

Camp site at Mera La

The camp site was just a rocky gravelly waste with the tents held up by boulders. It was sunny, but there was a chill wind coming down from the glacier.
Lunch, at 12.00, was a welcome noodle soup, followed by pancakes, spam, curried corn and lentils.

The afternoon was mainly spent resting, but there was a certain amount of sorting out to be done - preparing the climbing equipment and packing a small amount of clothes for the high camp - and leaving a maximum amount of kit packed for our return in two days time.

Dinner was preceded by spicy papadoms and prawn crackers - a treat that occurred every three days or so. T o bed early - tomorrow is significantly up!

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