MONTS-VALIN SNOWSHOEING Hut to Hut, March 21 to 25, 2019

 

 View towards St. Lawrence River from Lookout on Monts-Valin

A winter wonderful weekend in Monts-Valin Quebec, a national park near Saguenay, a 6-hour drive from Cornwall to Saguenay.  We left Thursday, stayed at the Auberge Cenre Ville in Saguenay, then the next day we drove a half hour to the park, registered, then headed off to the hut.  That morning it was raining but soon, as we ascended the rain turned to snow and eventually stopped.  We arrived at our first hut Ulysse.  We started the fire in the woodstove and settled into our little cabin for the night.  The hut could fit 8 people, 2 rooms with bunkbeds, 4 people in each room.  The hut was so well insulated, it was like a sauna and I was swetting through the night form the heat, by early morning I was cooling down but never had to cover up and slept in my underwear.  The next day we broke trail to our next hut Le Pionnier, about 4 km away.  There was so much drift of snow from the wind pushing the snow.  There was a sketchy section where the trail was buried and we traversed along a steep bank, sliding slightly on our snowshoes from the angle.  We arrived at Le Pionnier in plenty of time to settle in, have a late lunch, scout around and then finally go to bed early, shortly after sunset at 7:10pm.  Our next morning we were greeted with a blizzard, blowing snow.  We thought we would have to break trail again but fortunately, we were starting early enough that the accumulation of snow hadn't settled yet and the trail was still broken out from the group the day before of 15 people heading back to the centre.   We hiked back 8 km to the center and from there we drove to the same Auberge we stayed at on the way here.  We had a great drive home in the sunshine and were back in Cornwall by mid afternoon.

ANNAPURNA TREK NEPAL October 2018

 

The Annapurna Trek is another favourite alongside Everest Base Camp and Kilimanjaro.  This trek delivered breathtaking scenery, ever changing landscape, a wide range of temperatures, and meeting lots of local people and their children along the way.  We had a guide and two porters looking out for us making sure we had suitable accommodations and meals.  

We hiked over 100 km making our way from Khudi to Jomson, with a flight back to Pokhora and our wild bus ride back to Kathmandu on a crowded bus.  Our total trip was about three weeks, from landing in Kathmandu, our trek, then returning to Kathmandu to fly home.  Our first day we spent touring sites within Thamel, the downtown core of Kathmandu.  The day we started our trek, we boarded a local bus to travel a full day's journey to our trailhead at Khudi.  Along the way, the bus would stop to pick up people and there was no limit to the number that boarded, to a point where we were so squashed that viewing out the windows was minimal.  It was mid-afternoon when we started our hike to our first lodge for the night.  It was like a motel where the door opens out into the yard; turning right from our room, we walked a few yards to the dining lounge and next to it was the outhouse.  We enjoyed a good meal, then off to bed for a good night's sleep.  The next day we hiked to Syamje, a small village, and each day we made our way to another village, Tal, Timang, Chame, Lower Pisang.  While at Lower Pisang, were able to visit Upper Pisang for a great view of Lower Pisang and the surrounding mountains and visit a monastery high on a hill.  The next day we made our way to Manang where we would spend two nights, for acclimatizing.  We were now making our way to Tilicho Base Camp for the night.  Very early the next morning, the guide and myself made our way to Tilicho Lake and back to base camp where we met up with our group and continued on to Kangsar for the night.  The next day we hiked to Yak Karka and the following day to Thorong Phedi for a short night stay as the next morning at 4am we got up to have breakfast and start our hike across Thorang La the highest pass in Nepal, over 17,000 feet.  It was cold but we warmed up as the sun came up.  Everyone moved slowly as we made our way and finally we came to the pass, endowed with prayer flags.  We enjoyed a few moments there, taking pictures and looking around, then we continued down to Muktinath where we would spend the night.  Our legs at this point were very tired and the relief and excitement of having come this far made our sleep more sound.  The next day we would hiked through a wind storm of sand and dust towards Jomson where we spent our last night on the trek before flying out to Pokhara.  In Pokhara, we enjoyed touring around the city and enjoying the sights and celebrating our accomplishment.  The next day we boarded the bus to take us back to Kathmandu.  It was truly a spectacular journey.

Our lunch during our bus ride to Khudi

The start of our trek

Making our way higher to the next lodge

Arriving at Tal for the night

Our lodging at Timang

Our lodge at Chame

The kitchen at our lodge in Lower Pisang

The staircase to and from Upper Pisang

Our view along the way to Manang

Our rest day in Manang at our lodge

The Village of Manang down below

Footbridge along the route to Tilicho Lake Base Camp

Spectacular and scary trail along the route to base camp

At beautiful and calm Tilicho Lake elevation 16,000 feet

  

Making our way back to base camp from Tilicho Lake

Our gang at Thorong La Pass

Enjoying good food and beer in Pokhara

Our hotel room in Pokhara

One of many beautiful scenes in Pokhara

CANADA's 150th BIRTHDAY FLAG ON THE ROOF OF AFRICA in November 2017

At the summit of Kilimanjaro, Africa

It was a cool night as we inched our way up through the night for the final stretch to Uhuru Peak, highest point on Kilimanjaro.  Our pace was slow so that we had the best chance of reaching the summit due to its elevation rising to 19,341 feet.  It was a dark night with a sky illuminated with stars.  As I looked back down the mountain, I could see the procession of head lights dotting the landscape as it curved its way up the mountain.  It was a moment that caused me to reflect on the journey that lead to this point.

The idea of climbing Kilimanjaro was a distant dream, never realized although thought about.  A very special friend, who had dreams herself and pursued them, made it possible for ten of us to realize this journey as she had done on many occasions for others.  On the computer she went, investigating various treks, routes, time frames and chose a company we traveled with before and the date was set.  As it would be the year of Canada's 150th birthday, the timing was perfect to carry the Canadian flag to the summit.  There we would proudly display the celebration flag of Canada's 150th birthday.  Now our mission was to do our best in reaching the top and to fly this special flag in honour of Canada and all Canadians.

It didn't take long for our group to grow to ten people of various experiences, shapes and sizes, and personalities.  The mountain does not discriminate but welcomes everyone to try.  Over the year leading up to our departure, we prepared ourselves not only physically but mentally, some of us more than others and hopefully it was enough to complete the climb.  As we would be entering an area where we would be affected by altitude, diet and Malaria, it was important that we have all the necessary medication to ward off diseases, circulate blood effectively and allow us to digest a steady diet of carbs.  There was a lot learning to do, in understanding better our own bodies and taming the thoughts of anxiety and self-doubt.

We arrived in Moshi, Tanzania, a day later after two long flights and time change.  That night, we were happy to arrive at our hotel, Stella Maris.  Moshi is the closest town to the trailhead.  The following day, we met with our guide who informed us of what to expect, weather, clothing, gear and checked with us to make sure we had sufficiently prepared and if not, would provide us with what we were missing.  The following day, we climbed into a van with our guide and drove a short distance through little communities, past coffee and banana plantations to our starting point at Machame Gate.  It was a Sunday so many of the villagers were making their way by foot alongside the road to their church, dressed in their best outfits, some carrying their books.  As we pulled in past the gate, we saw lines and lines of porters filling the area as they inched their way to the weighing dock.  Here each porter's load was weighed so that all, no matter what shape or size, weighed the same.  They carried their load mostly on their head but also used their shoulders and neck to support a load between their pack and head.  They are amazing people and certainly made our journey much easier.  While this was happening, we made our way to a shelter where we could have lunch.  As there were numerous outfitters with groups, it took a long time to get going but finally our porters, all 29 of them just for us 10 people, were on their way which allowed us to start hiking. 

We passed through five ecological zones.  Starting from the bushlands, we hiked through the rainforest, entering the moorlands, known as lower alpine where we would camp for our first night, approximately 9,000 feet.  Each day brought us higher into the alpine dessert or high alpine, where there was no vegetation in sight, only rocks, dust and colder temperatures.  The last zone would be the apex or the artic, more familiar as the summit.

Each day, we slowly made our way, about a kilometre an hour, allowing our bodies to adapt to the altitude.  At 15,000 feet most of us were being affected one way or another, nausea, headache, sluggishness, vomiting.  Even taking the diamox for altitude did not ensure your well being.  Altitude was either your friend or foe and it determined whether you will summit or not in the best of conditions.

The landscape at times, allowed us to see quite a distance, however, determining distance was very subjective and what appeared close was not close at all.  We were approaching one campsite which appeared like a straight line to it but as we moved closer, we started to descend steeply, sliding at times due to the loose gravel and sand.  Down and down we went, about a thousand feet only to come back up again a thousand feet to arrive at our campsite.  It was our fifth day on the trail when we arrived early that day to camp.  That night we would start for the summit.  Crowds and crowds of people dotted the landscape as we jammed into our site within this small area for tents.   Here we would have lunch, go to bed, get up again for supper, then back to bed only to get up finally to eat a small snack before we started.  It was 11pm when we slowly continued our way up the mountain, steeper now and dark, only the stars and our headlamps illuminating the way.  The wind picked up, some of us had to stop to pee, put on another layer, one had to change his batteries in his headlamp.  All this added to the cold, the slow pace, no sun, energy dwindling.  We moved as if in a trance.  Our bodies moved but our minds wanted to sleep.  I could feel my eyes wanting to close, easily falling asleep as I inched forward up the mountain.  One lady collapsed for the same reason, falling asleep.  Others were being brought down, porter on either side of them, bracing them to get them down the mountain where they could breathe in more oxygen and recover.  One gal was stumbling all over the place like a drunk, tripping on the rocks going slower and slower.  Slowly through the night we were getting closer to the summit. The sky was starting to lighten.  Dawn was approaching and I could see the thin line of light at the horizon.  Yes, the sun would soon rise and warm us.  

The sun was shining brightly when we reached the junction called Stella Point at 9am.  Here we had a well-earned break.  The heat of the sun was quickly warming us up as we ate our snack and drank water.  Water consumption was key in maintaining a healthy oxygen level in our bodies.  It was recommended we drink at least four litres a day.  I could only manage about three litres, if that.  All ten of us made it to Stella Point but only eight of us would continue.  One was suffering from a seriously low level of oxygen, about 69 percent and had been vomiting.  The other person was also having signs of altitude sickness with stumbling and no energy.  Fortunately, we had several of our porters with us to help us in these circumstances, so we could continue and the others could descend.  

The landscape was stunning with its massive glaciers in the distance near the summit.  The path was very easy but laborious as our bodies were tired.  Suddenly, I could hear the music of ABBA playing the song "I had a Dream" coming from behind me.  It was our lead guide who played it on his cell phone.  I felt so elated, like I was floating at this point, joyful, happy.  Tears were welling up in my eyes.  This was the culmination of this entire journey.  We stayed about 20 minutes at the summit, taking pictures, everyone posing and having different shots with different people.  I remembered to pull out the flags I was carrying in my pack, one being the Cornwall flag and the other Canada's 150th flag.  We all came together around the flag and had our picture taken.  It was a special moment.  The sun was shining brightly with a temperature of about –15 Celsius.  Around the mountain was a sea o f clouds, the undercast.  The youngest girl in our group was asthmatic and was experiencing a piercing pain poking into one of her lungs but hid it well with her smile; others had piercing headaches and my dear friend and I had adapted to the altitude and were not affected.  Nevertheless, it was time to go down although I wanted to linger longer but we still had a long way to go to our next camp, 7,000 feet lower and 14 kilometres further.  We had summited at 10:00 am and now needed to get safely to our next camp.  Coming down the mountain was actually fun, sliding through sand at times and loose gravel, yet not so kind to the knees, breaking constantly.  The remaining porters who waited for us back at camp hiked up several kilometres to give us some mango juice which was well received.  Another touching moment of the care we received from our porters.

We finally arrived at our next camp for the night.  It was 6:00 pm.  Despite our exhaustion, we ate supper and happily went to bed.  The next day saw us out to Mweka Gate, completing the loop, up the Whiskey route and down the Coca Cola route.  There we had our final pose for a picture and climbed into our van to take us back to our hotel first stopping for a celebration lunch in an art garden.  It is here that we tried our first sip of unfiltered banana beer.  One sip is all I could handle.  That evening we all gathered together for supper.  I reflected on when we first arrived here; we could not see the mountain.  As if teasing, it only showed tiny glimpses, but now we could see the entire mountain in all its beauty with the sun going down ever changing the light on its shoulder.  If I take away any lesson from this journey, it would be that everything has its time, I just need to continue to make the effort.  Thank you Cathy Chumley with your travel company Beaches and Beyond for making this journey happen.