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Stok
Kangri (6120m) seen from Lehling Guesthouse in Leh,
India. This has
been mine and Dantes main target for a long time. |
11/7
2016: It takes less than one hour to cross the Indus
valley and reach Stok
Village
trekking point, 3600m. Here is usually a lot of movement with horses
and people, even if it seems pretty calm right now. |
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Just
a short bit into the mountains the first "pass" is reached, with maybe
a
60-70m climb. This can sound as very little, but we are on
3800m now,
and
thats a very different matter. If you have spent only 2 days
in Leh, as we have,
this is a fairly tough climb. Acclimatization takes
time. |
A look
back towards Stok Village and the Indus Valley from the first pass. |
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The
deeper into the mountains you get, the more spectacular the mountains
are. |
Well
this text has got a point. You meet people from all around the world in
here.
Just about everyone is very kind and it's easy to find new
friends. |
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The first campsite, Chang
Ma on 4030m. Here is a teatent where you can get
simple food and drink.
This is where we get our first setback. Our experience
of high altitude
from last summer will not apply this time. Just before Chang Ma,
Dante
feels bad of the high altitude and returns to Leh for the night. |
13/7
2016: So now we have jumped one day ahead, before we can
set off from
Chang Ma towards Mankarmo. This part of the trek starts with
a new
pass, about
100m climb, but a very beautiful place. |
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Blue
Sheep betweed Chang Ma and Mankarmo. The
rams have impressive
horns.
Incredible climbers! |
At Mankarmo camp,
4370m. My one man tent is in the foreground, Stok Kangri
in the
background (middle) Over the flag is Larsi Peak. Here comes our next
setback, more serious this time: I get stomach illness. |
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Blue sheep, normally quite shy, has come
into the campsite. The picture is
taken from my tent over Dantes. |
17/7
2016: What should have been one day in Mankarmo
became four. Finally I
feel strong enough to climb the final 600 altitude meters to
basecamp. After
loosing a lot of my energy we have now changed our main
target. If you are not
quite fit, do not try and climb Stok Kangri. It's not only
very demanding, it's even
truly dangerous. We are now looking at the lower Larsi Peak
instead. |
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Två
marmots having fun in their own way, with a boxing match. |
Stok
Kangri Basecamp at 4970m. Our plan was to get here in three days, we
needed seven. Our objective is now Larsi Peak
(5670m) instead of Stok
Kangri
(6120m), giving us a real chance of actually reaching our
goal.
To the left in this
picture is Golep Kangri 5950m. |
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Here
we get reminded of that you need to respect Stok
Kangri. The day before
we get here one man falls to his death up there.
We feel even more convinced
that we have made the right choice.
Of
all the people we have gotten to know these days, and they are many, the
majority never reached the summit. Good physical shape and
accimatization
is a must. |
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