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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. |
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 that's 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.
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A look
back towards Stok Village and the Indus Valley
from the first pass. |
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. |
Blue
Sheep betweed Chang Ma and Mankarmo. The
rams have impressive horns.
Incredible climbers!
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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 serious stomach illness. |
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 climbing
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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| Two
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. |
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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