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Part 3: ABC - Yalung Nong 6080m - ABC - Korzok

8/7 - 10/7 2017




 8/7: The frost covers my tent in the morning. We are at
 more than 5300m, basecamp (BC) at the  foot of Yalung  Nongs south peak. The night has been cold. We eat our  breakfast at 06:00 and then prepare for the  climb.
 Technically it's quite simple, but the altitude...
We need one hour to climb from 5300m to 5500m, not very fast. I do feel better now, but I'm worried that my energy
won't be enough for the tough climb. Hopefully I'm properly acclimatized, but I can feel loss of strength already. Dante looks strong though, I'm sure he will make it.
Up at 5700m almost 2h later. The lake Tso Moriri, our final target of the trek, is now visible. We climb with just 2 altitude meters per minute, increadibly slow! But, at this pace we can handle it! Even I start to feel a little optimistic. I haven't hit
the wall yet...



 Dramatic picture with towering cumuli clouds over Mentok  Peaks. The slope isn't very steep. The stones could have been
worse and harder to step on. But the climb is grim and
slow. Move one foot a bit forward. One more step... But
now we can see the summit plateau level out, just a bit overhead. We will get there.
As it's getting close to 12:00, we enter the summit plateau. From here it's just a big flat area with a slight inclination to the south peak. We are on a lower peak now, just above 6000m, looking south towards Tso Moriri.


 The route from this lower peak to the main summit is a
 little more than 1 km, with maybe a 70m climb, that
 actually takes a while.
A little after 12:00 we reach the summit. We needed about 5,5h to get here. We have moved very slowly all the way,
not to overload our bodies. I believe that was good tactics
.
Yalung Nongs northern peak is sometimes regarded as the main one. But several independent GPS measurments show that the northern peak is about 6063m, while the southern is about 6080m. Actually, it's clearly visible with the naked eye that the northern peak is a bit lower. To reach it you will first have to descend to about 5950m. For that reason we choose not to go there, especially since the views are best from the south peak.

 Looking to the northeast. Parts of Gyama Peaks, to the southwest. Mentok Peaks
 Zooming in to the southwest. We have been up here for one hour now, and it's time to
start thinking of the descent. Neither of us want to do that. Dante is taking it all in, before the inevitable descent.
Once started, we descend to BC in 1h 20 min.
9/7: Time to leave BC and descend to the village Korzok at Tso Moriri. The camp is being packed, while Dante and I start moving towards the final pass, Yalung Nyau La 5440m.



 At the pass after one hour. From here it's another 3h down
 to Korzok.
Moving down into the valley you can see the Mentok Peaks
up to the right. The highest peak reaches 6277m.
Now we have reached our final destination, Korzok at the lake Tso Moriri on about 4500m. Here is a look from the monastery.


 Straight to the south is Gya Peak, 6794m. Tibet starts  somewhere over there. The lake shows its very best side now. With a mirror blank surface it's hard to see where land ends and water begins. Behind the lake are two giants, Chamser Kangri
and Lungser Kangri, 6620m and 6666m.
I want to thank
Gesar Travel for skillfully making this trek a very
memorable one.


 All material: Copyright ©Mats Olsson