10 Oktang-SBC
A 22-day Teahouse Trek from Sukhetar to Kanchenjunga S-BC and then via SeleLa pass to Kanchenjunga N-BC and back to Taplejung in Eastern Nepal.
Trek Day - 10 Trek from Ramche to Oktang (S-BC) and back to Ramche and then Tseram/Cheram
As we climb the lateral Moraine along the Yalung Glacier (on Right) the massive Kanchenjunga South face appears brightly sunlit (7:45AM)
You can see the View Point with prayer flags up ahead ... still some 500M ahead.
Trek Day - 10 Ramche to Oktang (S-BC) & back to Tseram (via Ramche)
On 24th Oct 2015 - We left Ramche Teahouse at 6:00AM with a small back pack. It was freezing cold outside and my fingers were getting cold & numb and was tough to grip the trekking-poles; even though was wearing woollen gloves!
It was early dawn as we set out to Kanchenjunga South Base Camp
Reaching the Prayer Flags and Kanchenjunga South Face .. at 7:45AM
The terrain for the walk was not difficult; as the climb was very gradual. We reached the Moraine Ridge with Prayer Flags and Cairns of S-BC in just 2 hours, at around 8:00AM.
The churn and mess of the Yalung Glacier was awesome and just to the right of the view-point facing North. The huge South face of Kanchenjunga was "in our face" right in front! The morning sun lit up all of it in bright 'white' snow reflected light. No clouds to obstruct any part of the view.
That's me .. happy to have reached here .. at Kanchenjunga SBC
I took many pictures. Too Many! Only a few are shown here. See all of it in the link given below. Mt Jannu was to the left and so only partly visible from here; we were deep down at Glacier level and the left-side was walled out by the mountain side to the left of us. A whole lot of snow peaks were also seen when we looked south from here.
Again the Peaks (RtoL) Kanchenjunga-S, Central & Main from Oktang-SBC ridge and the Yalung Glacier below to the right
We started return trek at around 8:30AM. We were back in Ramche Teahouse by 10:00AM Had Thukpa for Lunch and settle the Ramche Bill. We were overcharged by the Teahouse guy here; their charges seemed atrociously high, even for the American Guys in our group. Anyway we paid and left after some cribbing.
A last look East .. Ramche Teahouse and the Rathong peak
We started at 11:30AM for Tseram and arrived there by 2:30PM. Again we walked through some lovely forests of Rhododendrons.
Tomorrow is the most exciting trek day of all. Because we are going to climb up to the high pass, at Sele-La and then after 1 night stay there on top in a Basic Teahouse, descend into the other parallel valley, at Ghunsa Village, to join the Trail to North BC of Kanchenjunga. Hope it goes well.
Album of all Pics of Trek Day -10:
Our Day-wise trek details are in the sub-page links in box below:
Rightmost to Left - Kanchenjunga-South, Central and Main
The huge turmoil and churn of Yalung Glacier behind me
From beyond the Prayer Flags ... and looking back South towards the way we came ... and the snow peaks there
We are now reaching back to the Ramche Teahouse .. at 10:00AM
Walking back down to Tseram after lunch at Ramche
Back at the Tseram Teahouse
Itinerary :
A 22-Day Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek - first to South Base Camp (Oktang) and then to North Base Camp (Pang-Pema) via the SeleLa pass crossover .... as per following schedule:
7-10th Oct 2015 Kathmandu - Preparation, Purchases and Permits
11th Oct 2015 Bus Kathmandu to Birtamode
12th Oct 2015 Bus Birtamode to Taplejung
13-14th Oct 2015 Rest Days in Taplejung
Day-1 Thu 15th Oct > Taplejung - Sukhetar - Kunjari
Day-2 Fri 16th Oct > Kunjari - Yanglang
Day-3 Sat 17th Oct > Yangland - Mamanakhe
Day-4 Sun 18th Oct > Mamankhe - Yamphudin (Sherpagaon)
Day-5 Mon 19th Oct > Yamphudin - Lasiya Bhanjyang
Day-6 Tue 20th Oct > Lasiya Bhanjyang - Tortong
Day-7 Wed 21st Oct > Tortong - Cheram (Tseram)
Day-8 Thu 22nd Oct > Acclimitization Day in Cheram
Day-9 Fri 23rd Oct > Cheram - Ramche
Day-10 Sat 24th Oct > Ramche - Oktang (South-BC) - Ramche
Day-11 Sun 25th Oct > Ramche - Selela Camp
Day-12 Mon 26th Oct > Selela Camp - Gunsa
Day-13 Tue 27th Oct > Gunsa - Rest Day
Day-14 Wed 28th Oct > Gunsa - Kangabachen
Day-15 Thu 29th Oct > Kangbachen - Lohnak
Day-16 Fri 30th Oct > Lohnak - Kangabachen (PangPema-NBC skipped due to bad weather)
Day-17 Sat 31st Oct > Kangabachen - Gunsa
Day-18 Sun 1st Nov > Gunsa - Thangyani
Day-19 Mon 2nd Nov > Thangyani - Sukhetham
Day-20 Tue 3rd Nov > Sukhetham - Chiruwa
Day-21 Wed 4th Nov > Chiruwa - Gadi Danda
Day-22 Thu 5th Nov > Gadi Danda - Taplejung
6th Nov 2015 Bus Taplejung to Kakarbitta
7th Nov 2015 Rest Day in Kakarbitta
8th Nov 2015 Kakarbitta - Bagdogra Airport (and flight home)