Life is not about getting to a certain place. Life is a path. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
Rumbles of a wet spring and snowy passes have
created grave concerns for our yak men. They see the risk (and cost) of losing a yak on the
snow-covered glacier on the south face of the Guring-la as extreme. This morning, we learn the
result of yesterday's five-hour recon and subsequent consultation with the yak men: Crossing the snowy, high pass is too dangerous. Gary and the team have assessed three possible alternative crossings to the Guring-la: One is discounted because it is only for people, a second has been discounted because only herders with animals headed for slaughter (no pack animals) may cross, that leaves a third pass, which we understand (from local herders) pack animals can cross. It's our new destination. The Sha-shing pass, which we think will be around 18,000 feet.
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| Looking back on Camp Five from the start of today's hike |
Throughout the day today as we hike and explore the high pass valley above Camp Five, Dharma and the senior yak man for our trek set about investigating the conditions of the proposed alternative crossing for navigability and camp establishment. Diverted off the known Guring-la crossing, our prospect now is to cross back over the Nyenchen Tanglha Range on a pass unseen by anyone on our trek (guides, yak men and crew included) other than on a map! And a word about maps for Tibet:
"Good topographical maps for trekking are still difficult to obtain for all but the most popular trek areas of Tibet, such as the Everest and Kailash Regions. The best available maps of Tibet continue to be the 1:200,000 Russian series (blogger's note: from the 1970s) , but they are in Cyrillic, not English! . . . China has produced excellent 1:50,000 topographic maps of Tibet and China, but these are highly classified document printed in Chinese and nearly impossible to obtain." Trekking Tibet: a traveler's guide, Gary McCue, 3rd ed (2010).
Impressed so far by Gary's in-country expertise, trekking knowledge, calm leadership and overall experience -- at this point more than any other, I really "get" his absolute value. When we signed up for this trek, we signed just about every conceivable disclaimer (joking that if anything did happen to us, no one would ever know given our willingness to excuse every related support mechanism of almost any liability). Having nudged our itinerary a tad here and there to make it work, now we were going off the rails. And we all agree, "In Gary we trust, trek on!"
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| Hiking toward snowy mountains |
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| Glacial stream |
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| Freewheeling across the tundra |
So while Dharma and the yak lead investigated alternative routes throughout the day, Gary, Cliff, Karl and I went on a six-hour high valley exploration up to about 16,200 feet.
These high plateau adventures are what I most want to recall about Tibet when I
close my eyes and reminisce in the future: Frosted glacial streams, sedge grass
neatly pruned by grazing yaks, the fleeting glimpse of a Himalayan sand fox, snow-covered peaks towering the high plateau, the breathlessness of trekking at
altitude, pika dodging and dashing to their burrows and prayer flags roaring in
the wind —sending wishes and blessings into the atmosphere.
It's a done deal: Despite our final four training months’ of nightly toasts to the Guring La (ooh la la) while in Santa Fe, Tibet is
rightfully reminding us it is the journey, not the destination that reveals the
greatest treasures. We are committed to not missing a single present moment on
this journey. Ah so so so . . .
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| Washed my hair yesterday . . . can't do a thing with it (ha!) |
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