Tibetan Treks - Tibet - page 448

a spur marked by three cairns (5270m; N 29°43.973ʹ, E 090°29.869ʹ). It's a 45-minute
walk to here from Leten. The peak attached to this spur is called Damchen Nyingtri and
is holy to the god ruling the environs.
As per Buddhist tradition, stay to the left of the three cairns and descend sharply into a
narrow valley. As you look into the curved valley ahead you'll notice a round, bald, red
peak called Tamdrim Dora; the main trail you'll be following for the next hour or so keeps
to the right of that.
Once on the valley bottom, stay on the west side of the stream and strike out north (up
the valley). In 15 minutes a side-stream enters from the west: keep following the main
north branch. In another 10 minutes you'll see O-Lha peak, the prominent jagged mountain
to the northeast. Walk up the widening valley through arctic-like mounds of tundra for 40
minutes, following a minor trail. Then, as the valley floor veers west, look for a cairn
(5310m; N 29°45.631ʹ, E 090°29.813ʹ) on the opposite bank of the stream.
Using this cairn as a marker, bear northwest over an inclined plain. This plain parallels
the valley floor before the two merge. Continue ascending as the plain opens wider in the
direction of the pass. The Lasar-la (5400m; N 29°46.165ʹ, E 090°29.600ʹ) is a broad gap
at the highest point in the plain, and is only heralded by small cairns and few prayer flags.
(A separate pass to the northwest, the Tigu-la, also descends towards Yangpachen, but this
is not the route described here.)
From the Lasar-la the descent is gradual. A faint trail can be found on the east side of
the stream that forms below the pass. About 30 minutes from the pass the trail passes a de-
cent camp site, just before descending into a short gully. A side valley joins from the right,
offering fine views of the back side of O-Lha. When this side-stream joins the main
stream, cross over to the west side of the main watercourse. The way to the valley bottom
is now much steeper but the broad slopes make walking relatively easy. In 20 minutes
you'll reach the valley floor. There are many possible camp sites along this next stretch, as
well as views of the snowcapped Nyenchen Tanglha Range to the north. Gravitate to the
west side of the valley.
The valley is covered with hummocks, but a trail avoids the ups and downs of these
mounds of turf and earth. About 60 minutes along the valley bottom, just past a large cor-
ral, you meet a large westward bend in the valley. If water levels are high, you should ford
the river here and continue on the north side of the valley. In early summer when water
levels are lower you can simply follow the valley as it bends to the west and ford the river
further downstream.