Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The trail is clear and easy to follow. In 10 minutes it crosses to the east side of the val-
ley. There are rocks popping up out of the water but these may be slippery and it's safer to
get your feet wet. Within half an hour the trail crosses the river four more times, breaking
out of the gorge at the last ford and landing on the east side of the valley.
The valley is now a little more open and the west slopes quite heavily forested. The trail
remains in the valley bottom or along the east edge of the slope. There are a number of
places to camp provided they are not already occupied by the drokpa shepherds. In two or
2½ hours, reaching the treeline, the trail skips over stones to the west side of the valley
(4790m; N 30°34.662ʹ, E 91°02.350ʹ). There are a number of excellent camp sites in the
vicinity.
Stage 2: Treeline to Kyang Do
8-9 hours / 25km / 540m ascent/490m descent
About 20 minutes up the valley springs gush out of the base of a cliff. In 200m the trail re-
turns to the east side of the valley where it remains until the pass crossing. There are good
camp sites on both sides of the stream ford. Now the valley becomes more sinuous and
somewhat steeper. The trail enters the tundra zone and becomes faint in places. Stay in the
valley floor and head upstream. After around 45 minutes enter a long, wide section of the
valley gravitating towards its east flank. You will need at least 1½ hours to trek over this
stretch of the valley. High peaks of the Nyenchen Tanglha Range tower above your line of
travel.
Above this point you're not likely to find any more drokpa camps until well after the
Kyang-la, but there are quite a few places to set up your tent should you decide to tarry in
the flower-spangled meadows. Further up the valley narrows a little and becomes steeper.
The trail is still near the east edge of the valley but hardly visible in places. In 1½ hours
ascend the broad shelf east of the valley. It's only about 10m higher than the valley floor.
In the vicinity the Kyang-chu forks: the larger branch flows down from the southwest ori-
ginating in a group of dark-coloured rocky peaks. The smaller branch cascades down from
the pass in the northwest. This is the last place to collect water until after the pass. Parallel-
ing the smaller branch of the stream the trail heads in a northwest and then westerly direc-
tion to meet the Kyang-la's base (5240m; N 30°37.522ʹ, E 090°58.080ʹ) in about 45
minutes.
Climb up to a higher and narrower bench continuing in a westerly direction. The way is
moderately steep. Soon a line of brown cairns comes into view. These cairns mark the
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