Pansang La pass during the lockdown with Bungtang boys
I am very happy to share with you guys how I came about with this long-run project.
For the last 5 years, I have explored the trails in different seasons and remember the first time I went during the Lockdown to Singla Pass, Pangsangla Pass and the lower land Nuwakot, my village. It was so nice to hear the stories about the trails and I was always curious to know more about it and kept returning to this mountain ridges.
I was so excited when I decided to do a long-run adventure and try to create a link from Kathmandu but it was more challenging than I thought. I was not even sure how I could do it ? Should I go alone or ask someone to help me ? Luckily I found some friends who was equally happy to join my adventure.
First sunrise from Kakani
For the first 70km, I ran solo from Kathmandu leaving at 4 am through the Kakani Ridge and to Davighat the lowest elevation on this route, It was so hot, I kept climbing up to Dangsing, Larkev where my village is located, and on the other side, Sudeep and Prem where going to join with me at Samari Bhangjhyang for as far as they could keep moving.
Passing by a local house at Belkot, Nuwakot
Looking for a trail to Devighat, Trishuli river
I stopped for a few minutes in my valley to have food and say Namaste to all. They wanted me to stay a night but I kept from sharing what I was doing so I just changed the topic and kept running to meet my friends.
I arrived at 4 pm in Samari Bhangjhyang where I had already called my relatives to make some food for us to prepare for the long night hike. It is so nice to have friends in the night section, we had fun and chatted a lot and it was a good decision to have someone with me on this adventure.
At my village Dangsing, Nuwakot, Asha makes food for me
My relatives asked me to stay back for the day
Selfie at Samari bhangjhyang, Nuwakot
We kept speed hiking on the dirt road and some nice trails with our headlamp torches. The section between Meghang and Gonga Bhangjhyang is around 18km and the plan was not to stay overnight, even if we felt sleepy. The night section at Lamtapang was dark and we couldn't find the way to go near the village, we kept looking at the map and following the directions through the wild bushy trail. After a few hours, we started climbing to Gonga Bhangjhyang which was 105km and around 1 pm. When I already felt sleepy, we had a quick coffee break at Hela Gaang and I took a 50-second nap.
After a few hours, we suffered through climbing., We arrived in Gonga Bhangjhyang at 5am. We took a 1-hour power nap with hot food. It was so cold at that moment, we tried to do it as fast as we could to keep moving. I was suffering from blisters on my feet because my shoe was wet from the beginning of the run. I was expecting to do the whole route in the Nnormal shoe but it would not have worked so I had to get another pair, fortunately, Rakesh and Lakhpa were already planning to come from Kathmandu to support us.
The first night at Gonga bhangjhyang
Sunrise at Langtang, Lirung
Getting warm after an hour sleep
The first morning was good with warm weather and I started to feel more confident to do it, we had already seen the trails where we were going today, it would be 54km from Gonga Bhangjhyang to Syapru besi through the 4000m ridge line. We started with our backpacks at 7 am and needed to climb 900m to Singla Pass, hiking through the frozen trail and long alpine trees along with the amazing views. Prem started playing his playlist, we enjoyed listening to music and sharing stories about the route.
The time passed quickly. After 2 hours, we arrived in Rupchet Pang at 3800m elevation, the view from there was really beautiful, we stopped to have some food and coffee and pointing the place where we needed to go today. Our backpack was quite heavy because there were no tea houses open except at Somdang Valley so we needed to carry the food and water we needed.
A small coffee break at Rupchet Pang
Missing delicious food at the moment
Climbing up to Singla Pass was fast, we passed at 10 am, the route to Pangsang La Pass is 10km with a few technical trails and is a stunning place, we could see 360-degree mountain ranges and landscapes. This was my second time after COVID, I know the trails very well, there are a few meters up and down, and it is windy and cold, The route between the two passes along the ridge line trail is really hard, we were feeling so tired and getting slow because of the high elevation and little rest.
Finally, after 5 hours, we reached Pangsang La Pass at 3 pm, there was no one around at that place so we had to keep moving and search for water while going towards Somdang Valley following the dirt road. After a few kilometers, we stopped for a quick coffee break enjoying the evening light. I could even see where I started from Kakani Ridge, It almost felt like halfway to completing the loop and I felt so proud for doing this adventure.
Way to Pangsang La ridge line from Singla Pass
Windy and cold but the view of the Manaslu range is just amazing
We had also planned to run the upper part of the Lari trails. It goes over the Somdang Valley and is a nice trail above 4000m with amazing views, I was there in 2019 camping with my friends but it is a high-risk area. We felt like it would be late at night when we got to Somdang Valley if we went over the Lari Pass so we decided that the better plan was the dirt road, and maybe one day we will check out that pass.
Finally at Pangsang La Pass with Ganesh Himal range, So grateful to be here
We wrapped up our backpack and got ready for the second-night run, we aimed to reach Syapru besi at 800m by 10 pm so we started running, Prem was getting slow because he had a quite heavy backpack. So Sudeep and I both kept trying to push him, we were both still in good shape. We passed by many frozen waterfalls, trees, rivers, and trails, some places we couldn’t even walk, We kept an eye out at every step, and after 6km we saw Somdang village in a wide gorge valley. There were a few tea houses open but we didn’t stop. They asked us to stay but we kept moving. After 6km we climbed up to Kharpu Pass at 3900m and reached it at around 6 pm, we kept moving down to Ghatlang Valley. It was my first time on this trail, we kept trying to look where we were and follow the map route, The trail was messed up with landslides and big fallen trees after a thunderstorm. We were quiet and tired when we reached Ghatlang Valley and it was the hardest part of the trail. We even couldn’t recognize the village around there, it was around 8 pm when we reached Ghatlan. I felt so glad that we were in the village, and we tried to look for a shop and stop for a break but we couldn’t find it so we just kept moving. Rakesh and Lakpha were already in Syapru besi waiting for us. They were already there by 5 pm from Kathmandu. We were trying to move as fast as we could, We tried to keep making jokes and tease Prem. After a few kilometers, we started the last downhill to Shyphru best but it was a long steep downhill. When we reached there by noon Rakesh and Lakpha had made us an aid station, We had great hot food and warm sleep for 3 hours to get a power nap to push the next morning to Gosaikunda pass at 4500m, till now it was a total of 155km from Kathmandu. After 3 hours of power napping, the next early morning felt so nice, and with warm temperatures, we quickly changed our gears to get ready for a long day’s climb, but Prem had a problem with his knee so he decided to rest more and head back to Kathmandu.
Tibet side view from Thulo Syapru Besi
Now we can see all the ridges view from Gosaikunda at Langtang National Park
On this day, Sudeep and I were with Rakesh and Lakpha. We knew that we would be really tired and needed someone to look after us, that is why we asked them to join us and make the adventure fun. The plan is to cross the pass by the evening, take a power nap mid-way, and check out from the Shivapuri National Park by 5 pm the next day.
At that moment, I felt in quite good shape and feeling great that I could complete the loop but my muscles were tired too, after we crossed the river, we climbed to Thulo Syapru and stopped for a tea break, It was a nice view over the Langtang and Ghatlang valley, I could see, where we came from last night.
We started making jokes and fun, Lakpha started vlogging and taking videos of us and teasing each other, Lakpha is also a well-known trekking guide, he knows the local language too and it will be good for us to inform the tea houses where we need to rest during the night. After a few hours, we reached Chandanbari at 3200m had lunch, and kept moving up to Gosaikunda Lake, It was around 4 pm when we reached Gosaikunda, the weather was good and I could see all the ridges where I started, after few km, we stopped near the Lake to make a coffee and rest for a while for the last climb to Surya kunda pass at 4600m.
Here we go selfie at Gosaikunda Lake
Gosaikunda is also one of my favorite places, I have been to this place many times for training and fastpacking. After resting for a while, the sun started going down, and the temperature got cold and windy. The golden hour started. We put on our extra warm layers and hiked towards the pass, the trails were frozen. We took a few pictures on the way, the view from the pass was stunning. We tried to go fast on the downhill to Phedi, we knew during the winter there were only a few open tea houses, so we continued moving and we had done almost 80% of the loop I saw Sudeep was having problems with his feet and he also was getting tired. Sudeep has participated in many long-distance races but this was his first long run at 100 miles to test his limits, so he knew that it was gonna be tough for him, Sudeep has been guiding for many years and has good experience in the Himalayan and that was the reason why I asked him to join me.
Amazing landscape and mountain layers view from Surya Kunda Pass
Sudeep made his longest run 100 mile
At Surya Kunda Pass with cold temperature
The night started, we slowly took out our headlamps and figured out what food we had left for the night. Fortunately, Lakpha had enough food for us and we were already starting to get hungry so after a few turns, we stopped for a quick break at a shelter to make a hot soup. We tried to stop at some tea houses and ask them to make us a hot meal but they didn’t want to open for us because it was already late at night, so we thought it better to keep moving.
Yo man we got lots of food, Sudeep making soup
That night our target was to sleep at the Magingoth which is at 3500m. Lakpha had already informed them at the tea house that we were coming late at night, so we tried to reach as fast as we could and finally, after a long night run, we reached at 12:30 am. We felt grateful that the owner was still awake and waiting for us with a hot meal. We took a 2-hour nap but it was hard to sleep in the middle of the night because of the cold temperatures, our legs were tired and it was hard to stretch. I felt like resting more but the next day, we needed to reach the entrance to the National Park by 3 pm otherwise they wouldn't allow us into the Park. So after a power nap in the early morning, we kept running down to Kutumsang village, from Kutumsang to Chispani is 15 km so Sudeep and I were in rush mode to keep moving fast.
Searching for mobile network with the Kathmandu city lights
After, breakfast Rakesh needed to get to Kathmandu early, so he took a bus and the 3 of us kept following the trail. Now, Lakpha was getting slow and he was having knee pain, so he couldn't make it over the Shivapuri Peak. We told him to come slow and take the Sundarijal trail. We reached Chisapani by 1 pm, had something to drink, and got the ticket to enter Shivapuri National Park. We felt great that our timing was faster than we expected, Shivapuri Peak was the last climb so we wanted to complete the loop before it got dark. We kept pushing hard on the downhill and decided to not take the Gurje Bhangjhyang trail because it might be a problem if we can’t make it out during daylight, so we checked out from the park by 4:45 pm and completed the loop at Danda Gaou, Tokha side.
Above the clouds at Kutumsang
The local legend Lahkpa looking at the camera
The last 3km flat was amazing. Prem was waiting and cheering for us, we made the backyard Loop in 83 hours 26 min with a total of 7 hours 30 min sleep, and the total distance was 231km with 16321m elevation gain.
What an Adventure!
By Jeevan Lama
