Trip Reports

Kangchenjunga Circuit - October 2023 report

Pangpema, October 2023
Trip Report

Written by Leader Chris Groves (Chris Groves), November 2023

Well, where to start? By walking downhill obviously! After an internal flight to pretty much the Indian boarder and to what must be one of the lowest points in Nepal at 95m above sea level, followed by a bus journey up (and down and up again) through the foothills and tea plantations the trekking started with a morning descending. Then over the next seven days follows the valley upwards passing terraced fields of rice and millet, banana trees and cardamon crops. As the agriculture disappears the woodland takes over, the valley narrows, and the sides steepen. Somehow, each day consistently seems to be even more interesting that the last. Occasionally we glimpsed snowy peaks waiting for us higher up. Although there are small basic lodges we enjoyed camping outside, sliding into the trekking routine of 0600 wake up with bed tea, packing for before a 0700 breakfast then away by 0800. With no rush, a need to acclimatise slowly and lots to see and photograph the pace was relatively slow with plenty of rests, better for us and allowed our staff to get ahead meaning tents were up and our bags were waiting for us when we arrived in camp.

Ghunsa, 3400m is a sherpa village surrounded by steep hills, a great place to have two nights to further help us adjust to the higher altitude although the overnight frost came as shock after a week in shorts & t-shirts. Our reward, a trip to the bakery for nice coffee and cakes plus evenings in a lodge next to a warm stove. Leaving the village through stunning larch woodland more and more higher peaks came into view. Now above 4000m the trees no longer survive, the valley widens, and we get our first proper look at Jannu, a peak that is just as stunning / photographic as Ama Dablam. Due to the jump in altitude another acclimatation day, staying 2 nights at Kambachen, is taken so we took a morning trip up to Jannu BC for an even better view.

Continuing up the valley, passing more yaks than people another stunning peak, Chang Himal comes into view and dominates the righthand side of the valley all the way up to Pangpema, Kangchenjunga North BC where the 8586m giant is finally revealed. Although not the best night’s sleep camping at 5100m, the reward of a perfectly clear and still morning resulted in lots of photographs before a leisurely trip back down the valley to lunch at our previous camp before a long afternoon back to Kambachen. Then back to the comforts of Ghunsa for a well-earned day off and more cake.

The second half kicks off with a wonderful climb up through a dense forest to gain a ridge with views both up and back down the valley with our trails visible for a couple of days in both directions. A newly constructed trail traverses upwards high on the hillside crossing the Sele La, 4400m with views to Makalu before a short descent to camp, our attack point for the big day ahead tomorrow.

Surprisingly, with a long way to go we didn’t need an earlier than normal start. After 20mins we got the sunshine then 90mins later the first col, 4625m, was reached with stunning views over to Everest, Makalu and even Mera. Lots more photos before another 90mins to the second col, 4650m and lunch sheltering from a cool wind. The third col, 4700m was reached after another 45mins to reveal the Kabru peaks of the Yalung valley before the long and leg aching descent Tseram, 3900m.

Having taken our time on the Northern side the team made great progress up to Ramche for lunch before pressing on the Oktang and a view of the southern aspect of Kangchenjunga. As on the north side the summit remained hidden until the last minute. With almost perfect timing just after we arrived at the view point the summit clouded over and we had a few snow flurries. After an overnight, probably our coldest, at Ramche back to Tserum for lunch then a long-wet afternoon down to Torontan, back in the woods the team had a new member, a dog! (Un)fortunately, the camping spots were taken by another group, so we ended up with an unexpected night in a t-house. The third big day in row saw us descending to cross the river before climbing up and over the Lasiya Bhanjyang. Another really different woodland hid the huge landslide until just before the top and the crossing point. Thankfully the trail was good underfoot although exposed with views down to the river far below.

Leaving the high mountains behind us, that afternoon was spent descending to warmer climes, a great campsite with a small shop but also some rather large spiders. Our last few days trekking retained interest, passing through villages with more and more agriculture. Progress is coming, though with new roads being cut and a large hydro scheme under construction. Thankfully, the old trail is still there so we had only short sections walking on the wider jeep track before leaving it completely and re-joining spectacular trails that seemed to barely cling to the hillside high above the valley floor.

As a perfect mirror to the first day, the last morning was uphill, finishing with a final camp on a school playing field. Although we didn’t realise straight away as the spot was surrounded by trees and a short distance downhill form the school. After setting out kit to dry a quick explore found shops and the tarmac road that would eventually lead us back down the lowlands.

This is quite a long trip, but time never drags with everyday consistently more enjoyable than the last. Even retracing our steps on a couple days was pleasurable as the views were different. We were lucky with the weather and having access to lodge dining rooms and a warm stove most evenings. We were also very fortunate to have Mingma in charge working constantly to make this such a successful trip assisted by Phurba and the ever-smiling Passang. Somehow the food on trek in Nepal seems to get better with every trip so another huge thanks to cook Nara and his team

Kangchenjunga might be the headline mountain and it’s great to visit both sides but Jannu, Chang Himal and the Kabru range maybe because they’re more visible more of the time were more memorable. Both valleys are much quieter than the Khumbu but will only get busier as tourism develops. For an even more remote experience you may want to consider the Dhaulagiri circuit.

Final thanks to the team for not falling off the path, the chat, the cards, the quiz (well most of the questions!), the games and the laughs. It really was a pleasure. Hopefully catch up on the trail next time

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