Kang Yatse 2 & Stok Kangri Trek

Today, we fly from Delhi to reach Leh by afternoon, and checkin to our hotel. All of a sudden when you take in the cool dry air of Ladakh, your body won't not conform to the new changed environment, that too in only couple of hours !!

Staying hydrated is the key to a successful trek in Ladakh. Drink enough water from the previous night itself, and not after landing on Ladakh. Likewise, have a Vaseline convenient to apply to your nostrils to keep it moist, else you will feel the air is excessively dry and cold making it difficult to inhale comfortably.

We rest for the rest of the day and meet in the evening for a light Snacks and a formal Team Introduction where we share few important information on the trek preparation and planning.

Time for Dinner to catch some more sleep.

Today we spend our day visiting places around Leh and acclimatizing further. Leh is at very high altitude and this day is very important for us. We visit places like Leh Palace, Chemo Monastery, Shanti Stupa, etc.

Each of these places can be hiked to and its the best for us to do, if we are not feeling exhausted. If we do, we need to take some light walks in the town itself for some window shopping. Leh has some good shops selling trekking gears. So you can do some last moment purchases.

Evening we will visit the monastery of Shanti Stupa to seek some peaceful aura around it.

Tomorrow we start the trek. Hence we recheck that we are all set for it. Do the last moment purchases, repack our bag according to the trek requirement, have dinner and sleep early.

Today we start early morning to drive till Chilling. The bridge to cross the river is broken by the recent flood and hence you get to cross the river in an interesting rope trolley. I bet if if have not done it before, adventure begins right away!

All your trek stuffs and equipment are transferred in the similar fashion. Once you cross the river, the horses are loaded and then we are set to start our trek to Markha Valley. Today, we camp at Skiu – A 3 hour easy trek on mostly flat trail with occasional short ascends and descend.

The trek route is very interesting and the landscape is very fascinating and unique. Sudden appearance of few green patches on the otherwise barren, creamy mountain adds a unique contrast to the scenery. Sightings of few wild animals and locals enhances the day. Our campsite is defined and we after some 3- 4 hours, we reach our campsite.

Waking up to a wonderful morning in Skiu, today we trek to the village of Markha. An easy trek with almost a flat walks on most part of the trail, with occasional short ascents and descends like yesterday's.

The views throughout are breathtaking. Watch out for the different and unique rockscapes and structures of the mountains formed by wind and water erosion. With our previous experiences, we tried to tickle our imagination with the illusions created by these unique structures and strongly supported our conclusions of what they looked like -  ‘trunks of elephant’, ‘doorway to a very old tomb’, 'dinosaurs', etc. Its an interesting game to play which keeps us engaged with the mountains continuously and it goes unrealized when we reach our campsite.

Markha is a very beautiful campsite. The campsite is designated on a flat meadow with the a stream flowing by. Do take time out in the evening to visit an old monastery nearby.

The trek to Thochungtse goes via Hankar from Markha. It a beautiful trek and takes about 4 - 5 hours. The route to Hankar is mostly flat with occasional ups and downs. Soon, we  get a glimpse of Kang Yatse which fills us with excitement. After about 3 hours of trek we reach the beautiful village of Hankar with few houses, lots of greens and the massif of Kang Yatse looks over it. Its a perfect picturesque setting. Its a good idea to spend some time here and have our lunch here.

After leaving Hankar behind, the terrain changes immediately with no mentionable greens to be seen further. The route is jaw-dropping with unique structures of the mountains and the rocks. Here its very easy to spot blue sheep and ibex, snow leopards too !!

A walk of some 2 - 3 hours brings us to a small grassy plains which is the designated campsite of Thochungtse. 

In the evening, we will climb the nearby mountain for acclimatization. While it is a acclimatization walk, but climbing up the mountain greets us to a stupendous views of our pea in focus - Kang Yatse, and also other nearby peaks and the platue of Nimaling

Starting the trek from Thochungtse, we climb a mountain hump straight ahead of us. At that altitude, it does take some time, but once done, enjoy up-close views of Kang Yatse. A huge massif, overwhelming us with its presence. Also, the very thought that we will be approaching the to the base of it further adds to our spirit.

After a hour from Thochungtse, we reach a small lake where we rest and watch the reflection of Kang Yatse on the water surface. Its from here, the route splits and one goes to Kang Yatse base camp and the other one descends to Nimaling. We take a right and head to the base camp of Kang Yatse. It takes us about 2 hours from here to reach the base camp.

Rest and acclimatization day. Prepare for summit tomorrow.

Today is the day for us as we attempt it just past midnight at around 1 AM and aim to reach the top at dawn. All these days we had been walking slowly, when we could have walked faster, just for this day. We have ensured that we enjoy as much without being bothered about climbing this peak just because we wanted to climb it.  

Overall, it’s a challenging day right from the beginning and we try to beat it. To be able to be on top, is a feeling inexpressible. The route climbs towards your right straight up initially over a scree zone and then follows a steep climb on snow to take us to the summit. From the summit, witness all round views of peaks as far as that of East Karakoram, and the surrounding peaks of Kang Yatse.

We descend down from the summit in time, and it requires some safe steps. We need to be careful while coming down. If energy allows, we can descend down to Nimaling and camp there, else we camp in Base Camp itself.

Today we initially climb the small hill which divides Nimaling and the Base Camp, and then quickly descend down to Nimaling.

From Nimaling, we start climbing the switch backs to the top of Kongmaru La (Gongmaru La) – 5130m, a high pass with wonderful views all round. Climbing through multiple switch backs takes us to the summit of Kongmaru La in an hour or a little more, marked with lots of prayer flags furling with the wind. Spend some good time here to relish the views all round.

After crossing the pass, it’s a steep descend down the beautiful Markha gorge. The views and the trail passes down following the narrow Markha gorge and is unbelievable unless you trek it. A sharp descend from the pass top gets us to Lartsa. From there, a trek of some 3 - 4 hours will bring you to the campsite of Chuskirmo. If we havent used the reserved day, we will camp here. Else, we move put some more effort and walk for another couple of hours towards Shang Sumdo, from where we board our cab to Leh

Rest or washing day in Leh/p>

Today we take the nice little drive to the Stok Village and then hit the trail towards Monkormo and Stok Base Camp following the Stok Chu. Its a flat easy walk to Monkormo and then a gradual climb to the bade camp

Today is THE DAY for us. We will attempt the Stok Kangri summit today. We start our long testing day to the summit post midnight around 1 AM in order to reach the summit on sunrise. All our previous day's efforts and acclimatization walks will be tested and brought into use today.

The route climbs up straight to the top of the hill we climbed previous day, and from there is descends to the glacier. A small crevasse can be negotiated with a slight jump, although in the dark, you should stay alert and together with the team. After you jump the crevasse and traverse the glacier, your next bid is to climb to the ridge leading to the summit of Stok Kangri. Never-ending switch backs follows and the high altitude makes it very slow.

Once you reach the ridge, the day might dawn. From the ridge, the trek to the summit is straight forward, although you need to be careful. After a continuous push of some 6 hours, you reach the top. of Stok Kangri. Standing there, you will realize, all the pain was worth taking to be where you are !!

While climbing is important, descending safely is more important. Descend usually is quite faster and you loose altitude very quick. We come back to the base camp and celebrate.

If time and energy allows, we descend down to Monkorma to rest for the night.