Walking with the Socially Inept!

14/11/2023 by Charles Masters in Wales Coast path | 2 Comments

Jeremy and I are once again meeting in a strange car park in the middle of Wales… (disclaimer no sheep were hurt on this walk)! The car park was in Blaenau Ffestiniog just a short distance from the campsite we will be using on Tuesday night. We’re repeating what we did last time. We’re leaving the tents pre-erected at a campsite halfway through the walk. Cheating… maybe, but neither of us cares!

As is so often the case with coastal walks, the tents are just a couple of kilometres from our starting point, that is if you don’t mind getting wet or worse and with a heavy rucksack on, even drowning! In the way is the Glaslyn and Dwyryd Estuaries. Not massive detours but enough to make that two or three kilometres, 20 odd kilometres! However, before we contemplate the estuary walk the luxury of a hotel in Portmerion awaits. I’m told by Carolynn that I’ve been there before, but for the life of me I can’t remember. I’m not going to go into the history of Portmerion here, except to say that it’s an eccentric’s folly made famous by the TV program ‘The Prisoner’. I’m sure that many historians will be jumping up and down at my short description of such an amazing place, but if you’re interested Google it.

After an incredible breakfast, surpassed only by our Bacon and Egg butty the following morning, we set off to our start point. The parking is actually on the beach, a very long shallow beach. So I’m a tad dubious at leaving the car there even though I parked it as high up the beach as possible. What was a little off putting was that the tidal line appeared to come very close to the rear wheels of my car! I walked away from the car wishing I had the faith that we would see it again.

The first stop was just 100m into the walk, a lady, of similar age to ourselves, walking her dogs. I don’t know what came over me but I started up a conversation. Jeremy was stunned, he was actually speechless, as we talked about the coast path and a number of other walk’s in far distant lands. I have no idea why or how the conversation started, all I know is that it actually felt quite satisfying! A one off, surely.

45 minutes later it happened again! A couple on a week’s holiday were looking out over the estuary, I was a few metres in front of Jeremy deciding whether or not to keep my poncho on or risk removing it only to have to stop a few metres further down the path when it threatened rain once again, when I came head to head with the aforementioned couple. Rather than putting my head down and mumbling an incoherent greeting as I passed them, which would have been normal for me, I stopped and started up a conversation. Not the usual conversation about the weather but a more meaningful one about the local history and the couples many trips to the area. Jeremy, although still a little aghast at my conversational prowess, managed to contribute and then finally to talk us into an exit strategy, which after 30 minutes was required if we were to get on the move properly.

The rest of the day was spent talking and walking as only two older gentlemen can. The talk was of past prowess, putting the world to rights and how hard it is being retired!!! Until one kilometre before the end of our walk, we passed an elderly gentleman on an e-Bike taking his dog for a walk and if my mouth didn’t open again, another 10 minutes of my life wasted with small talk… why I asked myself? 10 minutes later we passed him again on his return and if we didn’t then spend another 30 minutes chatting about his life in Wales after moving from Solihull!

Tent life, living life as nature intended, free from modern technology and all the trappings of modern life! Life doesn’t get any better, two old friends, relaxing in our tents thinking of… well actually a pub meal, rather than the dehydrated pulled pork cardboard I was about to cook for us. The pub won the day and did either of us feel guilty… absolutely not. We also used this time to go and fetch my car from its dubious position on the beach and took it to the end of the walk. It would save us negotiating the public transport the following day.

Breakfast was once again not one of my gourmet meals of dehydrated porridge but after a short walk was a bacon and egg cob from Spar! It was here that once again we were to meet one of those locals that can only be found in ‘Little Britain’, his name ‘Bomber’. Nothing unusual about that, a very respectful nickname, until you hear on how he got it. It’s not a question we asked but it was freely given, anyway…it seems that he was unable to control his bowel movements during his school days!!! He only went into the Spar shop to buy his daily paper, how we managed to attract his attention, I’ve no idea. I’ve come to the conclusion that Jeremy and I must have the type of faces that attract some very strange personalities.

We were walking on the outer rim of the second named storm of the season and the winds were beginning to increase, the sand was blowing low across the ground swirling over driftwood causing ripples of sand to gently advance like an on coming tidal wave. We were struggling to make headway, with our heads bent into the wind, and our hoods up as we slowly made our way up the beach. We were at this point, on a section of beach that both of us were looking forward to. A designated ‘naturist beach’. It seems that a storm in the middle of November isn’t necessarily the best time to ogle at middle aged nudists on a beach! We were, I have to say, a tad disappointed.

The end was in sight, so another section completed and the next one booked for February 2024!

Two Days in the Winter of our Lives

21/08/2023 by Charles Masters in Training | Leave a comment

Jeremy and I are once again at Welshpool Service Area on our way to do a further two days of the Wales Coast Path. I can’t resist mentioning the petrol station, even after six years of retirement. Have times changed since I retired, not a great deal. The Irish are still light years ahead in shop development but the UK are slowly catching up. There is however, a more worrying aspect of shoppers being asked to work free of charge for the big multi-national supermarkets and forecourt operators (oil companies own very few service stations these days, so I can’t blame them) and that is the onset of self-service checkouts. I appreciate that petrol stations and supermarkets took self service to a new level 50 or 60 years ago, but now they appear to be taking it to a level beyond reasonable. Asking the customer to not only fill their vehicle or trolley but to then put it through a checkout themselves, with some snotty 18 year old correcting any errors you make, which looking at the number of flashing red lights on the top of the tills is very frequent, and the 18 year old run’s from one red light to another, confused and bedraggled! Fast food outlets have gone the same way with screens that do all the ordering and payment. All interaction with people has gone… More importantly, does the customer get paid for being a cashier, obviously NOT… what’s next, whatever it is I’m sure AI will come into it somewhere!!!

I digress, which isn’t unusual, we meet there because it’s convenient and as much as I might slate companies like Mcdonald’s, their food is consistent and well priced. The weather forecast for the following couple of days has not been favourable so we decided to erect our tents in a campsite at the halfway point, rather than risking bivvying in the rain, which isn’t an overly pleasant experience. This meant paying for two nights when we were only sleeping there for one, but hey ho, we’re two well healed, retired gentlemen! We spent the first night at Aberdovey in the Dovey Inn, pleasant enough, except for accidentally sitting at one of the two tables reserved for locals, who obviously come down every evening for a pint or three. The stares were like daggers, I felt like a naughty schoolboy who’d just blown a spitball into the back of the teacher’s neck and then seeing the blur of a wooden chalkboard rubber heading toward me at high speed, and never quite being able to duck in time! The meal itself, well what can I say, it was like all chain pubs, adequate.

We’ve missed two days of the walk. Why? Because, as the bird flies it’s about 2km but the estuary dictates that to walk the path proper we’d have to walk one day up the estuary and then one day back, so 2km becomes nearly 50km, so we thought we’d leave it for another time. The start of the walk was 5km of golden beach walking, easy as the tide reseeded leaving the hard wet sand, solid beneath our feet. Jeremy and I spent the time discussing the serious issues of the day, running the country perfectly with socially aware capitalism, putting the world back to perfect temperature equilibrium but more importantly what exactly we identify as. As I don’t want to offend anyone I won’t tell you what our conclusions were, all I’ll tell you is that all official forms would revert to two answers to the question ‘Sex’, which of course would be ‘Yes please’ or No thank you’. Who, in the late 70’s would ever have dreamed that a Monty Python sketch on the steps of a Roman Amphitheatre would ever become reality… up the Judaean Peoples Front or was it the Peoples Front of Judah! Who cares, a bit like knowing what people identify as, really!

The day was overcast but dry and the coast path stayed along the beach into Tywyn and a stop for a very welcome cup of coffee. I’m growing to like these civilised walks with coffee stops, must be a sign of age! I do miss the mountains, though, and the sight of Cader Idris so tantalisingly close, with its summit popping in and out of the cloud was defiantly calling. This section of the coast path had its fair share of road walking, tough on the most experienced walker’s feet and Jeremy’s were already starting to get an elevation of skin filled with serous fluid (Common name… blister)! The road walking became a forest track as we moved away from the coast, inland and eventually dropped steeply in Llwyngwril and our campsite for the night. Our tents were there ready and waiting as were Two Pints of Lager and a Pork Pie, no packet of crisps, though!

Two pints of Lager and a Pork Pie, Please!

It seems that I’m destined to trespass, whether on purpose or by accident. I won’t go into the rights and wrongs of trespass and the right to roam, but that afternoon I left Jeremy fast asleep taking an afternoon nap that many people of his age seem to require! I went looking for a place to take some sunset photographs, for later in the day. I came across a gate that had a sign on it that read ‘No Access to the Beach’… that wasn’t a problem I had no intention of going to the beach. So I wandered through the gate, which was open, and crossed the railway into the field beyond. Someone suddenly started whistling, I’m not a dog, so I thought nothing of it and carried on my merry way. The whistling became more intense and I had a nagging feeling that the whistler was trying to get my attention, again, though, I thought I’m not a dog and I certainly do not answer to being whistled! The whistle turned into a shout and I felt that I had to at least turn and acknowledge the shout that I now knew was aimed at me. It seemed I was trespassing, and the whistler gesticulated that I should remove myself from the field. A sign that says ‘No Access to the Beach’ doesn’t mean private property, it means exactly what it says ‘No Access to the Beach’, the statement is in no way ambiguous and I had no doubt what it meant… I didn’t want ‘Access to the Beach’ I wanted a good spot to photograph the sunset. If I wanted ‘Access to the Beach’ I’d have followed the signs, that were plentiful, pointing the way to the beach. As you’ve probably gathered I was a tad annoyed, if it was private why not put a sign up saying ‘No Access Private Property’, I’d have happily obeyed, but it seems that a sign that says ‘No Access to the Beach’ meant ‘No Access at all’! As it happens I ended up following the plentiful signs to the beach and finding the perfect spot to photograph a very dull sunset… a clear sky makes for a very uninteresting scene.

Day two was not so controversial. We set off heading away from the coast, inland and into the low lying coastal hills only to return back to the coast and to a place frozen in time. A place that consisted of a single, linear street of one story buildings and a railway running down one side of the road, reminiscent of a mid west Prairie town in the US. Although, the population had carried on aging whilst the town had stood still. The young appeared old, decrepit, with faces resigned to a life of servitude and misery, whilst the old seemed content in their gnarled pitiful existence. It was, I have to say, a little creepy and disturbing. However, it’s here that we decided to take breakfast. One thing they did know was how to make an extremely good fried egg and bacon bap and with the yolks still running down our chins we hot footed it away from this town with no name.

Instead of continuing along the Wales Coast Path, over the tolled footbridge, we walked by the Fairbourne narrow gauge railway to its terminus and awaited the pedestrian ferry across the Mawddach Estuary to Abermaw. The first ferry of the day appeared ten minutes after our arrival. Jeremy had a captive audience, the poor ferryman couldn’t escape as a torrid of questions was aimed at him as we crossed the 200m of the estuary mouth, as always though in a very friendly and engaging way that few people are able to resist or resent. After such a hurried exit out of Hitchcock’s 1950s Fairbourne we savoured a caffeine break by the harbour at Abermaw, a place that couldn’t be more opposite, colourful, lively, and vibrant, as the Americans would say ‘Fairbourne, was the wrong side of the tracks’ or in this case, estuary!

From Abermaw it was another six or seven kilometres of road walking, which considerably aggravated Jeremy’s blisters and even I was wishing that the end would come. It did, of course, ending at a campsite, where I had had every intention of leaving the car. However, due to the horrendous weather forecast our plans had changed and we had arranged to take public transport back to the campsite where the car was waiting. Jeremy waited at the station whilst I went to get a couple of sugary drinks from the village ten minutes away. Of course on my return Jeremy was sat, boots off, talking to a complete stranger. The stranger was ex-military, he had done a couple of tours in Afghanistan and had been wounded, not severely, but enough to be discharged. He was extremely vocal about the economic refugees who risked their lives crossing the channel from mainland Europe, hoping for a better life in the UK. His solution, well, all I’ll say is, it wasn’t pleasant and would have reduced the world’s population, considerably. Maybe he was one of the throwbacks from Fairbourne?

We’ll return here in late October or early November, I’m assuming to the normal Autumnal weather that global warming seems to bring these days, i.e. unpredictable. Basically no change from the pre global warming days, probably just a little wetter and a little warmer.

24 Peak Challenge…

31/05/2023 by Charles Masters in 24 Peak Challenge and tagged 24 peak challenge, cumbria, lake district, lakes, Mountains, tranquility, walk, walking | 2 Comments

Uncharted territory! I’m a solitary beast by nature and in the other rooms of the Pele Tower there is the sound of music, pool balls bouncing off the cushions of a little mused pool table, drinking and laughter coming from the comunal litchen are. 14 people some strangers some friends from a spinning class at Braunstone Leisure Centre. I don’t mix easily, my own fault, so this five days will, certainly, initially, won’t be easy. Fear is a strange thing, they’ll be some of you that laugh at my inadequacies whilst I wonder at those that think mountaineering is for the insane! Dune and the litany of fear springs to mind.

Sharp Edge and Scales Tarn on Blencathra

I drove myself and a passanger to the Lakes. Martin, the passanger, closed his eyes and mumbled prayers for the three and a bit hours as we made our way to Blencathra, also known as Saddleback. A mountain that lies at the entrance to the Lakes and one my Father loved and many a first day was spent climbing to the summit via Sharp Edge. And today was to be no exception. A short sharp climb of 650m. We left Leicestershire under a blanket of drizzly grey cloud and a cool Easterly wind, which followed us until just north of Manchester. The cool Easterly wind warmed as it raced East across the Pennine summits towards the West Coast and the sun appeared as the cloud retreated. The temperature soared as we reached the North Eastern Lakeland fells. The climb up Blencathra was a hundred shades of greens with a dark blue unchanging background and the view of the high central peaks of the Lakes loomed larger and larger on the horizon with each step.

Martin and I joined the rest of the group in a wateringhole not too far from the Airbnb. After a quick pint we moved on to the accommodation, which is a section of Irton Hall called the Pele Tower. A rambling old section of the house converted into a five bedroom b&b sleeping 16 people. Anyone who’s good at maths will, I’m sure, calculate that there is therefore more than the usual two people to a room… interesting for a group who have never slept together before! Three rooms of four, one twin and one double! And only three bathrooms and two of those en-suites. Morning rituals could turn out to be very interesting! After saying all of that, what a fabulous place, spread over four floors, there was room for the sociable and unsociable, which was of course, me!

The Langdale Valley – The Start of the Challenge

Day one of the 24 Peak Challenge, ten peaks 27km but more importantly 2,143 metres (7,027 feet) of ascent. This is the most I’ve ever done in one day. As usual I won’t give you a blow by blow account, all I’ll say is that it was bloody hard. 14 started 6 finished! It appears that the over 50 club is still going strong, as all but one of the finishers were a member of that cliub. It was a hard brutal walk one that tested all of us. A walk I wouldn’t normally have attempted, too long, too much ascent and one that came very close to taking me past my enjoyment level and as I’ve always said why do it if you don’t enjoy it. Carolynn, when I spoke to her, reminded me it was a ‘challenge’, should a challenge mean that enjoyment is sacrificed? Day two is similar in length with slightly less ascent, so hopefully only a ten hour day and not 12. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy it, but it was close to going either way.

The Sun Setting on Pike of Stikle at the end of a very long day

We arrived back to whoop, whooping and applause, but most importantly food. Thank you to all those that prepared and cooked an amazing meal. The morning was ominous by the sound of the squaking peacock and nothing else, no clattering in the kitchen, no queue for the bathroom, just silence with the empty glasses, bear cans and bottles of wine a testimony to the late night of the previous evening. I slipped out with only seeing a couple of the group and headed back towards the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and the start of a walk up to Pavey Arc via Jacks Rake one of my Father’s favourite short walks. A short sharp scramble that traversses diagnoly across the vertical face of Pavey Arc and on to its summit.

It was decided that day two of the challenge should be started somewhat earlier! This meant a 5am wake up call and I have to say that by 6am the ten of us starting the walk were ready for the hour and a half’s drive to Glenridding. It’s never easy getting any group of people ready in good time never mind a large group. The numbers had dwindled Craig and Sam who bowed out fairly early on, on the first day were happy to stay at the accomodation and Danny had little or no sleep decided to attempt a monacomb of sleep whilst we were out walking. Ten started the walk.

A stunning morning, ideal as we headed up Birks and St Sunday Crag the first of our 16 peaks. Along the group lost four its memebers, one to a turned ankle and his help that went down with him. Tom wanted to reach the summit of Helvellyn and walk down Striding Edge (our route took us away from Striding Edge) for very much personal reasons and Hannah went along with him. As with the first day six of us finished, with four of us having done the whole 24 Peak Challenge.

It’s a long time sonce I’d been to the Lakes and done any serious walking, so to be given the oportunity by Neil, I’m very thankful for. It’s not a the kind of walk I would have normally chosen, the days were long and strenuous. It did, however, mean summiting many of the summits I did with my Father with the twice yearly trips to the Lakes that I did as a child with him and my sister, Helen. I’ll say at this point that my Mother very rarely came, she had more sense!

The from Glenridding Dodd, our final peak.

Wonderful four days and a great bunch… thank you for inviting me.

Fry’s Chocolate Mint Cream!

23/05/2023 by Charles Masters in Training | 1 Comment

Jeremy and I are once again on the Wales Coast Path, this time determined to bivvy, (one down from camping. It would be Carolynn’s worst nightmare)! If you remember last time our wild camp ended up being a camp with beer on tap, live football and a bed with an en-suite bathroom! What’s commonly known as a pub with b&b! Well for Jeremy that is roughing it. So this time our middle point is literally in the middle on nowhere, the nearest accommodation is 8km one way and the same the other. So this time there is no escaping a wild camp.

We started the walk at The Harbourmaster Hotel in Aberaeron with the understanding from the weather gods that the sun would appear after lunch with the promise of no rain and unusually the weather gods, were good to their word. I can’t in any shape or form write an interesting account of our first few kilometres. It was the walk Carolynn expected the South West Coast Path to be… flat, with the sound of the surf breaking repeatedly on the stone beach.

I was a tad worried that after just 100 metres into the walk Jeremy spent 10 minutes talking to a complete stranger, if this was what lay in store then we wouldn’t reach our goal until well after dark! Fortunately the next person he approached, a fisherman, gave him short thrift, which seemed to set the tone for the rest of the day!

In fact it wasn’t until after we’d spent lunch at a petrol station (no better place, I say) that he got his mojo back. We needed water for our wild bivvy and as we passed one of the many large static caravan parks we sidled in to surreptitiously steal water, but no need, Jeremy charmed a couple in letting us use their standpipe to fill up our water bottles… the subsequent intercourse between Jeremy and the couple gave me chance to have 40 winks!

I’m ashamed to say that for the first time ever, whilst wild camping I was moved on. We found a place to bivvy, flat, sheltered and with a perfect view. Unfortunately we were a little too close to what looked like a holiday cottage. Can I say in my defence the cottage was literally in the middle of nowhere. We looked it up on the internet and found it was for sale, being the nosey old buggers that we are and the fact that it looked empty we decided to take a look. Big mistake after looking in a couple of windows, Jeremy came eyeball to eyeball with, I would think a very startled man! But what a recovery, Jeremy asked the startled owner, very politely if we could bivvy in the place we had picked. Understandably, the owner, after being subjected to a man pressing his face up to his window and giving him the fright of his life, was very reluctant, even though he didn’t own the land we were on! But we thought it would be prudent to move, anyway, as we could both understand him being a little anxious about two complete strangers who’d probably frightened him somewhat. It meant that the perfect bivvy was replaced with a sloping field, surrounded by sheep that appeared never to go to sleep!

*Jeremy Eating one of my Gourmet Meals!*

After a fitful nights sleep, and a bivvy I don’t necessarily want to repeat, the sun eventually rose out of the hills behind us. The golden morning light it brought, raced down the hill towards the sea, bringing a beautiful yellow tint to everything as it passed. The flowers came alive, the grass glowed, but more importantly it brought two listless human beings to life! Breakfast was very similar to the evening meal, rehydrated porridge and blueberries… what can I say about it, well it was hot and to be honest, reasonably tasty, more importantly we had our first cup of tea… life just becomes worthwhile after that!

Today was somewhat more undulating than the previous day, the cliffs were steeper and the path more preciptous until we suddenly descended into the University town of Aberystwyth. A town I thought would be buzzing with students, but somehow seemed flat and muted, even grey and little dirty! The grandeur of the university buildings and sea front did not shine through and as we walked through even the sunlight couldn’t light up those old majestic buildings. We were in two minds whether to take the funicular railway up to Constitutional Hill, which mind won…??? The afternoon blurred into, what has become synonymous with coast paths… Nepali Flat! We walked into Borth mid afternoon. Wikipedia says that Borth is a village and seaside resort, I’m inclined to believe that it’s neither. It was, however at the end of our two day walk, and another section of the Wales Coast Path completed. The majority of these two days walk was along stunning clifftops, with beautiful hidden coves and beaches, but the major town and the walks end were disappointing, places that needed pride injecting back into their hearts. Borth especially was a village lost, with its linear seafront looking old and dejected. With its only redeeming feature being the 6km golden beach.

One thing you might be wondering is why did I call the post ‘Fry’s Chocolate Mint Cream’… well I bought a Fry’s Chocolate Cream and a Fry’s Chocolate Mint Cream. The Chocolate Cream was meant for Jeremy and the Mint Cream for myself, I’ll let you guess who ate the ‘Mint Cream’, but let me say now it wasn’t me! Not that I hold a grudge!

Popping of a Cherry!

29/01/2023 by Charles Masters in Wales Coast path and tagged long distance foot path, Mountains, peace, trail, tranquility, trek, wales, wales coast path, walk, walking | Leave a comment

Jeremy’s Cherry, not something I’d usually discuss on a public forum. But six months ago Jeremy, an old school friend, indicated that he’d like to be included if I did more of the Wales Coast Path. As many people have learned to their cost, if you suggest something to me that I want to do, then consider it booked!

So it all began on a cold damp Wednesday morning in January, probably not the best time of year to wild camp for the first time in your life, especially at 61. We started at Cardigan Bay a small town in South West Wales on a morning of mizzle (misty, drizzle), full of confidence of a 25km first day. A reasonable distance especially when you consider that Jeremy was carrying a 12 – 15kg pack, heavy for a novice.

The views were limited and the colours muted, a Wales I recognise from my many trips to Snowdonia, a Wales pictured in black & white. Artistic in its light and multiple shades of grey. To me beautiful as the different shades change continually as you walk from crest to crest. Jeremy also, appeared to take in the scenery with as much enthusiasm as me, which made a cynical, unsociable old git, like myself, enthuse even more.

Coastal paths, they’re flat, aren’t they? Sea level is sea level, it’s at the same height wherever you are? If I said that the SouthWest Coast path is equivalent to climbing Everest three times, you’ll get my drift that the path is by no means flat. So the first day was a baptism of fire with 898 metres of ascent. The accents and subsequent descents were not long but were numerous and steep! At no time did Jeremy complain, I knew he’d had enough near the end of our day as the light was fading from both his eyes and the sky and a wild camp site was not obvious. Me, I’m not a purest and as we walked into the village of Llangrannog the wild camp was the B&B at Pentre Inn! Perfect.

Day two was different again, clear blue sky’s with that wonderful crisp winter light. Our heavy packs were left behind at the Inn, to be picked up later, and just a light day pack carried. Jeremy’s feet were bloodied and painful with blisters, but he rose above the pain and had eyes that saw only the beauty that is the British Coast line. Today we met ‘people’, I don’t do ‘people’, but Jeremy found out the life story of every one we passed. We met the parents of the lad that worked behind the bar at the Pentre Inn, where we stayed the previous night. A woman who had come over from Australia and got stuck here during the Covid lockdown and married a local! I was enthralled to witness, an expert socialite at work and even I chipped in the conversation every now and again.

Today was shorter in distance but the ascents were greater and more frequent, so the day took longer and made longer still by the many sociable stops. We eventually wandered into Aberaeron the end of our walk, as the sun was setting and Jeremy’s ‘Walking Cherry’ was popped!

I hope to continue the path we’ve started together, it’s a long meandering walk past some of the most scenic coast line and mountains that Wales and Britain has to offer.

The Garden of Dreams

16/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | 2 Comments

Kathmandu is a bustling Capital City. The roads are a constant conveyor belt of, unusually, modern motor bikes and old battered dusty cars, vans and small trucks. Horns blast continually and traffic police man the main junctions, creating organised chaos from absolute chaos. There’s a layer of smog that sits over the city obscuring the white tipped Himalaya that shimmer in the distance. The city dwellers, which appear to be mainly twenty somethings, go about their daily business, anonymously behind black face masks. I don’t think the masks have anything to do with Covid, just poor air quality created by the constant traffic. Many of the streets are littered with rubbish, the paths are uneven and broken, there are building that have been left unfinished for what looks like years and electricity cables by the tens hanging aimlessly from over burdened electricity poles. Yet it’s a city I’ve come to love, it has more World Heritage Sites than anywhere in the world, it’s people are friendly and generous and amongst all of this lies The Garden of Dreams!

The garden sits on the edge of the main tourist area of Thamel. It’s a place that’s at odds with its immediate surroundings. You enter the gardens and the cities mayhem dies and only peace is left. There are blooms of every colour and greens of every shade and plants and trees of every type. It’s a place to relax and unwind, almost surreal, a place of someone’s imagination a place where Dillion and Florence would have felt right at home! I come here at the end of nearly every trip, it relaxes me ready for that journey back to reality.

Today the garden is full of beautiful people, late teenagers and twenty somethings. Phones in hand, facing inwards towards themselves, ignoring the vibrant real life colours of Mother Nature right in front of their eyes and instead looking at the over saturated colours and false filters that the selfie phone and the Silicon Valley programmers have concocted! They too, I’m sure have found their own peace in these gardens , as I have!

Oh to be old and cynical!!!

Some Boring Facts

14/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | 2 Comments

I’m sat in Himalayan Java in Kathmandu after another 11 hour Jeep ride from the foothills of the Himalaya. Himalayan Java is probably one of the most popular café’s in the tourist area of Kathmandu… most importantly for me it has the best coffee and cakes available. I’m killing time, not overly productive, but nice to sit and relax in such comfortable surroundings. The last two days up in Phaphlu were one of two extremes. The first day was an easy and enjoyable walk up to the Monastery Thuben Choling, a large complex clinging to the hillside, where I spent the night. The following day was a little unexpected. I assumed we would look around the Monastery then return the way we had come… but how wrong could I be! We walked up to the ridge 1,000m above us for one last look at the high Himalaya and then descended 1,800m back to Phaphlu. This was the longest walk I did and the the one with the most ascent and descent in one day!

It’s not very often that I look at the statistics that modern day technology can give you, but here are just a few from my five weeks away.

12,865 metres of ascent
9,389 metres of descent (the difference between ascent and descent was the helicopter ride from Baruntse Base Camp to Lukla)
175km walked
84 hours 32 minutes walked (including all stops and rest’s during the walk).
1.3km per hour, slowest pace, average for the day
4.1km per hour, fastest pace, average for the day
2.07km per hour average pace
29,591 kcal’s burned during the walks
6,161 metres, maximum height
-22 degrees, lowest temperature
26 degrees, highest temperature
£23, the average daily cost per wear of my high altitude boots since purchasing them in 2012!

Just a few facts, I very nearly put some clothing facts down, but decided too many of you would think I was a tramp… I have seriously thought about throwing some of the garments away! But I’ll see if Carolynn can resurrect them!

My thoughts are now turning to home…

Thoughts

11/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Training | 2 Comments

There are just a few days left of this trip. The one thing that has come out of it is that high altitude climbing is now in the past. Either my age is catching up with me or I’m just not suited to life above 6,500m. These type of trips also require more time away from home than I’m now willing or want to give and to be honest I just can’t stand not shaving for five weeks!

So what of the future? Well it looks like short treks such as the Torres del Paine ‘O’ route in South America or part of the Jordan Trail as well as, maybe, concentrating on wildlife photography shoots… but more importantly Carolynn and I getting away for short breaks around the UK and Europe.

Future intentions now laid down (yet to be discussed with Carolynn), what are my thoughts on this trip. I came to Nepal with the main aim being to summit Barunste a 7,129m peak in the Hunku Valley. I’m not going to go on about the journey being more important, as I’ve never believed that. The whole trip is important but, I’m going to say it again, I failed with the main aim of the trip. I have absolutely no problem with the word ‘failed’. It happens to most of us and it’s the lessons learned from failure that allow us to move forward. Whether that means a change in course or to try again. For me in this case, sensibility tells me a change of course is the way forward and I’ve come to the conclusion that I no longer wish to put myself mentally and physically through the punishment high altitude mountaineering puts me through. This was always going to be my last ‘expedition’ and not summiting, I can tell you, was a disappointment, but something I can live with and move on. Moving forward I’ll concentrate on trekking where instead of looking down, I’ll be craning my neck looking up enjoying the view and, just maybe, dreaming of the summits high above me!

One thing I’ve noticed since the last time I was here is that the Nepalis appear to be taking control of their tourist industry. The big foreign companies are still evident but don’t seem to dominate the market as they used to. Covid, of course, probably has had some influence on that, but I believe that they’ve realised the full worth of their tourist industry and how best for the locals to earn the maximum out of each Dollar spent. One thing that hadn’t changed is the amount of rubbish on the trails, towns and villages. There are token bins in villages, whether they ever get emptied looks unlikely. There is no comparison with Bhutan, where the locals seem to respect the countryside and very little litter is thrown away indiscriminately. However, expedition that have permits to summit any of the higher mountains have to lodge a $3,000 deposit, until they can prove that all items taken in to the mountain are returned, including all waste… a small step, but until the locals believe that it’s wrong to dispose of litter indiscriminately then the problem will remained. As always the Nepalis are friendly and with out fail are welcoming, they give without expecting anything in return and their smiles are always infectious and when someone smiles at you, you really can’t help but smile back, which is one of the reasons that I love Nepal and its people.

So that there remains no doubt, whatsoever, despite failing to summit Barunste I have thoroughly enjoyed this expedition. I came to Nepal to enjoy myself and that is exactly what I’ve done. I’ve looked on the mighty South West Face of Makalu at sunset and sunrise from Barunste’s West Col. Snuggled up in my down sleeping bag when the sun’s vanished behind the mountains and it’s been -20 degrees. Eaten freeze dried food that tastes somewhat like cardboard. Watched Everest and Lhotse grow ever bigger as I’ve walked up the Hunku Valley. Met the young intrepid explorers of the future as they stride the paths in absolute confidence with their big packs and small wallets. Met many OAP’s as they travel the world in the winter of their years, thinking that they are the intrepid explorers, as long as it’s in apparent luxury! Hopefully I look on all of these wonders without judgement of any sort as I’m just a moment in time to both Mother Nature and the people I meet.

Old & Gnarled

08/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | Leave a comment

Before you think that I’m talking about the author, let me just say he doesn’t look a day over 25! Today, however, is my last day of trekking out from Lukla. I have arrived at Pkaplu with three days spare. I have to admit I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do for three days here. Any more walking I do will just have to be local wanderings, maybe up to the monastery at Chiwang as there is a week of celebrations going on.

Old and Gnarled… it referred to the ancient forest we walked through. A very pleasant change from the steep valley crossing we’ve been doing. I did gain over 500m as we wandered along the ridge, it was a slow gain in height, nothing too strenuous. The forest showed the full cycle of life, the massive old, gnarled trees, the fallen rotting timber that was slowly decaying back into the ground, giving back what it had taken. It was a trail, where man had very little influence, with Mother Nature doing what she does best and the only sign of human intervention was the odd abandoned Yak shelter, that’s used for a couple of months in the high Summer.

After gaining height to 3,550m we descended fairly steeply to the Chiwang Monastery. It was a total contrast to villages we’d passed through. If I said it was clean, tidy and well looked after, I think that’d be doing the villages a very big injustice. Village life here is hard, with what appears to be subsistence farming as the main type of industry, with very little commercial farming or any commercial industry of any sort. The Monastery, though, was just spotless. All the visitors were in their Sunday best and proud of their appearance… does it take a religion to bring out the best in many people? I was going to be staying at the Monastery a couple of nights, but the lodgings were all full due to the festival, so we carried on down to the end of our trek out, Pkaplu and the thought of that 10 hour drive back to Kathmandu.

The trek out of Lukla has been a wonderful revelation to me. Seeing young people traveling without guides, experiencing Nepal first hand, rather than being mollycoddled, like me, by a guide and porters. I will say at this point, I like being mollycoddled, I’m at an age where the thought of there being ‘no room at the inn’ at the end of the day doesn’t appeal. But to see these young people, with their bulging rucksacks and their upbeat attitudes reminds me of my hitchhiking days, where I took a ride, never sure where I’d end up, as the moto was always ‘never refuse a ride’. That seems like a lifetime away now. There are a few trekking groups here, but very few compared to the area above Lukla. I feel a brief explanation is necessary as to why Lukla is the point where the intrepid youngsters and trekking groups converge. Lukla has an airport originally put foreword by Sir Edmund Hillary to give easier access to the Everest region. To fly into Lukla is not overly cheap, whereas to to take a Jeep to the end of the road at Phaplu then walk in, is probably a quarter of the cost. A lodge for example below Lukla costs as little as £1 a night per person, but you have to eat at least two meals there at a rate of approx. £5 or £6! I think that probably explains why the more intrepid and those on a tight budget are happy to walk for four days into Lukla and the gateway to Everest.

So today Tshering took me to a refugee camp. I have to say I was just a little sceptical. Why would I want to see, basically a prison camp? That’s what springs to my mind when someone mentions a refugee camp, not normally a place to visit, but I kept an open mind! It was in fact a Tibetan camp set up over 40 years ago, when the Chinese illegally invaded and annexed Tibet.

The camp has no barbed wire, no guards or no form confinement at all and when I approached it looked like a well organised and well funded village. There were schools, a Monastery, tea house etc. The people were friendly, one particular person was overly friendly, but then most drinks are! But he sat and spoke to me for 30 minutes while I drank my Masala Tea. His English was Tibetan, punctuated with the odd English word and then a roar of laughter, and he had a smile I’ll never forget. It was an experience that wouldn’t normally be on the tourist trail, but I’m glad Tshering took me.

The Decsent

05/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | 2 Comments

The climb down from Camp One took just half the time than on the way up. Then a helicopter out of Base Camp to the metropolis that is Lukla. The world looks very different from the air, a full 3 dimensional map. The ride wasn’t as good as in 2015 as this pilot had a schedule to keep to, but it was still one to savour.

Lukla was a bit of a culture shock. I was put up in a hotel with an en-suite bathroom, with a shower, sit down toilet and sink… maybe not Premier Inn standard but it was far better than an outside squat on the rocks toilet, a shower that was a bucket and cup and a bedroom that was somewhat drafty with flexible cloth walls, limited headroom and a solid mattress, commonly called a ‘tent’.

Lukla has thrived due to having ‘the worlds most dangerous airport’, which has made it the gateway to the Everest and Makalu regions of the Himalaya and is probably the most popular region for tourist in the Himalaya, with access to Everest Base Camp, the trekking peaks of Mera Peak, Island Peak etc and of course access to three of the highest mountains in the world. It’s a place that caters for the trekker and climber, giving that home familiarity for those returning from the mountains and those about enter into their own journal of self discovery (just taking the mick as most of you know, I believe a ‘journey of self discovery is a load of b…..ks). It has an Irish Pub! But then what town doesn’t! There used to be a Starbucks… I have a feeling that it wasn’t their coffee, but it was still a great advert for them, knock off or not. That however has been replaced by an Illy. I think it’s authentic! Wi-fi is available everywhere, it’s just like home! Most people fly in and out, but we’re going to walk out, so the journey south to Kathmandu begins.

The first days trek was uneventful , 10km, 740m of descent and 630m of ascent. But the interesting thing is that the privileged OAP’s, like me have disappeared, to be replaced by youngsters making their own way up to Everest Base Camp or the Three Pass Circuit. They are mainly self guiding. A confidence that I no longer have. I have to say it makes me extremely happy to see these twenty somethings independently making their way up to these lofty places.

The second day was 1,300m of descent with 300m of ascent, I just get the feeling that there’s going to be a sting in the tail on the third day. Tshering said the views from our Lodge will be fantastic and views generally don’t come low down!

I thought I’d pay for the last two days of reasonably easy walking and today’s the day! I’m drenched in my own bodily fluids, all I want to do is stick my head in the running water of a moulin. Instead I’m 2,100m up and it’s over 20 degrees! I’m now sat at 2,500m looking down on the village I’ve just walked through, having lunch. There are terrace’s of Maze, Barley, Beans and would you believe Tomatoes! It’s a wonder to me how they manage to grow anything when you compare them to our sometimes 10 acre fields!

The path mainly leads us through the dark trees and I miss what really is quite a big village and the biggest building is the Secondary School, which I assume is fed by the many other small villages in the valley. The dirt road you can see is fairly new, it has absolutely no traffic on it! The reason’s simple, at the bottom of the valley where this road and the one that will eventually go to Lukla meet there is a Dudh Kosi River, which originates in the Everest area and by this point is not a river you’d like to try and ford, even with a vehicle! It’s a ragging torrent, to put it mildly and guess what isn’t yet anywhere near completion… a bridge!

The only thing that spoils the peace and quite, besides my tinnitus, is the constant stream of helicopters and aircraft coming in and out of Lukla Airport… I won’t moan as I’ve used both on a number of occasions! But sometimes I do long for that absolute quite we got at Camp One on Barunste.

Sorry this is a bit disjointed, but I’m writing it on the go.

200m of descent and 1,600m of ascent. A tough day, but I’m now on the crest of Taksindu La in a great lodge at 3,071m… I don’t appear to have lost any height from Lukla, in fact I’ve bloody well gained a couple hundred metres, but I’m told the views will be worth it, that’s assuming the cloud disappears, which I’m sure they will. Hopefully two days here then down again!

Failure in the High Himalaya

02/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | 6 Comments

A harsh title, but true. The weather window was absolutely fabulous for the next five days, sunshine and the forecast of very little wind (although this turned out not to be correct), Perfect. I’d rested for two days and taken a short walk to acclimatise. Everything was perfect… except me it seems. The walk up to the Head Wall took nearly five hours, most people do it in three to four. I was slow and had to stop on a regular basis, which isn’t like me. I’m one that can normally keep a steady pace up or down, never fast but consistent. I have to admit climbing the Head Wall was great fun, even if I used a rope that’s put in at the beginning of each season, it’s still a challenge and one I always enjoy. I am ashamed to say, though that I accepted the offer from Tshering for him to carry up my rucksack as well as his own. The only thing that made me feel a little better was that once at the top he dumped his and my rucksack to go down to relieve the Porter of his load and brought it to the top.

I’m going to try to explain how I felt. Everyone’s body works differently. I believe that mine is reasonably fit for its age, even though I abused it with nicotine for 27 odd years. For me walking at sea level is just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other, uphill causes my body to perspire and causes my breathing to heighten, fairly normal, I think. Whilst training for Barunste I tried to take that up a notch and take my breathing to its extreme. What I have found, though, as I’ve got older is that no matter how hard I push, if my heart says ‘No that’s enough’ then I struggle to push beyond that limit. So I’m not sure how much my fitness has improved over the last couple of years (and as you all know I am partial to a bit of cake on a regular basis). Anyway back up to the walk to Camp 1, my breathing was more laborious than It should have been, sucking for air more often and more violently than I’ve ever known. The lack of Oxygen caused my body to try to take double breaths a strange phenomena, the only way I can describe the sensation is when as a boy you’d climb up a rope until you got a funny sensation in your groin (men might relate, women won’t), the difference being is the double breath wasn’t a pleasant sensation, it was one that caused my body to involuntary gulp for more air and one I had no control over. Maybe it’s a form of hyperventilating, I don’t know, I’ve never hyperventilated before. Once I stopped it disappeared and my body went back to normal, immediately, strange! This reaction from my body didn’t have the desired effect of making the walking any easier!

On reaching Camp One and looking up at the 1,000m left to climb, my confidence in my ability to reach the summit just vanished. All confidence in myself vanished, was it a lack of acclimatisation or was I just kidding myself that I was capable of climbing this 7,129m Peak? I’ve never been one to worry about using the word failure, each failure teachers a lesson, sometimes I heed that lesson, sometimes I ignore it. This is the second time that the Himalaya have thrown this lesson at me and I’ve decided to heed it.

Do I feel gutted and disappointed, a little, but I can live with it. I’ve managed to get a couple of these high peaks under my belt, and been reasonably high on a couple of others and have seen views that have brought tears to my eyes, seen views where I know my Father was stood there next to me and admired them with me and would have been proud, as I hope one day my children will be. And as I’ve said many times in the past that I’d love to be able to share what I see and feel with Carolynn I know she knows, but am reasonably sure she’d rather look at the photographs! I have seen views that I have tried to share with my photography, but I don’t think that I have been ever able to show the joy I have in actually being there and watching that sunrise or sunset or that view that you know has only ever been seen by a few people.

I have seen from Camp One, the one mountain that inspired me all those years ago at a lecture given by Doug Scott… Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. As I walked into Camp One it dominates the landscape. The mighty West & South West Faces loom almost vertical from the valley floor, just below us. For me it’s a unique opportunity to photograph it at all times of the day and one of the photographs just might end up on the wall at home.

I make no excuses, the weather is good, my acclimatisation has been good, my mentor and guide is one of the best… sometimes you just have to admit, even with all the training, I’m just not good enough. There’s no shame in that, I know now that It’s time to stick to lower altitude treks and admire the high Himalaya from a distance.

A quick update on the weather. At Camp One there was very little wind, however the only other climber on the mountain at the same time as me descended from Camp Two and didn’t make a summit attempt as the winds where blowing to a point where walking became extremely difficult… this also adds considerable to the windchill factor where temperatures are already at -20 degrees.

It’s a Bloody Big Mountain

01/11/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, walk, walking | 2 Comments

After 11 days of traveling I’ve eventually arrived at Barunste Base Camp. I think the title says it all! I’m at the highest I’ve been since the beginning of the trip at 5,426m and the summit of Barunste looms another 1,703 vertical metres above me and about 8.5km… 8.5km, even I can run that in an hour, but this I believe will take considerably longer!

Today is a rest day. To leisurely sleep in your nice warm tent as the sun makes it feels like a greenhouse, or sit in the mess tent reading or listening to music or a story book. But I decided to go for a walk. There’s good reasoning for my decision, well two good reasons, anyway. The first to better acclimatise, the old adage’ walk high sleep low’ and the second, I wanted to look at the head wall climb and to see whether it looked as vertical close up as it did from a distance. Fortunately perspective and reality were at odds and what appeared vertical from Base Camp is about 45 degrees, so in fact half way off vertical!

The walk was a three and a half hour round trip and I was at least 30 minutes from where we’d start climbing the head wall and I’m going to be doing this at least a couple more times. Not an unpleasant walk when doing it once but multiple times just might be a tad tedious.

Another thing about a rest day, it’s time to look at one’s hygiene. So I splashed out and had a shower, not the sort of shower most of you are accustomed too, though,,. Half a bucket of warm water inside a shower sized tent with a rock floor as a drain! It’s also a time for assessing whether or not you’ve been wearing the same clothes for too long, my wash bag is filling slowly, after 11 days I have two dirty pairs of pants, two dirty pairs of socks, one dirty shirt and two dirty handkerchiefs. I can also say that my shorts and summer weight walking trousers are also dirty and are of no further use on this expedition. It’s true that the body learns to clean itself when no longer attacked by detergents on a daily basis! Would I clear a train carriage… probably, but no-one notices up here.

This, the second rest day will be spent sorting out my climbing gear. Double checking everything works and is there. A little late, but it’s just peace of mind. I’ll make sure all those pesky, heavy electronics are all charged up and ready to go. Most of all the second test day will be a day of doing nothing, but eating, napping and aimlessly wandering around Base Camp!

I’ve just watched ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’. I downloaded on my iPad to watch during these rest days… isn’t just the most amazing film, is there a Walter in all of us?

The Only Sound

30/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, walk, walking | 2 Comments

I’m sat on a rock in the middle of the afternoon surrounded by 7,000m peaks, the snow covered mountain faces reflect the harsh light of the mid afternoon sun, causing me to squint as I peer up at them. The only sound is the noise of a milky turquoise stream meandering through the valley and the slight hiss of that bitter wind as it wraps around my head. One of the mountains is Chamlang with its 2,000m south face as glaciers hang precariously, just waiting to reveal the dark grey rock that it has sculptured since the last ice age.

Is it here that I’m at peace? If it is it would only ever be half at peace as half of me is missing, forever wrapped in her love. My shadow as I’m sat on the rock is rapidly lengthening and the suns heat decreases like someone has flipped a switch and the shivering reflex begins and my thoughts return to keeping warm and go and fetch my camera as that 2,000m face of Chamlang begins its transition from a harsh white, gradually softening to an orange glow and finally a dark featureless mass as dusk turns to darkness.

All Walks of Life

29/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, trek, trekking, walk | 6 Comments

I think until, maybe the last 15 – 20 years or so trekking in the Himalaya has been the domaine of the retired, ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. Again a very broad pompous generalisation. I just wanted you to understand where I’m coming from with no misconceptions. At the other end of the scale climbing in the Himalaya was left to the experts who spent much of their time begging for sponsorship so that they could afford the big expeditions that the Himalaya attracted.

I just caught the very tail end of the ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. In 2007 I used a company called Catreks, the reason I chose it was because it was owned by Doug Scott. His philosophy seemed to be to scale down the big expedition mentality to suite those that wanted to trek. The service was excellent, woken by a hot cup of tea followed by hot washing water and a breakfast fit for a king sat at a high table. A hot lunch would be provided halfway through the day and camp would be all set up on your arrival… anyway hopefully you get my drift. That first trek I was on, the clientele were retired teachers, retired professionals, but it was the start of the transition and there were a young couple, a journalist and a mad cap Chinese Liverpudlian. The retired teachers and professionals defiantly expected the ‘full’ service, me, well, I didn’t really know what to expect. But the high level of service, I have to say for me wasn’t unwelcome.

Over the last 15 or so years that I’ve traveled to the Himalaya both for climbing and trekking, times have definitely changed. The Nepalis have taken a greater control of their tourist industry and the somewhat pompous mentality that the West had, has nearly died out (on this trip I have observed a couple of nations that seem to think that the world revolves around them and them alone and still expect a that kind of service) attracting a far more diverse group and age of people.

The first group I met were a mixture, there were no couples but most had partners at home. Being away from your partner affects people in different ways. Two or three of them appeared to have no qualms with leaving their partner at home, no news is good news. One wanted some form of contact most days and another thought that his partner would be extremely worried after no contact in seven days. We’re all different and try and cope with a partners absence in different ways on these trips. I won’t get into the discussion about ‘why go’ if you miss your partner, in this blog. Just one thing on technology, the problem is the misconception that technology works with out interruption in these high mountains and it doesn’t, far from it. It isn’t helped by many of the operators, who will often state that either Wi-Fi or phone signals are available when in the lodges.

The other big group I actually met in Kathmandu was an Australian group. The owner of the company, Nick Farr I met back in 2011, whilst climbing Island Peak and we’ve kept in touch since then. It was pure coincidence that we were in Kathmandu at the same time. His group were also heading for Mera Peak. Again a very diverse group. A family with two children, I think they were middle to late teens, a father and son and the son having ambitions to climb an 8,000m peak. The rest were a mixture of ages and abilities, some never having been to the Himalaya and those that had been on numerous occasions. Nick’s a great leader, but this, like me could well be his last trip to the Himalaya as he wants to spend more time with his growing family. There’s a slim possibility that Nick’s group will be in Khare later this afternoon. It’d be good to meet up with them before I move on over Mera La tomorrow.

PEOPLE… once we entered the Hinka Valley, PEOPLE everywhere, I mean it was like coming out of a football match at Wembley, jostling and shoving for your own space, OK a slight exaggeration. But those photographs of the queues on Everest are nothing compared to the number of people heading towards Mera Peak. It’s not a large peak and would probably only accommodate 20 people, comfortably on its summit at any one time, but the biggest restriction is that High Camp will only hold 70 people. It is possible to ‘wild camp’ further up the mountain but most of the summiteers are with groups and they are not geared up for carrying their own tents and all the equipment required. So High Camp remains the limiting factor on how many people can summit in any one day. The groups are large, German, French, East European, Australian and of course British. There are a few pairs or individuals like myself but not many. As these groups are so big they dominate the dining areas reserving tables long before they sit down to eat, even to the extent of moving tables together whilst a poor Korean guy was sat having a drink! It was a little bit like reserving sun beds abroad… need I say any more.

A final word on PEOPLE, when I arrived at Khare yesterday lunchtime, sat in the dining area was one of the most surreal sights I’ve seen. A group of very glamorous middle aged ladies from Norway, were sat having lunch. They were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow, heavily made up and with nails my daughter in laws would have been proud of. I spoke to one of the two 6’ tall leaders and they were just on there way up to Mera Base Camp hoping to summit in two days time. They organise trips mainly to Kilimanjaro and this was there first time back to Mera Peak in four years. I would love to see their summit photographs they would make any LGBGT parade look dull!

So the days of the somewhat pampered over the top service that companies used to supply are limited and become more scarce as all generations can now enjoy, what I believe to be some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of a holiday, but it is good to see so many and diverse people on the mountains. I might not be a lover of crowds but I am a believer in the mountains and the countryside being open to ALL.

Tomorrow I move on away from the PEOPLE and into the Barunste valley, where I expect there to be just a few PEOPLE!

The Trek In

23/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk | 3 Comments

I’ve decided not to do a blow by blow account of the trek in. Basically it consists of me following in Tshering’s footsteps. Doesn’t really make for interesting reading. So I thought for the trek to Base Camp I’d try and describe the people, places and the atmosphere.

Unlike on previous trips I’m staying in lodges rather than camping. I’m not a lover of camping, although for some reason I seem to have done a fair amount over the last few years, It can be uncomfortable, noisy, wet, cold, need I go on!

Back in 2007 on my first trip to the Himalaya, I went with a company called CatTreks and we camped in the grounds of the tea houses, I have to say I wondered why. After the first night I knew, the tea houses were extremely basic and the company wanted to be able to control all aspects of hygiene and food… remember we are all pampered Westerners and very few of us are able to tolerate the locally sourced and cooked food and especially the water. I know that’s a grave generalisation , but Dheli Belly is not something that anyone of us wants.

So since that first trip I’ve camped. This is the first trip that I haven’t, we’re using tea houses and lodges all the way to Base Camp, so this experience is new to me. Our walk in started at a little known place near Bung in the Makalu National Park along paths very rarely used by trekkers. So I was expecting the lodges to be very basic.

Firstly I’ll try and explain what you get at an average lodge/tea house. There’s the kitchen, which is the tradesmen’s entrance, always warm as there’s always a fire on, so that’s where all the Sherpas and porters seem to migrate to. The main entrance generally leads to the dining room, which has bench seating along with the tables around the outside and the most important thing, the log or Yak dung burner in the centre of the room. Probably not the safest log burner you’ll ever see but definitely one of the most appreciative that you’ll ever find. Upstairs, often using outside steep stone or wooden steps, to gain entry are the totally unsound proofed bedrooms and I mean you can could probably even hear someone pick their nose! But that’s what you get. The food is a local take on a Western menu… you can have a plate of chips, for example, but you’ll get nothing else! So you have to remember to order, another dish, such as fried eggs, separately and these will come on a separate plate, as there wouldn’t be room on the plate of chips as it would be literally piled high.

What I forgot is that they are all very dark. Most are powered by solar power, with very small windows. So all in all they’re not the most welcoming of places. Having said all of that the people are extremely welcoming. Hospitality doesn’t come with wealth and possessions, it comes with a smile that’s both genuine and sincere, which the Nepalese appear to have in abundance.

So, after a lot of waffle, I’ll briefly describe the tea houses/lodges that we’ve been staying in. The first night was certainly a grand entrance into the dining area, with satellite TV, the downside the remote was in the hands of a 16 year old! The sleeping area was up some open stone stairs fixed into the outside of the building. I’ve been told that steps are designed to be an optimal height, any slight change in that causes people to trip, well as you’ve probably already guessed, these were not of uniform height, width or even flat, with no handrail and at the top of the Stairs laid a dog, curled up fast asleep. The top, probably about two foot square was open on all sides except for the entrance into the building and the dog claimed most of that space and wasn’t in any hurry to move! The bedroom was like all the the bedrooms 2m x 3m with two single beds, with pretty solid mattress’s. I won’t bother describing them as they are all a variation on that theme. I was the only guest and was mothered and fussed over by the lady in charge. That also appears to be a similar theme that the wife runs the lodge, where the husbands are I’ve no idea?

The second lodge came into view very suddenly and wow it looked brand new, I had a smile from ear to ear. There has to be a bit, when I say looked brand new, it was, in fact only 70% complete. We’ve all heard these horror stories of unfinished hotels and the noise of the building work. Apparently the old lodge was accidentally burned down and was being rebuilt and the building work went on while ever there was light. The owner insisted on giving me a tour of where the new toilets and shower would be and the private rooms with wonderful views. From the previous sentence you have made the obvious assumption that the old toilet’s were still in use. They, of course, were nowhere near the original building that was burned down, in fact they were on the edge of a ‘long drop’ hence the name ‘long drop toilet’. In the morning I found out why I had the tour, he asked for a contribution towards the rebuilding costs.

It’s here that I met the first group of trekkers and low and behold they were British. They were on their way to climb Mera Peak, not the normal route, but certainly one that is a more interesting trail than the normal route and far quieter. A great group and we were to follow each other for the next few days. Now the third lodge was very different. Probably it was originally built as a place to summer pasture the animals and now run by two young ladies as more tourists start to use this particular trail. They were very, very welcoming and led me into the dining area, which was nearly pitch black, with a doorway considerably lower than my 6’ and I have the bruise to prove it. I do wonder if its previous use was to shelter the animals in bad weather. This camp was at 4,250m a place I was going to spend two nights to acclimatise… but I decided as all was going well I’d carry on the next day into the Mera valley and as it turned out PEOPLE.

Fluid

22/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | Leave a comment

Got up, got out of bed, brushed a comb across my head (most of you would probably find that hard to believe), went downstairs a had a cup and noticed I was late (pretty sure I haven’t got those lyrics correct), but that’s how the day started. I got up at 5:30 and made a cup of tea and sat in bed drinking before I went to have my last shower for maybe a couple of weeks, when I got a text from Tshering saying that he wouldn’t be picking me up un 10:30am instead of 7am. Do I try and go back to sleep or just take my time? I decided to take my time and wondered into Thames for a coffee at the Himalayan J. At 10:30am I was in the lobby having paid the extras for my room and reading a book knowing that 10:30am would come and go, which it did. At 11:45 Tshering picked me up, he had text me to say that he was on his way… I wasn’t in any way worried, as the title says, times in Nepal are ‘Fluid’.

We started the long drive to the start of the trek, nine hours, I was told. In fact we drove for ten hours to a point where we were still five hours drive away . The roads were very busy out of Kathmandu and they started to deteriorate the further we got from the capital. The hotel we stayed in was typical of the hotels and lodges once you get into the mountains. Basic, very hard mattress, all bedrooms sharing one bathroom, with a wash basin, a toilet with a non mechanical flushing mechanism… a cup and a barrel of water. Adequate as it does the job, perfectly.

Fluid… a 30km drive in five hours, most runners could do it faster than that. In fact it took nearly six hours, on roads (not sure I could justify the noun roads). Stephen would understand the words, horseshit and mud, random rocks surrounded by muddy potholes. It doesn’t make for a comfortable ride especially with a fairly steep drop on one side. It’s a ride I wouldn’t have missed, but not one I’d like to repeat. Maybe I ought to explain that last statement. The last two or three times that I’ve traveled to Kathmandu I’ve taken routes to the climbs not normally taken by the those that have booked their trips through the bigger companies. The routes Tshering has chosen have kept away from the more popular routes and I’ve hopefully seen more of the local culture than I would have and this drive was the same. The driver was basically a bus driver in a TATA 4 X 4. They weren’t, however designed to carry seven passengers and the driver. It was somewhat intimate and our combined bodily smells mingled like a farmyard stew!

We suddenly stopped and Tshering ushered me out of the vehicle and suddenly the trek to Base Camp was on. It was a two and a half, sunset walk and the last two days of travelling were all but forgotten!

Kathmandu

16/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, tranquility, trek, trekking, walk, walking | 1 Comment

On the surface Kathmandu appears not to have changed, but when I said I hadn’t been here since 2015, I lied, I passed through in 2019 on the way to Bhutan and the Snowman Trek with Stephen, but it was a brief visit, as is this. The airport had changed out of all recognition and within 45 minutes of landing I was through passport control and had my luggage, this is an airport where I’ve waited over two hours for my luggage on more than one occasion. Tshering was there, with both his hands outstretched with a wonderfully warm welcome. It was good to be back.

The taxi ride in Chicago from the hotel to the airport was interesting to say the least. The driver swerved from lane to lane on the six lane freeway and used the exit and entry ramps as shortcuts, but I will emphasise that there were six lanes and all the vehicles obeyed the unspoken rules of the road, however the taxi driver in Kathmandu from the airport, had no such qualms. There are no marked lanes, but there is comfortably room for two lanes of traffic on each side of the road. It all starts becoming chaos when there is no centre line that the oncoming traffic obeys. Two possible lanes turn into three, four or even five, depending on how much of the road the traffic in one direction can get away with! And I say lanes in the very loose sense of the word, these lanes are imaginary and are inconsistent in width and length from even the vehicle in front of you. So in short, total and utter organised chaos. Organised because the traffic moves in both directions fluidly, but understandably there isn’t a single vehicle without a number of dents and scratches, nor is there a Westerner with his or her eyes open! Seven trips to Kathmandu… still not sure which side of the road they drive on and to be honest I don’t think the Nepalese do either.

I walked into the coffee shop in the hotel and bumped into Nick Farr, not entirely a coincidence as I knew he was in the Radisson at the same time as I was there, but it was a great surprise to see him. He’s leading an Australian group up Mera Peak and invited me to spend the evening with them at a local restaurant. I met Nick on Island Peak in 2011 and we kept in touch and I’m always grateful to him for Skyping Carolynn before my attempt on Cho Oyu to reassure her, and one thing that she came away with from that conversation is ‘no news is good news’. The group he’s leading is large, 20 plus, I think. A mixture of families with teenage children, thirty somethings and of course those in the Autumn of their years, like me, well maybe my leaves have lost their beautiful mature, vibrant colour and are starting to float gently to the ground! But you get my drift, a diverse group. A group of that size with so many different dynamics, makes for an interesting challenge , but a band of brothers united in their goal. I’ve only ever walked with a group of that size once and it can be challenging for any leader. Nick is very experienced and building confidence, resilience and a team spirit is what he does best.

To day is for over indulgence and relaxation, a day to reflect on what lie’s ahead… in the warm Autumn sunshine all looks good, life can look very different when clouds are swirling all around in 60 to 70 km winds and a temperature of -20 degrees. Different, but not necessarily unwelcome!

Heathrow and Beyond

14/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa, Training and tagged 7000 metres, Baruntse, climb, galcier, Himalaya, ice, Mountains, nepal, snow, solitude, tranquility, trek, walk, walking | 2 Comments

Here I am sat in the Qatar Airways lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4. Over the top service all the way through the Terminal, no queues, excellent, attentive service, a choice of an ‘A La Carte’ meal or buffet. I settled for a beautiful salad buffet with Eaton Mess for dessert! And the punchline… the flight’s delayed. The one thing I would like them to get right, in fact the only thing that really matters when flying, is that the flight is on time. Over the last couple of months Carolynn and I have taken a number of flights and I would think 50% have been delayed, for what reasons I’ve no idea, that information is never forthcoming and it is very frustrating. The only consolation is that I’m sat in relative comfort.

Matthew my youngest son would say ‘why do you get to the airport so early?’. I don’t think I’m the only one, but I always allow a margin of contingency for traffic on the M1 and M25 and for possible delays at getting through security. I regularly get stopped and searched as my hand luggage is generally full of electronics and batteries, I can only assume that dodgy characters such as myself smuggle items in their cameras! So unlike Matthew, I relieve the anguish by leaving just that little earlier than he would and unlike him I very rarely have to run to board my flight… unless, of course my flight is delayed and the connection time between flights becomes somewhat slim!

Anyway enough moaning, I’m on my way to Kathmandu after more than seven years. I’ve said my farewells to Carolynn, never easy for either of us, especially for five weeks. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary whilst in the USA the other week and these separations don’t get any easier, in fact they get considerably harder. It’s not just the conversation and companionship, it’s the fact that I know she’s not there. I know these trips are self indulgent and I can hear you all saying, ‘well don’t do it’. It’s hard to explain…I struggle with it, so to try and explain it in writing is near impossible.

I’ve gone off point again. Kathmandu, as always excitement and a tinge of anxiety or maybe even a tinge of fear. Fear is a natural, powerful and primitive emotion. It alerts you to imminent danger, whether physical or psychological… fight or flight? Fear and Risk are, I think, entwined. Everyone’s fear and risk response’s are different and the climb of Baruntse at 7,129 metres is a level of fear and risk I have not taken since 2013 and my attempt at Cho Oyu at 8,200 metres. I need to firstly control any psychological fear to eliminate a risk which is purely imaginary and concentrate on the physical fear and a risk that can be controlled and sensible decisions made. As I get older I find that I have become far more risk adverse and you realise that you are no longer immortal… please don’t misunderstand me, I think I’m very capable of climbing Baruntse, but more importantly, I’m very capable of turning around 50 metres from the summit if the conditions dictate.

The Training Nears Its End – and Barunste Awaits

05/10/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged Baruntse, climb, Himalaya, nepal, trek, walk | 7 Comments

The Moulton Barn and the Grand Teton in the Background

I’ve just come back from the USA , seven days in New Jersey spending time with family and seeing Sarah and Nick getting married. Five days in the Grand Teton National Park in the old ‘wild west’ where men were men and the Moose were frightened! And four days in Chicago, just being a tourist and thoroughly enjoying it.

Long Branch in New Jersey, has two very different sides to its ‘railway track’ like many places in the world, and it fascinates me how these two sides interact and how just moving 10 metres across the ‘track’ (whether real or virtual) can be so different, The houses close to the boardwalk were affluent, clean, tidy and well looked after, but just a few yards over the ‘track’ they were more unkept, with rubbish on the street waiting to be collected, if it ever is! It’s strange that it appeared to be so cut and dried.

The wedding was sensational, a wonderful few days of celebrating, with a tinge of sadness as the old relationships change and happiness, as new relationships evolve and move forward, dreaming of a better future. Carolynn and I wish them both all our happiness for the future.

The Grand Teton… what can I say, one of the most impressive mountain ranges I’ve seen. They rise from the flat Jackson Hole valley floor, like a dragons back, reminding me of the Dolomite mountains with their near impossible, unobtainable summits. I was due to climb one called Disappointment Peak with a guide, but they cancelled due to the inclement weather forecast! I was, to say the least, disappointed.

Snake River Outlook – Made Famous by Ansel Adams

We spent five great days in the Grand Teton, there was mixed weather, but that just added to the atmosphere. The wildlife was a little scarce though. I was hoping to see Brown Bears, Black Bears, Grizzly Bear, Moose, Beavers and Otters, but in the end saw Moose and a Brown Bear from some distance away… there were plenty of small ‘critters’ though, great to see them skittering through the rocks, looking for titbits left behind by those two legged intruders to their domaine. For me though, the magic, were the mountains, not a great surprise there!

Reflections of Mount Moran on Oxbow Lake

The last four days were spent in Chicago, where the skyscraper was born, apparently. A complete change from the Grand Teton, a city scape nearly as spectacular, though. With its dragon back buildings intersected by deep, wide, six lane highways. I think we probably did more walking in Chicago than in the National Park, but our heads looked skywards in both places.

What has all this got to do with a trip to the Himalaya and the climb up Baruntse, not a lot I suppose, but it was a trip that Carolynn and I really enjoyed, a trip totally different from the up and coming five week trek/climb in Nepal. The holiday in the USA was a family holiday, for us both to enjoy, whereas Nepal is pure self indulgence. I believe that I said many years ago that both climbing and photography are selfish pastimes, they take up untold amounts of time and money, for example the photograph above of the Chicago skyline was near the end of a two to three hour wait around sunset, Carolynn sat in a doorway reading a book whilst I waited for the right light and the storm to pass over. I’m unable to comprehend exactly what goes through her mind as she patiently waits, uncomplaining, for me to finish. How do I justify it? I’m going to ignore that question. I’m forever grateful to Carolynn for her support and most of all her patience.

Baruntse, it’s a mountain that’s not on the trekkers radar, as it’s too hard, nor is it on the radar of those wanting to climb either the Seven Summits or any of the 8,000 metre peaks, but its position makes it somewhat unique in that from the summit some of the highest mountains in the world are visible. That’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to it, to reach the summit at sunrise. To selfishly be able to watch Mother Nature at Her finest as the sun rises over three or four of the fourteen 8,000 metre peaks. No matter how proficient at photography I get I struggle to capture what my eyes see. Seeing that sunrise, totally depends on that very fickle thing called ‘weather’… fingers crossed. Photography, as a friend of mine has often said, is one; a matter of inches and two; pointing your camera at beautiful scenes… inches on the summit of Baruntse could mean a rather interesting descent, but the second point will hopefully be in my favour.

For the fifth time I’m climbing with Tshering, a Sherpa I met on a trek to Makalu Base Camp in 2007 and am very much looking forward to seeing him after a seven year gap.

The Training Starts… Again

09/06/2022 by Charles Masters in Baruntsa and tagged 7000 metres, baruntsa, climb, galcier, Himalaya, himalayas, ice, nepal, snow, trek, walk | Leave a comment

Before I write about the four trips to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path that I’ve neglected to do, I thought I’d pen a little note about an up and coming trip in October/November.

It’s been seven years since I last went to the Himalaya. February 2015 to be exact, the year of the earthquake that devastated so much of Nepal and many of its World Heritage Sites. I left Nepal a month before the earthquake struck, a friend of mine was there climbing the mountain I’d just climbed, Mera Peak, during the earthquake. ‘Chaos’ is how he described the situation, but really you’d expect nothing less.

Why haven’t I returned since 2015? Mainly because I’ve concentrated on climbing and walking in other parts of the world. But I do love the Himalaya and the friendly Nepalese people so I’ve decided it’s time to return. There was a choice of two mountains, Cho Oyu, which I failed to summit in 2013, the 6th highest mountain in the world or Barunste of no great fame to anyone outside the climbing world, but one that was on the itinerary in 2015, but the heavy snow on our walk to Mera Peak put us nine days behind, so we had to drop the plan to climb Barunste as well. 8,200 metres or 7162 metres, a seven week trip or a five week trip, one would require supplementary oxygen and one wouldn’t, a hard decision? Seriously it was. I’ve dreamt many times of cracking that 8,000 metre barrier, but dreams and reality don’t always converge. Perceived risk, against actual risk? Risk is very much a personal awareness of what surrounds you and my definition of risk can be very different to the next man’s. Seven weeks is a long time to be away from home as is five, but by our understanding of time it’s still 14 days less and probably very difficult to argue against that particular fact. That was a major factor in my decision, as was my perception of the risk of climbing Cho Oyu against the risk of climbing Baruntsa. But what really swung it was that I’ve never been to Baruntsa and the thought of somewhere new to explore appealed more than attempting Cho Oyu again.

So in October this year I’ll travel back to Kathmandu and on into those mountains that have captivated and fascinated me for so much of my life, to attempt to climb Baruntsa with Tshering a Sherpa I’ve known and climbed with for many years.

LET THE TRAINING BEGIN

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