Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit (Nepal) led by Dom Rudd in October 2011

Our Dhaulagiri Circuit in October 2011 was the fifth time The Mountain Company had organised this trek, I led our first one in May 2008 then Gary Pfisterer led in October 2009, myself again in October 2010 and followed by Lee Farmer in April 2011. This time the leader for our Dhaulagiri Circuit group was Dom Rudd (International Mountain Leader) for more information on his background and experience.

The advantage of having organised this trek several times before is that we have developed cumulative experience and knowledge that our new leaders can tap into. They will have access to all previous trip reports sent to us by each leader after completion of the trek as well as the detailed Trek Leader’s notes written by us with information for each day such as timings, points of interest and any risks to be aware of along the way. 

The group arrived to Kathmandu on October 8^th, from our experience running this trek it is best to start after the first week of October to allow time for monsoon to wind down as Myagdi Valley is particularly wet place due to its north-south orientation. Clouds travel up from the south on plains of India and then at end of valley are blocked and forced to rise by Dhaulagiri resulting in high levels of precipitation. This timing worked well as on this trek there was very little rain during this trek as they approached Italian Base Camp.

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri 7th highest in world at 8,167m

Our acclimatisation schedule for Dhaulagiri Circuit is conservative with two nights at Italian Base Camp at 3,660m, two nights at Glacier Camp at 4,200m and two nights at Dhaulagiri Base Camp at 4,700m. This itinerary worked well for the group and felt well acclimatised to safely cross French Pass into Hidden Valley. Some snow fell at Dhaulagiri Base Camp during evening of October 20^th however the day for walking to Hidden Valley on 22^nd dawned clear, crisp and cold. Dom was up early this morning to check the weather and conditions and made the decision to proceed as planned.

There was fresh snow on the trail slowing progress although the weather was good with bright sunshine and the view from the approach to French Pass back to Dhaulagiri was spectacular. Just after crossing French Pass the cloud rolled in and wind picked up causing snow to drift across the path filling footprints with soft windblown snow. The first group arrived to camp in Hidden Valley at 4pm and second group only 40 minutes behind, everyone was glad to see that camp was set up with all tents erected and a cup of tea served shortly after their arrival!

Photo: Dhaulagiri Base Camp

Our Dhaulagiri Circuit itinerary has two nights in Hidden Valley whereas most other operators only have one night here as they are not properly acclimatised so need to get down in altitude as soon as possible. Feedback from most people in our groups is that they like having a spare day in Hidden Valley as is one of the highlights of this trek. This is not only so that they can they have a well-deserved lie in after a long day crossing French Pass and wait for the sun to warm up before having breakfast but also give them a chance to explore and enjoy this beautiful valley. Some of the group attended an ecole de glace organised by Dom showing them the basic techniques for using crampons and ice axe for self arrest.

Everyone enjoyed their rest day in Hidden Valley and felt rested for the final leg of the trek crossing Dhampus Pass and descending into Kali Gandaki Valley. On October 24^th the group left camp at 7.40am on a very cold morning, it took the group two hours to reach the summit of Dhampus walking on snow in good condition with no ice. There was very little snow coming down from the pass and then everyone made good progress on the snowy traverse taking four hours before making the descent to Yak Kharka and down to Alu Bari camp. This year crampons were not required for this day’s walk from Hidden Valley however it is essential to bring in day pack as sometimes there are sections of ice. In fact the traverse tends to be icier in May as our groups have always needed to use crampons at this time of year whereas in October it is usually fine without crampons. This group made good time with last members arrived to Alu Bari at 3.15pm.

On the next day the walk down to Marpha village was spectacular and on arrival the group visited the monastery and after a glass of apple juice continued to Jomsom. After handing out tips to the crew the group had a special dinner of fresh chicken, roasted potatoes and a tasty cake cooked by Saila to celebrate the end of the trek. The next day the flight to Pokhara flew on schedule at 9.15am with spectacular views over to Dhaulagiri and down the Kali Gandaki gorge, then on arrival to Pokhara the group flew back to Kathmandu.

Photo: Chonbarden gorge

The group had a final dinner at Kilroy’s restaurant in Kathmandu and by chance I was around as just got back from my Lunana Snowman trek in Bhutan so I came along too, it was great to meet everyone and hear how the trek went and get feedback from the group.

I would like to thank Dom for doing a superb job leading this group. The local crew worked hard throughout this challenging trek so thanks to Lhakpa Rita Sherpa (Sirdar), Saila Tamang (cook) and Sherpas: Prem, Sangram and Sonam as well as of course all of the porters.

The Mountain Company is organising two Dhaulagiri Circuit treks in 2012, the first one in April will be led by Jill Lawson and second trek will be in October. Please get in touch with us soon if you would like to join one of these groups.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Trip report for Dhaulagiri Circuit May '08 led by Roland Hunter

Roland led a reconnaissance trek around the Dhaulagiri Circuit in late April 2008. We wrote briefly about this trek in our Blog post TMC pre-monsoon ‘08, however since then we have received a lot of interest with people asking for more information. Therefore, we are now writing a full Trip Report that hopefully will answer some of these questions about the Dhaulagiri Circuit trek. This trek has the reputation for being one of the most difficult in Nepal.

Photo: terraced fields near Muri village

Having completed the Dhaulagiri Circuit with a group last year I thought that it was one of the best that I have done in the Himalayas.

This trek visits a remote area where there are few other trekkers, this is becoming increasingly rare in Nepal these days. At the beginning of the trek the trail passes through beautiful Gurung villages with views of the Dhaulagiri massif, then above these villages it follows a rough trail to the Italian BC. Above Italian BC the trek is a an alpine experience walking along moraine covered glaciers to the main Dhaulalgiri BC then over the French pass to the beautiful Hidden Valley. The toughest day is crossing the Dhampus pass, with a long traverse on icy slopes before finally descending to Marpha and the busy trails of the Annapurna Circuit.

Photo: villagers threshing wheat

Photo: Chonbarden gorge

I have discussed the main challenges of the Dhaulagiri Circuit and the ways we organise this trek to minimise these risks: 

1) Lack of sufficient acclimatisation as a result of a rapid ascent between Italian BC (3,660m) and Dhaulagiri BC (4,700m) and from there to Hidden Valley (5,050m). Most trekking groups on “standard” itineraries go from Italian BC to Dhaulagiri BC in one day, this is a 1000m increase in altitude is significantly more than the recommended increase in altitude gain per day of 300 to 500m! The Mountain Company has developed our itinerary to include two extra nights between Italian and Dhaulagiri BC. 

First of all we spend two nights at Italian BC then move up to spend the night at French BC at 3,870m (placement of the camp is important as there is some risk of rockfall). The next day we move to Glacier camp and spend the night at 4,200m, then continue to the main Dhaulagiri BC the following day. In the Hidden Valley one camps at over 5,000m, if anyone gets altitude sickness you are in a potentially serious situation because you can only get to a lower altitude by climbing up over high passes. To minimise the risk of altitude sickness in the Hidden Valley we recommend groups spend three nights at Dhaulagiri BC, this combined with the cumulative benefits of trekking slowly from Italian BC means people should be well acclimatised for the Hidden Valley. However, it is important that the leader carefully monitors the trekkers and crew and to turn people back if not sufficiently acclimatised. 

2) Sadly there are still porters and crew working on the Dhaulagiri Circuit.trek with inadequate equipment. On many other treks in Nepal the crew can find shelter along the way so can survive without the right gear (of course still not right), however on the Dhaulagiri Circuit there are no porter shelters above Italian BC. It is essential they are provided with porter tents, walking boots, sunglasses, down (insulated) jackets, wind & waterproof jackets & trousers, gloves, hats etc. This is the regular gear recommended by the International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) in their five guidelines for all treks, take a look at their website at http://www.ippg.net/guidelines In addition to this equipment it is critical for all porters to be issued with crampons. After the descent from Dhampus pass there is a long traverse for over 3 hours on snow and ice slopes. From previous experience the Nepalese made crampons are not sufficient so at The Mountain Company we provide Edelrid 6 point crampons to all of our trek crew

Photo: Mount Dhaulagiri

Photo: Hidden Valley

Photo: approaching Dhampus pass

3) There is a risk of the French or Dhampus pass being blocked by snow and impassable for a trekking party. You can minimise this risk by selecting the optimal time of year to undertake this trek. In my view there are two times of year when you have a reasonable chance of completing this trek: late April and mid October. There are advantages & disadvantage of both of these dates, during the pre monsoon season the temperatures are warmer meaning the night in the Hidden Valley will be more comfortable for trekkers & crew. More importantly it means that the snowline is higher and with the ground temperature warmer any fresh snow is likely to melt off quite fast. 

In post monsoon season, by the time you cross the passes in/out of Hidden Valley the temperatures will be dropping as winter approaches. If there are early storms the snows will most likely block the passes for a while. The main advantage of post monsoon is that the weather tends to be more stable with better views of the mountains and normally settled sunny conditions. 

In the pre monsoon season there is often haze lower down and at higher altitudes clouds usually build up each day followed by afternoon convective precipitation. However the clouds usually clear over night to reveal blue skies by the morning. Also there are likely to be more groups undertaking this trek in the post monsoon season so there will be other trekkers around, however it will be much quieter than most of the other trekking destinations in Nepal. In May ’08 during the whole trek we only met one other group of 5 or so people along the way and then a few expeditions at BC.

4) If you have only been trekking in the Everest or Annapurna regions with their well constructed trails and bridges then you will find the Dhaulagiri Circuit trail far more challenging! There is one section before Boghara village where the trail is very exposed with rope to pull yourself up a rock slab! However, it is possible to walk around this difficult section by taking a high route on a spur above but even here the trail is exposed and could be slippery on a wet day. 

 After Italian BC there is a very steep section down the lateral moraine onto the glacier. It is best to fix some rope at this point to secure the descent especially for the porters. There are a number of other sections where the trail crosses landslide zones. Due to the low numbers of trekkers and locals walking the trail it is unlikely repairs would be made very quickly after a fresh slide. You should be prepared for adventurous scrambling as well as having a rope handy just in case required! From Boghara village the bridges are of a basic construction often a just tree trunk over a river.

In summary.... without doubt Dhaulagiri Circuit is one of the great Himalayan treks. Hopefully this trip report explains the main challenges involved and the way The Mountain Company organises the planning and logistics to increase the chance of safely completing the trek. George, one of the members of our trek last year, summarises his experience on the Dhaulalgiri Circuit: "Dhaulagiri was great. The days from arrival at base camp, over Hidden Valley, and down to Marpha were outstanding and I will always remember them. Thanks very much for arranging it. It was all quite an adventure." George Muir, Dhaulagiri Circuit May 2008

The Mountain Company is planning to organise Dhaulagiri Circuit in October 2010 with Roland leading the trek again. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in joining this trek or if you have any questions.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk