Annapurna - " Goddess Mother of the
Harvests " - is, like Everest, a secluded peak. Although its
8000metre summit may be glimpsed from Phewa Lake in Pokhara,
protruding on the far horizon between
the protecting bastions of Hiunchuli and Macchapuchre, a six-day
trek over terraced hillsides strewn
with picturesque villages and through the deep, dark gorge of the
Modi Khola is required to reach
the yak pastures and vast, glacier-filled amphitheatre ensconced
at the foot of the world's tenth
highest mountain.
Named "the Sanctuary " by Colonel
Jimmy Roberts, the pioneer and founder of organised trekking in
the Nepal Himalaya, this was the site of the base camp of ( Sir )
Chris Bonington on his
successful assault on Annapurna's massive South Face.
The lodges along this popular route had
mushroomed since my first visit ten years previously but
thanks to the strict controls imposed by ACAP ( Annapurna
Conservation Area Project ) the standards
maintained are higher than other regions of Nepal and compare
favourably with those of alpine huts
in Europe. Inspectors check the general cleanliness of the lodges
and their surroundings and also
their foodstocks to ensure all items on the extensive menus are
indeed available. The use of wood
fires is banned and there is a depot for hiring stoves and the
purchase of kerosene.
Altitude is the only difficulty in reaching
the Sanctuary although no crossing of any high pass is
required. On both my visits trekkers were encountered in
distressed conditions from attempting to go
too high too fast - one American was sure that if he pushed on
the effects would wear off. Every
year, despite widespread warnings, there are fatalities in the
Nepal himalaya from AMS ( acute
mountain sickness ).
The final two days above Chomrong, the
highest permanent settlement in the area, are through dense,
bamboo-and-rhododendron jungle lining the sheer-sided walls of
the Modi Khola Gorge, with views
ahead of the giant 7000 metre Gangapurna, before one emerges into
the spectacular beauty of the
Sanctuary.
October to December, the post-monsoon
season, is the peak trekking period when the weather should
be clear and dry but the walk-in on my return visit was in heavy,
prolonged rainfall - it was the
worst autumn weather in 25 years causing havoc with the
still-to-be-harvested
grain crops. The
floor of the Sanctuary was covered in two feet of fresh snow
while the Tharong La high pass on the
Annapurna Circuit was temporarily blocked by the unseasonal
snowfall forcing commercial trekking
groups on fixed schedules to turn back and retrace their routes.
In the afternoons mists tend to swirl up
the valley but in the evening can clear, like a curtain
being drawn, to expose the nearby Macchapucchre, the
"Fishtail-mountain",
with its summit
snowfields aflame in the sunset. An equally dramatic view can be
obtained in the mornings when the
great South Face of Annapurna I glows golden in the sunrise.
Many trekkers miss out on these magic
moments by staying at the lower Macchapuchre Base Camp and
only making day-trips to the Sanctuary. They benefit however by
avoiding the bone-biting, sub-zero,
arctic temperatures which prevail in the ice-bound basin under
star-spangled, himalayan
night-skies.
Across the jumbled moraine of the South
Annapurna Glacier a dangerous gully, bombarded by a
constant fusillade of stonefall, emerges onto a level terrace and
a 2000foot climb gains the domed
top ( c5000metres ) of Rakshi Peak - a snow summit not requiring
a climbing permit. The ascent can
usually be done in a single day from base camp but with its heavy
cover of deep, soft snow I had to
make a high camp and take two days ( possible thanks to my
trekking crew ). The vantage point high
in the centre of the Sanctuary provides a 360degree panorama of
the encircling mountains and a
proper perspective of their true immensity.
Starting from Hiunchuli, the western
sentinel above the narrow gateway to the Sanctuary, a
tremendous ridge of ice and rock sweeps round the skyline
encompassing the graceful Annapurna South
Peak, the jagged, black pinnacle of Fang, and culminates in the
formidable ramparts of Annapurna I.
Nearby towers the aptly named Tent Peak ( nepalese name Tharpu
Chuli - one of the so-called
"trekking" peaks requiring a $200 climbing permit )
while the sacred and unclimbed Macchapuchre
presents a shapely silhouette as the eastern sentinel above the
gateway.
The profound silence is violated on
occasion by the reverberating roar of avalanches as huge blocks
of snow and ice crash, amidst billowing clouds of spindrift, to
the glacier far below.
On the return journey to Pokhara a detour
can be made from Chomrong through the major Gurung
village of Gandrung, with its maze of narrow, paved alleyways and
stone-built, slate-roofed houses
surrounded by orange marigolds and superb outlooks on Annapurna
South Peak, Hiunchuli and the twin
tops of Macchapuchre ( maccha - fish, puchre - tail ).
