Stok Kangri Climb Ladakh - closed from 2020

In the past few years the overcrowding on Stok  Kangri peak along with problems of garbage, waste disposal, water supply etc has been mounting every year. Amongst all the so called trekking peaks in Ladakh, Stok Kangri has always been the most popular and has suffered due to too many tourists.

ALTOA (All Ladakh Tour Operator's Association)  has taken a decision with the villagers of Stok  to close the climb from 2020 and give the area time to recover. This is a decision which I endorse fully and hope it will be implemented without any further bottlenecks.

The details of the press release is below:
Dear Members,
Jullay
STOK KANGRI 2019

Stok Nambardar village committee comprising of Stok villagers had been raising concerns over the pollution of their drinking water source and also shortages of irrigation water owing to over tourism and global warming. Stok Kangri is a very popular trekking peak and over the last few years we have observed it falling prey to over tourism.

The committee has decided to close the Stok Kangri peak for trekking for 5 years starting 2020 onwards. However, we have called for an emergency meeting with the committee to resolve this and we will propose them to follow a calendar like it is practiced in some European peaks where the peak is open for 2 year and then it is closed for 1 year to recuperate.

However, for sure it is going to be closed for next year 2020.

An executive team headed by the President – ALTOA met with Stok members to discuss their issues and their plans for the STOK KANGRI. The village community has planned to close STOK Kangri for trekking in 2020. We have proposed them to close it for a year and then operate for 2 years. They will update us on this later.

This year they had proposed the following points that ALTOA believes in and we are always committed to the cause of protecting our environment. We urge members to cooperate with our decision and to inform their partners across the globe of the decision:

1) Security deposit Rs 5000 each Group (Refundable)
2) Environmental Fees Rs 800/ Per Pax (Domestic/ Foreigner)
3) No Fixed Camp will be allowed at the Stok Kangri trail
4) Three person will be appointed at each check points at Stok, Mankarmo and Base Camp
5) Rubbish sacks will be provided by Stok Tsogspa officials at Trek Points at market rate (However every agent must carry sacks for their garbage)
6) All Trash/ garbage must be brought back to Leh
7) Food lists must be carried by each guide
😎 ID will be mandatory for each staff. (Guide/ Helper/ Cook) from ALTOA office (2PP size & Aadhar card required)
9) Non Local Helper and Guides will have to pay Rs 500 Per Pax for the trek
10) ALTOA Authority Letter to be sent with the guide for the check points
11) Only Registered ALTOA members will be able to operate groups as we will send our updated member list to the persons at the check post.

As IMF office is not open this year, we are in talks with the IMF officials on this and we will update you on any future developments.

Regards,
Deleks Namgyal
Gen Sec - ALTOA

Ladakh | Shang Sumdo to Rumbak Trek Aug 31-Sept 7 2019

INTRODUCTION
If you are looking for a short trek in Ladakh and don't want the crowds of Markha then the five day route from Shang Sumdo to Rumbak  is extremely attractive. The route walks in the shadow of the Matho Kangri and Stok Kangri peaks with typical rolling grasslands, fast flowing rivers, wildlife and nomadic settlements of sheep and yak. The trek approach is close to Leh making this an ideal  one week vacation.


Who should join this trek?
A good choice for regular hill walkers, moderate level of fitness required. Prior trekking experience is advisable as it is a camping trek.
1) Walking times: average 5 to 6  hours walking per day.
2) Altitude: up to 4,940 metres at the passes and around 4200-4400 metres at the campsites. 
3) Terrain: for some of the time following well-travelled trails although also likely to encounter rough and rocky conditions near the passes.
4) Remoteness: the trek is in a remote mountain area but not far from the roadheads at Shang Sumdo, Matho, Stok. There is no mobile phones and wifi connectivity on the trek.

DATES
August 31st to September 7th 2019

ITINERARY

 Day 1 Fly in from Delhi to Leh and rest for the day.

Day 2 Acclimatisation rest day - visit monasteries in and around Leh.

Day 3  Leh to Shang Sumdo 3950m 
We drive from Leh to Shang Sumdo and reach in about 90 minutes.  We camp near the river and spend the day acclimatising in and around Shang Sumdo. This second acclimatisation day will help us in our future days.


Day 4 Shang Sumdo 3950m to Shang Phu 4250m 5 to 6 hours
We start our trek today - our ponies are waiting for us here and after breakfast  we start our first days walk. Today the trail ascend gradually through green fields of wheat and barley following the Shang river, flowing from south of Matho Kangri.The valley heads up a shepherds hut the grasslands around serve as grazing grounds fro yak, sheep and goats. We camp overnight at Shang Phu. There is no pass to cross.

Day 5 Shang Phu 4250m to  Gangpoche 41500m across Shang la 4940m 5 to 6 hours
The day begins with a long three to four hour climb to the Shang la through a zg zag trail. This area is home to snow leopards, bharal, marmots, golden eagle and a lot of other bird life and wildlife. The view from the top is impressive with the mountain wall of Matho Kangri 5900m just behind and above the pass. The path then descends gradually to the campsite  of Gangpoche.

Day 6  Gangpoche to Mancarmo via Matho La 4930 5 to 6 hours
This trail travels across the Gangpoche meadows until it reaches the base of Matho la 4350 metres. It then climbs the gentle slopes to the top of Matho La our second pass. The trail steadily ascends to a series of grassy slopes, Yak herders from the nearby villages live in stone settlement at the foot of the pass and the view from the pass is absolute amazing , the popular Stok kangri peak right behind.  From the top of Matho La is descends gradually for around 3 km to the campsite of Mankarmo 4480m.

Day 7 Mankarmo 4480m  to Rumbak 3900m  across Stok La 4900m  6 to 7 hours.
Today we  have a hard climb to the top of Stok La which has a spectacular view - this is our final pass and then we descend gradually to the the village of Rumbak.  We stop for a snack at a tea tent in Rumbak and then walk one hour down to the road head where our transport is wating  drive us back to Leh 2 hour drive.

Day 8 Fly back from Leh to your home city

COST
Rs 55,000 plus GST for Indian cicitzens and US $900 plus GST for foreign passports  Leh to Leh some exclusions apply - for more information do visit  http://www.southcol.com/treks-nepal/shang-stok-via-matho-la-ladakh-august-2018/

From the Indus to the Nubra Valley across Lasermo La - Part II

The top of the pass Lasermo La

Phyang to Hundar Trek Part II

A South Col team trekked from Phyang to Hundar in September 2015. The detailed trek notes for the first part of the trek was covered in my blog post last week in this link http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/11/from-indus-to-nubra-valley-across.html
The his is the second and concluding part.

September 5th 2015
We had planned to start at 6 am for the pass but when I woke up at around 4 am it was snowing lightly. The sky was also very misty with the clouds scudding across the moon. We finally left around 7 15 am when the snow had eased off and the sun was coming through the clouds.

 The trail as usual was difficult to find and there was some scrambling across boulders until we found a path of sorts which followed the valley to the bottom of the pass which we reached around 11 am. We passed some splendid blue flowers amidst the crags nestling below the snow.

From the bottom the trail climbed steeply to the first ridge in about half an hour and then climbed through a series of zig zags reaching the top of the pass around 12 15 pm.  I had brought a prayer flag which we tied across the pass and then along with Pema and Passang  two of our support team we built a small cairn in memory of my mother in law who had passed away a few months before – It was a  high and remote spot;  a stairway to heaven.

The rest of our group arrived in dribs and drabs the last member reaching at around 2 pm. We took the group photos and then headed down across a glacier which took us about 45 minutes to traverse.  From the glacier the path descended onto rocks and again navigating the way became very difficult. The descent seemed never ending and finally we reached the north base camp of Lasermo around 5 pm in the evening. Our last member came in at around 6 45 pm just as the light was fading from the sky. It had been a long and difficult day.

Lasermo La Pass 5474m - 34 18 24 N - 77 29 9 E. Lasermo La North Base Camp 4968m - 34 20 42 N - 77 28 37E

September 6th 2015

I woke up at around 5 am to the pitter patter of snow on the tent. It had been a cold night; the altitude of the North base camp was around 4800 metres where we had camped. The snow continued till around 8 am and we were only able to get away around 8 30 am when the snow eased off and the sun came out. The first hour of the walk was difficult as the trail was snowed over and we had to find it amidst the rocks. After this the sun came up and the valley opened up and we followed a beautiful trail through meadows with grass and flowers.

We spotted a herd of yaks high on the hillside grazing near a rocky outcrop.  We stopped for lunch around 1 pm and must have covered at least 10 km. after lunch we reached a grazing station where we met the first person since leaving the village of Norudok. He was spending the summer grazing yaks on the high meadows which we had just passed and would go down by September 15th. After this the trail continued to traverse through rocks and boulders until around 3 30 pm when we suddenly saw our camp site well before the village of Hundar Dok. We reached around 4 30 pm.
Camp above Hundar Drok 4278m - 34 28 4 N - 77 26 29 E

September 7th 2015
The morning was clear and still- the night temperature was above zero and there was no snow or rain that day.
 The valley to the west had a number of interesting rock peaks in the 5500 to 6000 metre range which would make interesting climbing for a small group. We left the camp around 8 10 am and walked down the valley at a leisurely pace and reached the village of Hundar Drok in around 40 minutes.  The villagers were busy harvesting the fields and ripe barley had turned the fields a beautiful shade of gold.

 We spent an hour photographing in and around the village and left Hundar Drok at around 10 am. The trail carried down to the river which we crossed on a rickety log bridge and then climbed up to the opposite bank. We then took a narrow foot path going north along a bubbling stream of crystal clear water. As we walked north we could see in front of us on the other bank three white chortens and a few houses with a path leading up to them from the river which could be heard but not seen from this point. We went down from the main trail and found a path which took us down to the river in a series of sharp switchbacks. The river was crossed again on another rickety log bridge from where we climbed up for about 20 minutes to meet the three white chortens which we had seen from the other side. The time was around 12 noon and it had taken us 2 hours. We walked on and within a few minutes reached the new jeep able road which had just been built to connect to Hundar. We walked straight down on this new road and in about two hours reached the camping site of Skarchen. The trail had a lot of Tibetan snow cocks on the crags above and we could hear their constant calls as we walked. Fit Trekkers could cover the next two to three hours to Hundar the same day. Skarchen could be identified by some abandoned houses built next to the road and near a small concrete bridge.

Hundar Drok 4066m - 34 29 35 N - 77 26 1 E Skarchen 3573m - 34 32 9 N - 77 25 55 E

September 8th 2015
We had a late breakfast and left Skarchan at around 9 am. The pickup vehicle for the crew and the kitchen equipment had arrived and we left them to load up all the equipment in the pickup. The trail followed the gorge of the Hundar nala where the road had been blasted through the gorge. The colours of the rock were also spectacular - brown, ochre, grey, silver and jet black. The river thundered through the gorge below icy grey green flowing over the rocks. The walk to Hunder took around two hours and we reached the road by around 11 am. The ponies had not yet arrived so we waited for them as our Tempo Traveller had already arrived. I realised that a fit trekking team could make it from Hundar Dok to Hunder in one long day. The distance would be around 15 km.  We stopped for the night at the campsite of Sumur on the other end of the valley.

Sumur 3105m - 34 36 20 N- 77 36 35E

Leh Flood Disaster: Request for Donations for relief work

This is a mail received from Abeer Gupta who is working in Leh on rehabilitation work. Please help them if you can
Thks
Sujoy

Dear All
We at LAMO have been working in old town (the area just below the Leh Palace) and at this time of disaster have gotten involved in relief work there. 

http://www.lamo.org.in/

after a survey over the weekend we realised there has been extensive damage to the homes in OLD Town by the floods. Some of them are beyond repair but some of them have been left filled with mud and our current effort is to clean up those homes, restore the families back in those house and try and get them basic kitchen supplies, bedding, and household goods to start rebuilding their lives. 

since yesterday we have taken up a number of houses and can extend our services more effectively with your support. any monetary donation / aid would be most welcome at this time to help us do the job we have set about, properly. 

we are also assessing the structural damage that has been caused to the houses and working towards a larger estimate of expenses which will be required for the proper reconstruction. a more detailed report of the situation here and our own plans should be ready by the end of the week and shall be forwarded to you.

donations can be sent to the following account: cheques (with account name and number) can be deposited to any SBI bank branch all over India or money can be transferred electronically with the details below

Account name: LAMO TRUST (ALL CAPS)
Current Account number: 30913378915
RTGS CODE - SB IN 0001365
Address of branch - SBI BANK, Main Bazar, LEH

you can call me on 9920958244 for clarifications. Please forward this email to people who you feel would be interested to help. if anyone is making a contribution pls send 
me a note at

"Abeer Gupta" <abeer.gupta@gmail.com>, 
or to Monisha at   
"Monisha Ahmed" <monisha@bom4.vsnl.net.in>,