Days four to six of the Ladakh Sky Trail GHT, a three week hiking adventure in the Indian Himalaya unique to The Mountain Company. Very few groups walk from Nerak to Zangla, the main town in the Zanskar region.
The scenery was spectacular but this is a technical hiking route, one of the hardest I’ve done with an organised group.
From our camp above Nerak at 4,600m we headed up to the 4,900m Laban La, saying goodbye to the view we’d enjoyed for the past couple of days.
From here there was another pass and a near thousand metre descent down to camp at Panatsey. This route is very rarely walked, with some sections of semi-clear path and some sections with no obvious path, other than continuing to descend.
There were a number of steep and loose sections, others were slightly easier. Occasionally I could take my eyes off the route to look up at this quite astonishing landscape. The scale was overwhelming, with dramatic rock formations stretching for thousands of vertical metres from the 4,950m Tarti La.
More descent heading down into the gorge, following the river.
I’ve seen this sort of rock formation elsewhere but they were unexpected here.
Panatsey at 3,730m was the best campsite so far, hugely atmospheric, with convenient access to the river for a cool but refreshing wash.
The sun disappeared relatively early but stayed visible further up the valley.
In the morning the sun was at the opposite end of the valley. It was a blue sky day, which meant it was ridiculously hot in the sun, with limited shade.
We had the first of perhaps half a dozen river crossings, which were quite manageable and refreshing.
We headed through a gorge so narrow it was incredibly photogenic.
This was the most scenic day of hiking so far, such an incredible landscape.
A couple of months before we hiked there had been a cloudburst causing flash flooding which took out some of the trail, though there wasn’t much of one to start with as this is a little used route. The height and strength of the flood waters was clear from the flattened, mud covered bushes.
Bears live here, with their tracks and scat frequently seen along the way.
This was the most terrifying day I’ve ever spent hiking, with sustained sections of steep loose scree slopes with significant exposure. I.e. if you misstep you could fall into the river far below. I really don’t like exposure risk, and this was the worst and longest I’ve ever done, with two particularly bad sections.
I couldn’t really enjoy the views as I was totally focused on what little grip there was, and put my camera away for one section. My heart was pounding and I could feel the adrenaline pumping, followed by exhaustion once I was safe.
Thankfully things improved significantly after lunch, with better paths and wonderful views.
More incredible rock formations close to our campsite.
It was a great relief to reach the best campsite so far. I had another refreshing dip in the side stream to the main river, which had much clearer water. One upside of the heat was making a wash even more enjoyable, and clothes dried quickly in the sunshine and dry air.
In the late afternoon I took a short wander up to the saddle we would cross the following day. I’ve been to a lot of incredible places but this landscape is as awe inspiring as anywhere.
The next day was the final push down to Zangla though first we needed to climb over a high pass.
This was a steady ascent though still tiring at altitude, heading through a vast open landscape.
At the 4,400m Namtse La we took a rest and let our horses overtake us. Best to keep out of their way when they’re on the trail. We then descended more than a thousand metres which was scenic but exhausting.
The descent wasn’t as tough on the knees as expected but most of the way was on broken rock, of varying size and composition. This required constant focus and care to avoid twisting an ankle.
There was one section toward the end where the path had been washed away. I ended up clinging to crumbling rock and slowly making my way across. Definitely not much fun, one of the sketchiest moments of the trip.
There were some big views of the Zanskar Mountains as we got out of the gorge.
Camp was set up in the pastures by the Zanskar River, a scenic spot in the open, but surrounded by mountains.