Day 12 Kanjin Gompa to Langshisha Kharka and back

Kanjin Gompa Langshisha Kharka Latitude 28°12.74'N 28°12.33'N Longitude 85°34.24'E 85°40.04'E Altitude 3,920 metres 4,131 metres Ascent 521 metres Descent 521 metres Time (excluding rests) 8 hours 10 minutes Distance 24 kilometres

Today’s walk is a long return day trip to Langshisha Karka and back. There are no lodges at Langshisha Karka. Nor are there any other lodges along the way. You should take all the food and drink that you need. Don’t forget to take a torch. The yak dung encrusted meadow with Ganchenpo at the head of the valley        Follow the sandy path east past the government Tibet Lodge and through the yak s**t encrusted meadow. After 20 minutes cross a stream running through a moraine of snow white boulders. Walk down the hill beyond to the flat valley floor passing roofless yak herders huts (25 minutes). This flat area must once have been the bed of an ancient lake and the hill you just walked down is an alluvial fan. It’s so flat you could build a bowling green down here. Langtang with the alluvial fan in the foreground

YetiZone Guidebooks   YetiZone Langtang and Helambu Guidebook     Helambu - Langtang map from Nelles Verlag

Pass the ruined control building of a disused air strip (35 minutes).        Pass a waterfall on the left and a hillock on the right with a chorten on top and huts on the far side. It’s a scene unspoilt by tourism (yet). The path continues on the left bank of the Langtang Khola. The path gets rougher as it leaves the alluvial plain (1 hour 10 minutes). Pass under a natural arch between two boulders (1 hour 25 minutes).        Arrive at a yak herders’ settlement with 8 traditional huts (1 hour 35 minutes). The path begins to drop back down to the river. Reach a conical hill with a large white prayer flag and 4 yak herders’ huts (2 hours 30 minutes).        When in this area in 1949, Bill Tilman, the mountaineer and explorer, had an interesting conversation with the local yak herdsmen. They pointed out a cave, which they said had been occupied by the local Langtang yetis until about 6 years ago. The yetis had apparently migrated away. Perhaps they moved farther up the valley, which extends a further 25 kilometres north of Langshisha. Are they still here? Is this the real yetizone?

The Langtang Khola lies far below...

Reach a large perched boulder (2 hours 40 minutes). [28°12.23’N 85°39.04’E 4,166 metres]. Pass a little lake (2 hours 50 minutes). Contour around the terminal moraine ahead. Cross the glacial stream from the Phrul Rangtsan Tsang glacier. Cross the moraine by following cairns and markers and then up the grassy slope beyond. Contour around the hillside far above the Langtang Khola until Langshisha Kharka comes into view in the distance (3 hours 40 minutes). [28°12.33’N 85°40.04’E 4,131 metres]. Langshisha Kharka lies about 30 minutes from here. Langshisha Karka with, from left to right, Morimoto Peak, Pemthang Karpo Ri and Langshisha Ri          At Langshisha Kharka are some yak herder’s huts, and a large red rock, which is said to be stained by the skin of the first yak to visit these parts. The yak died, was skinned by its lama owner, but the yak skin stuck to the rock on which it was laid to dry. You can also see near here two rock pillars, near the east Langtang glacier, said to represent the Buddhas Padma Sampa and Sakyamuni (The Buddha). The return journey back to Kanjin Gompa takes approximately 4 hours.  Last updated June 2000 - copyright Ian Johnson