The following is a guest post from Allen Bullard, who I had the pleasure of meeting on a volcano in Indonesia and who subsquently (perhaps stupidly) agreed to climb my 2009 birthday mountain with me, despite the fact that I had a gimpy ankle. His Twitter name is @borntotrek, and there’s a good reason for his choice: the man loves mountains. Not only does he love mountains, he is very good at scaling them and has often returned to Nepal to climb and relax. It takes a special kind of person to find 5000m+ mountain passes relaxing. This year Allen decided to head back to Nepal and opt for a much more grueling trip: the Makalu Base Camp trek, winding high up Makalu. Here’s what Allen has to say about his trip.
Makalu Base Camp Trek in Nepal
In April this year I got the opportunity to join an expedition in Nepal who were trekking the Arun valley to Makalu base camp and over Sherpani Col. This route involves technical climbing and takes you to an altitude of approximately 6200 metres as well as a glacier crossing. This was my fourth visit to Nepal, and I’ve previously trekked The Khumbu (Everest), Annapurna and Langtang regions. All of these I walked independently, carrying my own pack. All of them took me over 5000 metres. But very few people trek the Sherpani Col route through the Himalaya’s – it’s difficult and expensive to organise, and is rated as one of the most challenging and dangerous treks that can be done in Nepal. To say I was nervous about taking this on would be an understatement, but I think life’s all about challenging yourself and it sounded like an incredible adventure. It was also an opportunity for me to see how my body would react to breaking the 6000 metre barrier.
It turned out to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically. We contended with temperatures as low as -30 degrees and spent more than 12 days over 5000 metres. During the 3 days I spent on the glacier over 6000 metres I found it almost impossible to eat and even walking 50 metres left me gasping for breath. I was up in the mountains for 30 days and came back a good 10 kilos lighter. It’s given me a whole new respect for those guys who go out and climb serious peaks.
It was also one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and while I questioned my sanity at times while I was up there it was also one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Jodi is a great friend and I love her website, so when she asked if I wanted to share some photos from my trek the answer of course was ‘Yes’.
WOW! What a trip. Thank you for sharing those photos.
Gorgeous photo essay Allen! I have never climbed through ice and snow, but I have to say, those vertical climbs look challenging…but the views, oh those views are inspiring. :)
What a stunning and breathtaking [literally, i’m sure] trip!!! I don’t see my lazy self making that trek so thank you for allowing me to join you on the visual one!
HOORAY! I’m glad to see these photos here and happy he shared his adventures with us. Like I’d told Allen before, I love the shots of the yellow/orange tent in the landscape. But the photo from *inside* the tent is incredible!
Cheri
Sounds like a VERY challenging yet incredible journey. Wow! Thanks for sharing. The pictures are beautiful!
Beautiful photos! Nepal is an amazing place, hope to get back sooner rather than later.
WOW. These photos make me feel like I’m there. I really like the one of Makalu at sunset. The mountain looks aglow!
What a truly amazing experience! Thank you for sharing it. A vivid reminder of the wonder that we are and the beauty of the place we inhabit.
Wow – kinda makes you feel indignificant in the presence of those mountains. Great photo collection
Wow, Looks beautiful. I love the mountains too. A few years ago I did some trekking in Nepal (Jiri to EBC) and enjoyed it very much. In the back of my mind I thought that I would like to go back but go to a less traveled area. You have inspired me! Thank you so much.
How I wish I’d become a perpetual traveler at a younger age so I could do some of this stuff! Fantastic shot of Makalu at sunset.
Wow! Those shots are amazing! I can’t imagine what it must be like to be up there.
That tent shot was killer. Thank you so much for sharing
Rappelling from a 230 metre ice wall is alone impressive. Glad you survived without hypothermia. Breathtaking pics!
A truly inspiring photo essay!
Beautiful photos and congratulations. Nepal is so stunningly beautiful I can understand why you have returned 4 times. I would love to return and take on more treks through the region. Cheers.
Thank you for such wonderfully adventure high pass trekking in Nepal being former (?) lawyer from the current lawyer as well as trekking team leader from Nepal!
Better than mountains can be only mountains!
Pingback: What to see, do and eat in Marrakesh, Morocco | Legal Nomads
Pingback: How to Add Some Excitement to your Travel Day: Go to the Wrong Airport | Legal Nomads
Wow, what an incredible journey! These photos look unreal. I love stories like this. Allen’s message, “life’s all about challenging yourself” is a great one. Couldn’t agree more. When people challenge themselves, they end up doing awesome things.
A trip that I have always wanted to take. Thanks for the inspiration
Whoa! Awesome truly magnificent TQ for sharing pics Visited Nepal in Jan 2012, after seeing yr fantastic photos, want to return and discover more of that beautiful country. WEll done God bless you. TQ
Mimi
The morning tent photo is incredible. Almost perfection. Congrats to you for trekking such an amazing feat.
Amazing and amazing! Not sure if I will be able to make it happen ever but must say you had fantastic adventure!
Thank you making this content public!
Hey Jodi and Allen:
Thanks for investing the time to share some thoughts on your Makalu run. We are in the nascent stages of planning our own “expedition” to MBC to take place in October, 2019, and are aggregating as much data from as many sources outside of Nepal as we can.
If I can trouble you for additional insights vis-a-vis your own experience, I would appreciate your sharing:
1. What was the size of the group you joined and cost per head, excluding tips?
2. Did the sherpa team conduct mini training sessions on rope, crampon, and ice-axe use? (some in our group do not have technical experience, but since the sherpas fix the ropes and usher the crew over, we are curious to learn how they approached this with your group)
3. What year did you take this trip, 2017?
4. Did your team sleep in tents the entire trip because you were ultimately crossing the Sherpani Col and therefore had the gear, or because the basic teahouses along the route were often closed, or?
5. By extension, was this fully-supported from day one, by which I mean your porters were cooking for the team the entire time and setting and breaking camp, etc?
6. Did your sherpa guide(s) have SAT comms or did someone on the team have this?
Allan took the trip in 2010. My business is on hold presently (see legalnomads.com/csf-leak-update) so unfortunately I won’t be able to track him down to answer your questions. Best of luck.
Wow! I am already feeling chilly by the pictures at 30 degrees. You have an awesome collection of pictures and I liked the way you put caption describing the event in the pictures. And Yes, it is great to hear about Nepal.
Hi Allen,
Just stumbled upon your experience during trekking Makalu Base Camp. Being one of the strenuous trek in Nepal you made it. Congrats!!!
Furthermore, your exuberance is reflecting shortly and sweetly. Wow the photographs. You did a good photography.
Keep on the good work.
Cheers:)