The Langboche detour

I heard last night that wolves were sighted at Langboche, I’m beginning to wonder if they’re not confused with the golden jackal or something, but I can’t leave any stone unturned. A part of me wants to throw in the towel, the other part says hang in there, we’re so close. I know where they are not so that’s a good start. I’ve packed enough supplies for 3 nights.

I left my back pack where I knew I was going to set up camp by an old abandoned yak camp. I went exploring and looking for water and again got caught in the thick cloud while coming back. It got dark but it was only just light enough to see where I was walking. The fog was so thick that I couldn’t see 10 feet in front of me, it was absolutely beautiful. Just walking blind while listening to sounds of the mountain was an incredible experience.

I must have a really good sense of direction in the mountains because I literally walked straight into my camp. I set up the tent in the dark while my pasta was cooking and soon after camp was set up the fog lifted and now there’s a new moon reflecting off the various patches of thick fog lying in the valleys below me, it's so beautiful it's beyond words. My appreciation for such visions are very childlike ive noticed. It takes me all the back to when I was 15 years old wondering around the mountains on my horse. I can smell it, feel it, and relive it. It's almost like I become the mountain and I see me from it's perspective.

It’s not that cold tonight although it probably will get cold now that the sky has opened up but wow, what a magnificent experience. It would be nice to have company but just sitting here in silence is also incredible. Again, I wish there was a camera that could capture it.

I’m trying something different tonight; I bought some Yak butter at the market in Namche and I have spaghetti, instead of the boring pasta and soup I’m going to try frying the pasta in butter with salt. I’m pretty sure it will be better than that cheap soup; if it works, that’s what I’ll be doing a lot of. It’s good carbs and the fats from the butter is supposed to be good for high altitude. I really really hope I hear wolves tonight, I’m getting worried I don’t find them. I feel I could be doing more important things with my time than chasing ghosts but if I find them it will make all this time worthwhile.

I ended up walking around tonight since it was such a beautiful night, there was a new moon out so I didn’t need a headlight. Eventually when I got to sleep I ended up dreaming about looking for the wolves. In my dream, I found a baby lion cub who was being harassed by a hyena, so I chased the hyena away and then the cub wouldn’t leave me alone, he kept following me. I woke up thinking “Wrong species but I wish that would happen with the wolves.”

As I got out of my tent I witnessed a beautiful avalanche on the other side of the valley. It was magnificent.

I started tracking towards langboche and within 2 hours or so I was in the yak farms surrounded by stone fences. It resembles the Shire without the hobbits, although Sherpa people are kind of small. There are many yak farms here but all abandoned for the winter except for one farmer who for some reason has decidedly kept his yaks here for the winter. I got to the river and discovered this place as a beautiful little Idaho. It’s got a pleasant soft little river flowing from the glacier and seems so gentle in its mannerism. One can’t help but love it for bringing such calm to a valley surrounded by gigantisaraus mountains.

I got out the gas cooker and boiled up some porridge for breakfast while trying to figure out where I would go if I was a wolf. I left my bag there and went scouting and found a rocky outcrop with dens large enough to house dragons. I also stumbled across an interesting little centipede. it was about the length of a man's hand but not as wide, and it looks poisonous but it's hard to tell. He's a pretty little guy, of course, it could be a girl.

I found one spot that had an old yak carcass and figured that would be a great place to put my tent. This had to be the spot. It was right by a massive rock that had shattered at the top and the scales of rock from the fall lay scattered around this gigantic boulder the size of a 2-story building.

It must have been hit by lightning or perhaps a dragon tried to land on it and the rock gave way. I named it appropriately “Broken Rock” and that is where I would set up camp for the night.

By the time I got back to my backpack it was dark but I needed to get back to broken rock for the night. If wolves were in the area, they would be there. I tracked in the dark without a headlamp on, I figured the headlamp would scare them but I won’t lie, it’s unnerving trekking in the dark in wolf territory without a headlamp, knowing very well a pack of wolves could be stalking me. I was wearing the headlamp and my knife was attached to me so I was prepared. If anything rustled in the bushes, I would switch the headlamp on and they would run. Of course, my camera was strapped to my neck ready to record.

When I got near broken rock I had to switch the headlamp on. I set it to low beam because there are big rocks covered in moss which looks beautiful but the gaps in between the rocks are hard to see with the growth of the shrubs. A couple of times I put my foot on the shrubs and my leg disappeared down the gap between the rocks, at least it was foggy so I had a good cover.

It’s kind of wild setting up camp beside a carcass that I knew a pack of wolves had once devoured. My overblown imagination could only imagine the snarling, growling, ripping at the flesh while the poor creature screamed from pain. The sharp teeth and strong jaws breaking into the thick hide and ripping off the outer layer to get to the real meat of it. Yup, I’m in the thick of it right here with a new moon hovering above, the imprint is almost audible.

I’m all set up cooking pasta again, I probably shouldn’t be cooking but I figured maybe they’ll get curious and come investigate. I have the night vision on the tent so if there’s any curious creatures that come nearby hopefully they will get paparazzi’d.