The Makalu Base Camp Trek is an out-and-back hike that takes about two weeks to complete. It goes to the base of Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. It is located just east of the more famous Everest region and reaches an elevation of 17,225 feet/ 5250 meters. Locals say that Makalu Base…
The Manaslu Circuit Trek is a tea house trek in Nepal. It’s located east of Kathmandu between the Lang Tang region and the Annapurna region. It circumnavigates Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the world, and reaches an elevation of 16,751 ft/ 5106 m on Larke Pass. The Manaslu Circuit is perfect for trekkers who…
The Great Himalaya Trail stretches across the length of Nepal’s Himalaya mountain range. It goes through remote villages and across dangerous mountain passes. There are no exact statistics, but it’s estimated that less than 50 people have ever completed the hike. In 2017, myself and my hiking partner went to Nepal to do a self-supported…
With the new year here, I’ve been tying up all of my loose ends from 2017. Me being the total nerd that I am, part of this process has been reviewing my finances from over seven months of travel that took me through nine countries. I had a loose idea of how much money I…
The Great Himalaya Trail has two recommended routes, the high route and the low route. Locals often refer to them as the mountain route and cultural route. Hikers might choose to do one or the other, but I did a combination of both. The high route and low route are more like guidelines than official…
It’s no secret that I love Nepal. In two years I’ve spent a collective eight months trekking and exploring the country. While the mountains are the thing I love most about Nepal, there are also some pretty incredible alpine lakes. I’m talking turquoise and emerald blue, perfect reflection of the mountains, no one else around…
Some of you guys have been asking for a comprehensive gear list of what I used on the Great Himalaya Trail. Well, ask and you shall receive. There were a few items that failed or needed to be switched out, so I’ll let you know what those were. Most of my gear was stuff I…
Dolpa is the section of the Great Himalaya Trail that Buckey and I have most looked forward to. For months, I’ve heard locals referring to the region as “the real Nepal”, which greatly piqued my interest. Buckey has been stoked to go there ever since he read The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics) this past winter,…
After departing Pokhara, we headed back to the mountains to begin our treks of the Manaslu and Annapurna Circuits during our Great Himalaya Trail thru-hike. Buckey and I decided to be easy on ourselves and split the bus ride up into two days. First we took a five-hour bus ride to the town of Gorkha….
After taking an embarrassingly high number of rest days in Kathmandu (six rest days, probably my new record), Buckey and I were all set to get back on the trail. We made the brutal nine-hour bus ride back to Jiri, where we had left off. For this section of trail, we were headed to Panch…