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Annapurna Sanctuary and Base Camp

Nepal, Trekking around Annapurna, on the way to Annapurna sanctuary and Annapurna Base Camp, Hinko Cave,  Machapuchare base camp

From Chomrong the trail leads through a narrow valley to the Annapurna sanctuary. You will not find any more villages. It takes normaly 3 days to go to the ABC. Some people take only 2 days, but you might have problems with altitude.

In the beginning there are huge bamboo forests

 

 

 

The fishtail mountain Machapuchare

 

The famous rock of Hinko cave.

Up to 50 Persons can sleep under it.

Avalanches on the way to the ABC

Just on the beginning of march 2002 an avalanche killed three Germans an their nepali guide on the way back from MBC. In April 2001 this happened to an Israeli and two Australians.
Till now, this is the most serious threat to trekkers, far more dangerous than all the Maoists ever have been.
The most dangerous part is surely between Deorali and MBC, but avalanches can come down till Bamboo. You are walking in a deep gorge and don’t see any snow mountains at all, so its difficult to even think about snow. But the step slopes of the Hiunchuli are full of snow. If an avalanche start there some thousand meters higher, it will be funnelled in the valleys above and suddenly fall down over the wall.
There a two dangerous situations , first if there has been heavy snowfall. Then you should consider to stay one ore more days just in the lodges, waiting that possible avalanches have come dawn. It is crucial, that you have planned this already from the beginning in you time schedule. These avalanches can come down at any day time.
The second situation is in the warm spring months. As the sun gets stronger, it will warm up the snow on Hiunchuli. These avalanches get normally down after 9 o clock.
1. ask for information from locals and groups coming down. If they tell you not to go, don’t go. Nepalis tend to be quiet fatalistic and don’t worry to much about possible dangers, if they do, it’s really dangerous.
2. If there have been avalanches in the past two weeks, start very early in the morning for the stretch between Deorali and MBC. In April 2001 I started at 5:30 am from Deorali and on the way back from MBC and I stopped later to have breakfast. If you start very early at Himalaya hotel, you pass also the most dangerous part before 9 AM. For the way back it is better to start very early in MBC, this means you should stay there the night! Starting in ABC after the marvellous sunrise an a breakfast will be already pretty late-.
3. Be aware that the small snowfields you encounter on the way are not children playgrounds but the remains of former avalanches! There the chances are high that a new one will come down again. These tinny little snowfields are the most dangerous parts of the Trek!. Just cross them very quickly and don’t make a single stop.
4. When travelling in a group, have a distance from at least 50 meter between the persons when crossing the snowfields. Most of the avalanches are not very large, so that only a part of the group could be catched and the other can help quickly. When I was going with a group in April 2001, we did this for most of the part between Deorali and MBC.

 

 Machapuchare Base Camp (3700m). Many people will sleep here in one of the 5 lodges to have a better acclimatization. From here it is only 2 hours to the ABC. But if possible, it is absolutely worth to stay at least on day in ABC to see the sundrise in the very early morning.

East of the MBC lies the holy mountain Machapuchare

 

The Annapurna Base Camp

Annapurna Base Camp with Annapurna south

Sir Edmund Hillary called the Annapurna Sanctuary one of the greatest mountain sites in the world.

The east sid of the Annapurna sanctuary

 

Snow in April 2001

 

 

Anita in the ABC

 

The south face of Annapurna 1