Day 18: Tatopani to Ghorepani
Approximate Trekking Time: 5 – 6 hrs.
Distance: 15.3k / 9.5 miles
Overnight Elevation: 2870m/9416ft.
Ghorepani means “horse water”, named so because travelers would stop along this pass to water their horses before continuing along their journey. I pity the horses that had to make this climb.
Today’s trek was a long and arduous one, 17km and roughly 1700m (5577ft.) ascent, more than any other day on the circuit. Not too far down the road from Tatopani, we crossed a suspension bridge over the Kali Gandaki and then another over the Ghar Khola. The rest of the day can be summarized by, we went UP, UP, UP… a climb of relentless stone staircases, steep uphill trail, and crumbled rock pathways.
The first section of uphill included rock staircases that crisscrossed uphill road switchbacks, eventually leaving the road to to climb a long staircase to a rocky prominence called Durbin Danda. From this spur, you could view the entire valley you were about to climb through – the lush green mountainsides, the terraced fields, and the small villages and homes perched along the mountainsides, dotting the valley.
The trail continued on – uphill trails, seemingly endless staircases, and punishing rocky ascents, punctuated by very short bits of flat or downhill, but nearly always climbing. The day was warm and we were back to jungle humidity. Everything was lush and green, the hillsides covered in trees draped in vines, palm fronds, fruit trees, plants, grasses, flowers, and mosses.
Passing through Ghara, we continued upwards through Shikkha and Chitre. From Chitre, it’s approximately an hour to Ghorepani. This last hour is completely and utterly demoralizing as you make your way up seemingly unending steep rocky pathways. No longer semblances of organized stone steps, the trail is covered in crushed rocks and eroded ditches, rising through forests of magnolia and rhododendron (beautiful if you can look past your exhaustion). Slowly plodding to the top, your heart sinks each time you round a curve, only to see more and more rocky uphill.
Finally, we could see a manmade structure uphill. Ascending toward it, the bright yellow archway read “Welcome to Ghorepani”!!! Yay! We made it! BUT NOT QUITE. Beyond the archway and a couple of teaser buildings, a sign delivered the final sucker punch, informing us that Ghorepani was situated another 15+ minutes uphill. UGH.
We climbed the final staircases into Ghorepani (2870m/9416ft.), exhausted, and found a room at the Snow View Lodge, where we immediately collapsed onto our beds. While other travelers here said the showers in their rooms were nice and hot, ours were luke-cold, so we apparently drew the short end of the stick. Otherwise, the guesthouse was nice and in a good location to head up Poon Hill the next day.
In the afternoon, we rewarded ourselves with the first “Snickers Roll” that we had tried on the trip. Basically, a Snickers bar that is wrapped in dough and deep fried. These are also made with Mars bars and had been available at nearly every lodge along the trail. NOW was the time to try one out. It was delicious with gooey Snickers on the inside. Probably best that we hadn’t tried them until nearly our last day on the trail!
