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Tagne 2001 |
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Dan's DiaryDay 27 - Tuesday 24th July 2001
Jon's alarm went of at 4:30am and shortly afterwards Sonam arrived with a cup of tea. It took me fifteen minutes to sum up the energy to get out of my sleeping bag. I quickly threw on my clothes, trying to stay warm, and then packed my sleeping bag into my rucksack. Sonam brought the tray of food that was to be our breakfast and lunch to our tents and we helped ourselves. I put my plastic boots on and removed my warm clothes, leaving on just the clothes I was going to walk in. Andy went round asking if anyone had some paper for the mapping of the mountains. Jon and I left Base Camp at 5:20am and headed towards Upstairs at an easy pace. Alan and Steve followed on five minutes after us, and Andy left some time after that. We ascended the screes and across the rocky ledges and arrived at Upstairs without even breaking into a sweat. Jon and I sorted out the food into five equal piles, one for each person to carry and added to them any extra equipment we thought we might need. I filled my rucksack with one of the piles and Alan and Steve arrived and did likewise.
We left Upstairs at 5:50am after Andy had arrived and taken on board his share of the provisions. We climbed slowly but steadily up the rocks and grassy tuffs on the right hand side of the main crag and then traversed across over the top of the rocky staircase. Alan, Steve and Andy were coughing every couple of minutes, to clear their sinuses. Alan dropped behind towards the top, finding it harder than the rest of us. We traversed along to the gullies and arrived at the first one in a buoyant mood. We stopped and had a mock light saber fight with our walking poles while Alan, who had stopped some way back, took photos of us. As we descended into the first gully we were talking about Transformers and the tune of "Inspector Gadget" echoed around the second and third gullies as we crossed them. We crossed the three gullies with our confidence high. At the shepherds' hut we stopped for breakfast. I got cold as soon as we stopped and was eager to move on, but Alan who had arrived behind us wanted a bit longer. We continued along the valley side over the small patches of grass before returning to the chaotic assortment of boulders and rocks that covered the valley side. It wasn't long before we lost Steve in the scree to empty his system. We waited for him. He seemed to take an age. What was he doing? Was he all right?
I shouted out "Steve if you don't come out by the time I count to ten I'll shoot". The words echoed around the valley. Steve popped over the top of a mound some five minutes later and we continued on our way up the valley. We descended down the eighty-foot high bank to the first river. The water level was low and the river easily crossed, although Alan managed somehow to get a foot wet. We waited on the far side for Steve to catch up before heading up the opposite and equally high bank to Jimi's place. The dogs were no problem, they sat patiently on the grass watching us go past. They were obviously well fed and thus didn't want to remove our tender parts. Either that or they hadn't been fed for so long they had no energy to move. But either way we got passed with out being attacked. I waved to the shepherd to say hello, but he was too busy talking to the goats to see. We continued on over the mixed stony and grassy terrain. Numerous goat and sheep tracks were etched into the valley side but no sooner had one been found than it would disappear. Jon and I were slightly ahead. We descended the steep boulder-strewn river cliff upstream of the stream confluence. Both streams were crossed and then we walked upstream to rejoin the shepherds' track on the far side of the river valley. We waited at the foot of the slope to watch the others cross. Andy, Alan and Steve headed straight for us. On coming to the river they found they couldn't cross it. They wandered about like muppets for a few minutes before finding somewhere to cross. All safely across, we ascended the boulder slope out of the valley at a slow pace, being careful where possible to avoid the loose scree. Jon and I stopped at the top of the slope and waited for the others to arrive.
Andy came up shouting "Rhubarb" every time he spotted some growing in amongst the boulders. We had a bite to eat, but it was water that was required more. Alan, Andy and I went fossil hunting. At first it was rather random and destructive, picking up rocks and throwing them against boulders until they disintegrated. Then as we discovered some fossils it became rather more methodical with Andy using the ice hammer to try and remove them. Jon, not interested in the proceedings threatened to go on up to Advanced Base Camp. Andy wanted to continue his search so Jon left and went on. Alan and Steve followed on after Jon some twenty minutes later. Andy and I headed after them once Andy had succeeded in removing a brachiopod (and a fine specimen it was too), along with several other shelled fossils. Before long we had come to the end of the grass and soil and returned to the land of scree. We crossed just about every type of scree the world can offer. There was large scree that wobbled precariously and small scree that gave way and tumbled away down the slope when trodden on. Then there was the type of scree that ate the tip of your walking pole and refused to release it and scree that bit holes your trousers when you sat to take a rest. It was hard work crossing the screes and trying to stay on your feet. The sun was starting to peak through the thinning cloud and it had got noticeably warmer. My eyes were fixed on the two mounds of moraine, one in front of the other, on the other side of which was Advanced Base Camp. The moraine grew slowly closer as the distance of scree we had to cross got thankfully less and less. We dropped down off the scree slope and clambered up the first mound of moraine, taking care to avoid the big man-eating holes lurking round each corner in-between the large blocks. We dropped down off the other side of the moraine pile and then crossed an area of flat boulders before mounting the second mound of moraine. We descended from the top of this onto a level plain from where the three yellow and grey tents could be seen waiting. I crossed the river terrace, with Andy a few minutes behind me to where the tents were, dumping my rucksack on the small stones. It was 12pm. Jon and Alan had the tea on and Steve was resting in his tent.
We drank the tea and ate our packed lunch, which consisted of a cheese spread, a honey and a marmalade roti along with a chocolate bar and various nuts. After lunch I made a jelly from instant sachets and put the bowl in the icy cold river so it would set. I sorted out the food to see what the rations would be. There was lots more that I had anticipated, especially since Narinder hadn't come up with us. Everyone wanted cheese so I reluctantly gave them some just to keep them quiet. It started to hail, which sent us running around grabbing everything that was outside and throwing it into our tents. We retreated inside our tents for shelter. No one had remembered to bring up a pack of cards so Jon and I played with the radio and the avalanche transceivers. The cloud soon passed and the hail ceased. At 4:45pm Andy cried out from his tent that he'd found his pack of cards. By 5pm we were back outside to start preparing dinner. Alan, Jon and Andy helped light the stoves and started to boil the water they had collected from the river while I chose what we would eat.
By 6pm the rice was cooked and split between the five of us. We ate it with tuna, chilli sauce and mango chutney again. The black currant jelly followed for afters. I washed the pans in the river after the meal and noticed gas bubbles in the water periodically rising from the pebbles that formed the riverbed. I concluded that these bubbles either originated from underground fish or from volcanic activity. I told the others, and we preferred the latter idea. I had visions of us waking up to find a red river of lava spewing down the valley and us having to escape. We would have to inflict a few scorch marks on our bodies to make it more interesting and then we would be able to sell our stories and pictures to the papers and retire on the money we'd made. Back to reality and I returned to the stream to fill up my water bottle. The water was still bubbling away at the same point as before. I then joined Andy and Alan in Andy's tent for a game of cards. Jon and Steve also came to play and before long there were five of us cramped into a two man tent with no room to move. "I can either put my head on your shoulder or my foot up your arse" Steve bluntly stated as he vied with Andy for more room. We managed to find a small patch of floor space in the centre in which the cards were dealt. Every time a round ended everyone would reposition themselves trying to get comfortable. We had a few renditions of songs including Bohemian Rhapsody and Stairway to Heaven. My back soon started to ache and my hands got pins and needles. I went to move into a different position and found a pool of water on the floor of the tent. "Are my trousers wet? Is my Thermarest wet?" came the questions from the other end of the tent as Jon and I struggled to put Andy's water bottle outside. "Don't use too much toilet paper" Andy said as I started to mop up the puddle. A bit ironic I thought especially as he was on his third roll compared to my first of the trip! We discussed the option of only taking two tents for the five of us up at camp one. Should it be the three smallest or the three thinnest people in one of the tents? We decided it should be the three thinnest, so I considered a night of eating in order to stake a claim to a place in the two man tent. At 7:50pm, in the rapidly-fading light I played my last card and hurriedly exited the tent saying "Time to get the blood circulating". The others didn't know what to do fearing I had murder or suicide in mind. All I had in mind was getting rid of my pins and needles. I retreated to my tent and sorted my things out before drifting off to sleep.
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© Copyright Steve Jolly 2001. |
