Hi Laurel.

Thanks so much for letting us tell our story!

Welcome to our trek dedicated to the much respected Australian CrocodileHunter Steve Irwin, who tragicaly passed away recently.

Today our trekking team is at Tangnag, elevation 4400 metres, or 14,432 feet. Since I last wrote on the 23rd, the snow lifted a bit and we were able to cross some more 4500 metre high passes completely pasted in snow, to descend into the beautiful Hinku Valley.

This was an exciting pass crossing to be sure, with rocky peaks encrusted in snow surrounding us as if we were in the jaws of adragon. The trail dropped us unto the valley floor at 3300 metres, so we lost over a kilometre of elevation in a very short stretch. The snow packed trail was quite slick and the porters were scared. Our climbing Sherpas Tashi and Bir Kaji were extremely attentive to everyone's safety, cutting steps in the slippery trail. Rajan Thapa, our trek leader supervised our descent perfectly. That night we stayed along the Hinku Khola River at Kote village and warmed ourselves in a comfortable teahouse.

The following morning we were required to pay a "travel permission fee" to the local political group that control this region: "The Kirat Autonomous Republican Government". It kind of reminds me of the medieval city-states of Europe around here with different valleys having their own seperate governments. Nevertheless, the charge was not that high, and the gentleman who took our money was very polite and even let us take his photo. Afterwards, we began our walk and enjoyed perhaps the loveliest day of our trek yet, strolling along gentle trails in the sunshine through Juniper, Rhododendron, Heather and Ephedra clad meadows along the Hinku River, beneath the towering summits of Choure, Gonghla, and the Mera Himal.

At one point a massive raptor which is a sort of eagle, know as a "Lammergeier" soared just over our heads, and we took it as a sign to stop in a grassy pasture to eat lunch and bathe in the Autumn sun's rays.

Later in the day,we visited a remote monastery shrine in a cave and received the blessings of the local Llama, who lived next to granite like a hermit, and put on an impressive performance for us, chanting, banging a drum, blowing a conchshell, and lighting butter lamps. Open our departure, he gave us each a finescarf, and we felt blessed indeed.

Today we are taking a rest day in the village of Tangnag, elevation 4400 metres, or 14,432 feet. We are on the valley wall to the side of a massive great flood plain littered with housesized granite boulders, which was created six years ago when the ice dam on a large glacial lake "Sabai Tso" burst and scattered the contents of the valley about like popcorn. Hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon!

Well, its time to sign off now, as its snowing again and our solar batteries are waning.

Best wishes to all of our loved ones, family,friends and colleagues, from Dan Mazur and all of us at SummitClimb.com

Photo

PA250494: Buddhist Priest Phurba Temba Lama and his drum, resting after along chanting session in his monastery cave.

PA250492: Rajan Thapa, our awesome trek leader. He is flat out the best trekleader I have met in my 20 years in the Himalaya.

PA250488: Inside the gompa shrine, with statues of Krishna, Gautam Buddha,and Pahdmasambhava.

PA250484: Stuart Murray shows off his newly acquired "travel permit" at Kotevillage.

PA250483: Raj, our trek leader, completing paperwork with the local officerof the "The Kirat Autonomous Republican Government" who was quite friendly.

PA250481: Crossing the final bridge into Kote. Left to right: Ferro(drinking tea), Mark, and Pete.

PA250476: Our little trek team making the descent from a 4500 metre passbetween Chanbu Kharka and Hinku Khola. Slippery, please take care!

PA250471: Last view of our snowy little camp at 4200 metre Chanbu Kharka.

PA250485: Our 4 awesome trek cooks prepare a superb impromptu lunch on theside of the trail along the Hinku Khola.

Thanks again for tuning in! -Dan Mazur from SummitClimb.com