The Canadian Snow Leopard

There are certain events in life that could only ever occur while traveling and for me one of those was getting caught in a snow leopard trap, but we will get to that part of the story in due time.

My trek to Kanchenjunga was a really incredible adventure. The hike started in the terraced hills with no mountains in sight. We followed the river coming down from the mountain glacier up a valley for days until we hit the Himalayan wall of mountains separating Nepal from India. The trail we followed is the only access to the villages in the valley. There are no cars so any goods that come in are carried on someone's back or by a donkey or yak.

The most amazing part of the trek was the simplicity. Since the area doesn't have the popularity of areas like Everest the infrastructure is very basic. We spent our nights in people's homes watching them cook our dinner on a small wood or in higher altitudes yak dung fire. Most days the vegetables in our meal came straight out of the garden. We ate the Nepali staple meal dal baht twice a day every single day except for one. For those who haven't heard me profess my love for dal baht before, you are given a plate of rice, a lentil soup and some sort of curry, usually potato based. If you are really lucky you will get saag, cooked green leafy vegetable. You mix it all together and eat it using just your right hand. The greatest feature of dal baht is that you are always offered seconds so you can eat as much as you want. Many people will even be offended if you don't take a second helping. It terrifies me to think of how many pounds of rice and potatoes I consumed on the trip. It is a simple meal, but it is filling and every person cooks it differently so it is always a surprise seeing what you will get.

It was interesting being so close to the local life. No one has running water in their homes so much of village life is centered around the water taps. In most places mazes of black plastic tubing is used to carry water from higher up rivers to the village. Dishes, laundry and showering are all done out in the open. The couple of times I had the opportunity to semi-shower since it was cold and stripping down in public wasn't an option I would attract a crowd of kids watching. It is a bizarre juxtaposition that no one has running water and the only form of toilets are outhouses, but yet most villages had electricity generated by small hydro plants and in turn many places we stayed had televisions, DVD players and in some cases satellite TV.

My favorite village was a Tibetan settlement called Phale. The village was high up in the mountains and the people living there are refugees from Tibet who fled from the Chinese occupation many years ago. There were far more yaks than people and two small monasteries. The lady we stayed with was an amazing host and told us how her children are in India so that they can attend the Tibetan schools there. She was making these incredible dragon carpets with elaborate patterns by hand. It was mesmerizing to watch her work, her hand speed was amazing. The process is so incredibly labor intensive as the carpet is made by hand tying knots. I really should have hauled one down the mountain.

Given the lack of tourists I got very used to being stared at. Everything I did was a source of interest from writing in my journal to eating. One day I was sewing up a hole in my pants. The guest house owner was sitting there intently watching my terrible sewing skills and then when he couldn't take it anymore proceeded to grab my pants from me and finish the sewing himself. The other tourists I did meet along the way were all very interesting. Most had extensively traveled all over Nepal and had visited the country more than 5 times. There was the French filmmaker who was riding his mountain bike to Everest base camp and recording his journey for his TV series. My friends Youngjoo from Korea and Bill from New York city shared their wealth of knowledge about Nepal with me so I can start planning future trips.

The trail itself was very sketchy at times, we crossed landslides with big drops, steep rocky sections and scary looking homemade bridges, but every step took us into more and more beautiful scenery. Since it is almost monsoon season we spent a lot of time hiking in the clouds and also contended with a bit of snow and rain. The temperatures started off as soaked with sweat all day hot and gradually dropped to wear your down jacket at all times cold as we climbed higher. The altitude made climbing with a fully loaded pack very difficult at times and the smallest incline could leave me gasping for breath.

Eventually we entered the mountainous area where the elusive Snow leopard is known to reside. As part of conservation efforts a Nepali crew supported by the WWF were trying to trap one so that they could fit it with a radio collar. It was amazing luck to be there at the same time and to get to talk to some of the crew. They showed me photos from previous trips of images they captured with camera traps. There was also 3 Nepali filmmakers there shooting a documentary about the conservation efforts in the area. They were a ton of fun to hang out with and to talk to about their views on the future of Nepal.

On our way up to the final village I was walking along behind my guide and noticed a small cardboard sign with Nepali written on it. Not being able to read it I continued on my way not really paying attention when all of the sudden there was no longer ground beneath my foot. As my stomach leapt to my throat I felt something cinch around my boot. This all happened in a split second and confused I lifted my foot and realized I had a thick metal cable wrapped around my foot. I had unwittingly stepped directly on the snare trap. Fortunately the cable was loose and I was able to free myself, but once the conservation guys found out what had happened I was referred to as the Canadian Snow Leopard. Word even spread by radio to the lower village so upon my return back down everyone already knew the story. Unfortunately I was the only animal they trapped so no opportunity to get a look at a snow leopard.

The ultimate goal of our trek was to visit the base camp of Kanchenjunga since this is the only place where the mountain is fully visible. We set off for a day hike to the camp, but by the time we arrived the clouds had completely obliterated the view. There was a five man expedition team at the camp getting ready for their climb and a small rock hut that a three man Nepali crew was using for cooking for the expedition. My guide somehow arranged for us to make an unplanned overnight stay in the hut so that we could get a clear view first thing in the morning. The expedition team invited me to join them for dinner and we had a delicious meal and interesting conversation. The night however was far from pleasant. Since we had only planned to be there for a few hours my nice warm sleeping bag was a three hour walk away. I spent the night in my down jacket and every single article of clothing I had with me huddled in a very thin sleeping bag and a blanket that were spares in the hut. Needless to say I didn't sleep much and spent most of the night willing the morning to arrive. When the sun finally did appear there was a large amount of ice in my water bottle. It ended up being worth one uncomfortable night because we got a perfect clear view of the massive mountain and the glacier sweeping from the mountain down the valley. It was stunning. The cook made sure we were well fed and then we started our journey back towards civilization. All in all a very successful trip filled with many memories and adventures.

I am working on getting photos uploaded, but the internet speed is making the process painstakingly slow. They will however eventually be available at the usual location:

https://plus.google.com/112392129776163836192