Trekking in India: Stok Kangri Climb

On 19th September 2018, 16 women from the Love Her Wild community, including myself, met in Heathrow. We were a group of sleepy strangers hopping on a plane to Delhi, looking forward to our Stok Kangri climb. At a height of 6,153m Stok Kangri is the highest mountain in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas. It was my first time trekking in India, the same for many of the team. We faced mental barriers and several plan changes, but my god it was an incredible trip.

Plan A – The Beginning

Connecting from Delhi, we began the trek by having a couple of acclimatisation days in Leh, a dusty Himalayan town buzzing with markets, street cows and the spicy smell of fresh curry. It has an eclectic vibe of Tibetan refugee history, mixed with Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist traditions. The views surrounding are high, snowy mountain peaks, including our Stok Kangri. We explored the town and visited monasteries, relaxing before our expedition truly began. We had already been advised at this point that we would be taking a slightly different route than originally planned. There had not been enough rainfall on the original route for us to pick up plenty drinking water. This wasn’t a big deal – both our expedition leader, the wonderful Jo Bradshaw, and our local guides had done the route before. Little did we know what was headed our way.

Once we’d let our bodies get used to the lack of oxygen at 3,524m and got to know our tent-mates, our guides arranged a lift to the tiny village of Chilling. We enjoyed a restful afternoon, allowing us plenty of time to chill in preparation for starting to hike the next day. Unfortunately this is where plans began to change further. 

Plan B – Chilling to Skyu

The rain began around midday when we arrived in Chilling, and was relentless throughout the night. Awakening to raindrops battering our tents, the group still arose with smiles on our faces, ready for the first day of trekking. Initially the trail followed a dirt road, and it was evident from early on the rain had caused some damage. Whilst we still managed to continue, treacherously at times jumping across collapsed tracks, cars definitely would not be able to cross. Hopefully there would be relief from the rain that afternoon. 

We reached the village of Skyu that afternoon around lunch time and were told our plans would possibly be changing. Due to the amount of rainfall (which had not subsided as we had hoped), we could not pitch our tents and would be staying in a home stay. Not only that, but tomorrows trekking was in jeopardy. The route in our plan was through a valley surrounded by steep rocky slopes. There was a very high risk of dangerous rock slides due to the rain. We witnessed some of these from the safety of the home stay, sounding like approaching thunder before we realised it was rocks tumbing at speed from the slopes surrounding us!

Whilst the rain eventually dissipated overnight, a decision was made to stay in the Skyu homestay for a full day. The guides worked continuously, running around the surrounding valleys to check out possible alternative routes. Plan C was arranged. Then discarded due to more route problems. Reality set in that not only will we probably not make Stok Kangri, but we might be stuck here for a while.

The homestay did provide much needed shelter and the owners were very accommodating. But it was a true experience in itself, of real life in the mountains. Several leaks in the roof dripping on people’s sleeping bags; all 16 of us crammed into the family’s living room; no electricity; a smelly cat that didn’t have a mute buton; the bathroom (elevated ‘squat and drop’ style) had a hole in the roof, which meant water pouring in towards your back while you try and get your balance over said toilet hole. Thankfully rather than moan, we laughed and bonded as new friends. Including a much-needed sing-a-long with Carole and her guitar to keep spirits high! 

Plan D – Gaining Altitude

After our long, uneventful day in Skyu, we were off!! Thank goodness!! This time Plan D had been concocted. We were going to head through a different, far less dangerous, valley, and make our way up past the village of Shingo. Eventually we would reach camp, wild and untouched in amongst the mountains. The beginning of the day was a gentle uphill slope through the valley, but with some iffy yet exciting scrambling up a waterfall.

After a stop for lunch the second part of the day was harder for many of us. It was a decent altitude climb that day and it started to take its toll. Nausea and difficulty to catch breath were the main culprits. But slow, slow, slow is the saying at altitude! And these struggles allows for a huge part of this trip to manifest itself – supporting your team mates. It’s all about encouraging each other when the going gets tough, and our team definitely did that. We took it easy, and eventually arrived at my favourite campsite of the trek, deep in the mountains surrounded by snow and stunning mountain peaks!

Plan E – The Other Side

Once again, our plans for the next day changed. It was evident to the guides that there was a huge amount of snowfall on the high passes surrounding us, causing route-blocks once again. The only way around this was to tackle Stok Kangri from the other side. This meant a long, tough today of trekking. We set off from our beautiful campsite bright and early. Heading up towards Ganda La, a very snowy pass we had been staring up at from camp the night before, the walk was semi-steep. Again, a decent enough gain in altitude. Slowly, Slowly as always.

I felt unbelievably sick reaching the top of Ganda La. Out of breath, exhausted, and extremely nauseous – the only thing that stopped me lugging my guts up was seeing a paw print in the snow!! Delighted!! What I now believe to be a wolf print, brought me so much excitement, the nausea swiftly disappeared. We stopped for a rest, drink of water and snack, before heading down the opposite side of the pass. There were quite a few of us this day who were feeling very unwell. And unfortunately it was another long slog, due to our change in plans.

Around a 9 hour descent. The downhill stretch seemed never ending, and exhaustion really was setting in. But as good teams do, we all supported each other. Dawn passed me some jelly beans on her way passed, when I’d stopped to catch my breath and hold back tears of tiredness. Even the simplest of gestures shows your teammates are looking out for you. While the jelly beans gave me an energy boost, Dawn and the rest of the team members who also came up behind, giving words of encouragement are what keeps you going sometimes. We stopped for lunch on the way down, snapped a quick group photo, and continued on. Becks very kindly gave me some of her water as I’d already glugged my way through all of mine, trying to fend off an altitude headache that was lurking!

After lunch, the terrain started to vary a little, keeping it interesting. More and more greenery appeared, something I wasn’t expecting in the Himalayas at all. Eventually we reached our goal of Zhingchen, a one-house town, where two cars were awaiting to whisk us around to Stok Village. Heading to the more popular side of the mountain, it was still looking hopeful that we’ll make the summit. *come on mountain gods, be kind!!*

It needs to be noted here that even though we had a tough day, the horsemen and the beloved ponies, horses and sole donkey who were helping with our gear had an even longer day. They were doing the full 9 hour trek, plus walking all the way around to Stok Village (about an hour in the cars). All simply to help us have a chance at Stok Kangri. They are definite saviours! 

Stok Village was a beautiful campsite on the edge of the village of Stok! After a well-deserved early night, we set off again the next day. This time we were heading up to Mankarmo, a popular camping spot with trekkers attempting Stok Kangri. The trail that day was generally very slow and steady, with a couple of serious uphill inclines thrown in! I remember for the first steep uphill it was a zigzag path up through a rocky face before popping out the other side and following a gentle slope down. And it’s probably the first time in my life I actually really enjoyed a steep uphill climb!

I have no idea why but something about that part of that day just sat right with me. The sheer joy of being in the mountains perhaps? After lunch was again a gentle incline, following the valley. Reaching Mankarmo was a godsend. The last few hours in the valley was easy walking but visually very same-samey. And when the afternoon heat is relentless, it just makes everything seem longer, slower and more difficult! 

At Mankarmo, we bumped into several trekkers – all heading down, none of whom had managed to make it up the mountain. Everyone was passing on the message that even Base Camp was far too snowy and cold. Base camp is where trekkers need to begin from when hiking Stok Kangri, as the summit day itself is very long and tough going. It wasn’t looking good, and worry started to set in.

Once we were at camp and settled down for some tea, it was official: we were not summitting Stok Kangri in two days time as we had hoped. It was off the table. Too much snow; winter conditions instead of what should have been summer conditions. Whilst everyone kept a smile and understood deeply that we cannot change mother nature and her weather, there was an undertone of sheer disappointment and heartbreak. We were devastated. With all the build-up since booking and all the battles we’d faced on the trek this far, it was a hard pill to swallow.

But, it is what it is, and we are really lucky to have had a group that did not complain or throw a fuss. We had all still had an incredible time trekking, and still had a few days left, which we would make the most of. 

Plan F & G

In the evening, we decided to still trek to base camp in the morning, set up camp and see what happened. If we couldn’t summit, there was still a beautiful sunrise spot from base camp. The next day, even that small plan changed as we heard more accounts of too much snow for camping. Instead we kept our camp in Mankarmo and decided to try and get as high as we could on a wee day hike (Plan G!). For those like myself who had never had experience with crampons and ropes, and was very much looking forward to that opportunity, it was a delight to hear we’d still get to play with some winter skills.

We walked for an hour or so until we came to the base of Golap Kangri, a much smaller peak that rests near to Stok Kangri. We roped up, got our crampons on and started to head up the steep side of this hill. It was a tiresome slog, reaching two summits. The first of these is now better known in our group as ‘thinking rock’. We continued up to finally reach the cairn we had our eyes on, reaching our highest altitude of the trip at 5050m. It was super difficult navigating in a team roped together, but my god I had THE BEST TIME! The views you can get being able to climb snowier peaks and ridges with those skills is well worth the difficulty of it. You take it slow, so as not to literally drag your team mates around with your connecting rope, and work in smaller groups of 4-5 people. It was a great feeling to be at the top of Golap Kangri, looking across to Stok Kangri – she was taunting us by looking so close you could touch, but we were happy with our achievement on our own peak. I had tears in my eyes when we got back to camp. Not out of sadness, but because that is how much I enjoyed our mini winter skills day.

After we returned to Mankarmo, we celebrated with cake made by the cooks (on a two ring gas burner!!!). We looked up at the most beautiful nights sky I have ever seen in my life, including a very clear milky way. It’s moments like this that you can’t photograph, but that are forever yours as an amazing memory.

The next day we simply re-traced our steps right back down to Stok Village, our last day of trekking. Amusingly we were followed by the three stray dogs that temporarily adopted us as part of their pack due to us feeding them leftovers the night before! That night the guides arranged for beer to be dropped off to us, and we enjoyed a campfire sing-song celebration with the guides.

It was a brilliant time to just celebrate with an amazing group – the fellow trekkers who not long ago were strangers, and I could now consider friends, whom had supported each other through thick and thin, and the many emotional ups and downs of our adventure; and with the guides and horsemen, who had gone above and beyond in every such way to make sure we were fed, happy, healthy and could get to where we wanted to be, every day doing so with smiles on their faces and humming happy tunes around the campsites.

We had a few days in Leh to reflect on the trek and settle back in to normal life. You know, the luxuries of running toilets, a shower, a bed. I feel so grateful to have been on this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trip. I will definitely go back one day to finally summit Stok Kangri, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t gutted to have not made it. But our adventure was like no other – with the amount of plan changes, the stranding in a tea house, the amazing guides and locals we met. I cannot wait to meet up with my trek-mates again – experiences like this are certainly bonding like no other!

Anyone looking for inspiration, look no further than these three recommendations, who deserve a massive thanks:

• To our expedition leader Jo Bradshaw, an Everest summiter and superbly inspirational woman, for safely guiding us including stopping us from peeing under rockfall-areas (sorry Jo!!!)
• To 360 Expeditions for organising the important logistics of the expedition;
• and to Love Her Wild , the incredible Women’s Adventure Community, for arranging the trip with 360 Expeditions.
• Do make sure you’re subscribed by email, for high altitude tips and expedition stories straight to your inbox!

If you’re heading on an expedition, don’t forget to make sure you have the correct insurance! Everything could have gone incredibly wrong on our trip. Thankfully it didn’t, but I was reassured to have True Traveller insurance, just in case. I always insure myself through these guys – they make the process easy and have a wide variety of coverage for different adventures.