Deer

                                                   Deer

 Nepal boasts several species of deer nut most of them are confined to the lowlands. The muntjak ( muntiacus muntjac) or barking deer, which usually makes its presence known by its sharp one note alarm call is found at elevations up to 2400m. the unusual musk deer(moschus moschiferus), with antelope like features and only 50cm high at the shoulder ranges higher to over 4000m. the male is not only hornless but has oversized canine teeth that protrude from the mouth. The male’s musk gland is found in the abdomen its value to humankind has accelerated its demise .

                 

Sunflower Family

The compositae are perhaps the largest family of Dicotyledons, widely distributed in all parts of the world and indeed the dominant family in the Himalayan. In addition to the well known sunflower the family includes many other garden plants like cosmos aster zennia, chrysanthemum, dahlia, etc. On the Himalayan the family occurs right from the timberline to the highest limits of existence of plants. They are however best developed in semi – arid and high steppes and some of them at extreme altitudes are remarkable for the milky latex aromatic and cottony woolly leaves. The most striking chhhhharacter of the family is its inflorescence a capitulum ar head. Numerous small flowers called florets, are arranged close together on the flattened disc like top of the main inflorescence axis, often with leafy bracts forming an involucres and clustered in whorls below. The outer row of florets has the outer petal greatly enlarged as a brightly colored ligule to form a sort of an outer ring of rayed perals for the compound mass. The central mass of florets, called disc florets, consists of tubular florets with inferior ovary often 

   

 Compositae is dominant family in the Himalayan marigold growing plentifully near the phewa lake, pokhara in Nepal.

Khumbu valley

                      

The khumbu valley sweeps toward pheriche between the towering shape of taboche and insignificant- looking pokalde. It’s a broad valley gently tilted with poor stunted vegetation, but as you progress through it, so its character changes. Instead of continuing in a northwesterly direction, it’s necessary to veer right and climb northeast towards the khumbu glacier. The glacier is not properly seen, but the bulldozed moraines that line it become a prominent feature of the landscape. Some way above Duglha you enter a stony section with pumori lingtren and khumbutse blocking the valley head. Along the crest that unites them runs the border with Tibet. All around huge mountains soar in a crescent of rock snow and ice. Yet mount Everest remains elusive despite its close proximity. Effectively hidden by Nuptse’s south- west face it will not be seen until you climb above Gorak shep to kala patter.

  

Safety on Thorung la pass

                                         Safety on Thorung la pass

 Thorung la is a high pass and crossing it is potentially dangerous. It is easiest and safest to cross thorung la from east to west as in this rote description. If you travel from west to east there are no camp sites or water sources on the west side of the pass from a meadow above Muktinath at 4100m, to a spot two to three hours past the pass on the manang side at 4510m. This means that you have to make a 1300m climb plus at least a 900m descent in a single day. This is a difficult feat for most people specially those who have not yet acclimatize to high altitude. The trails are less steep on the manang side of the pass and in the event of a problem you can call on the resources of the Himalayan Rescue relationship post in Manang.

From manang to muktinath the pass is not difficult, but it is still a long trek and the high elevation can cause problems particularly for those without previous high- altitude incident. You might have to return to besi sahar if it is impossible or dangerous to cross thorung la because of snow or altitude sickness. It’s not possible to define exact dates but thorung la is usually snowbound and closed from mid December to late February. There are years when the weather allows it to stay open throughout the winter, and other times when unseasonable storms close it in October or April. Be sure to read the Altitude Sickness section in the Health & safety chapter (p126) so that you are aware of the symptoms. Trekkers died on thorung la because of altitude sickness exposure, cold and avalanche.

   

The windswept thorung la can create altitude problem for Around Annapurna trekking. At 5416m it is one of the world’s highest trekking goals.