Worst in 40 years and no one climbs...

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Well from one extreme to another. When we first arrived it was unusually hot for the region which sometimes made it slightly uncomfortable however I would prefer that to what we have now. We set off for our first day of trekking which was a relatively short unstrenuous walk of only 2 and a half hours, in our usual heat, gaining very little altitude but places to camp are at a premium so you camp where you can and so these determine the lengths of the trekking days. We set up camp as ususal and played a little volleyball between us and the sherpas. We won relatively easily but i doubt they have played very much before. Then in the evening the fun and games started, rain began to fall lightly and we watched a spectacular fork lightning storm on the mountain ridge, a real display that all marvelled at as it was a novelty. the rain set in but for the following day of 5 hours of trekking, the weather was overcast and comfortable for trekking however the gain in altitude was beginning to take its toll and i could feel the significant difference. We were being led by a guide called Mattuub who just last week climbed Everest...and John Hegarty our leader referred to him as God, this shows the amount of knowledge he had and the respect he commanded. When we reached our second day camp I was feeling exhausted and struggled to put up the tent. Yet again another spectacular lightning storm followed by heavy rain and the novelty was wearing off. We were told the following morning that two days consecutive rain was rare, well the nect must have been even more unusual. We again trekked for 3 hours on the third day to base camp, which was a campsite that was slightly undesirable. It was on the side on a mountain ridge at around a 25 degree angle covered in rocks. The sherpas with their ice axes dug up the rocks and completely changed the face of the mountain side while the rest of us just slept and rested on rocks, we were so tired and affected by altitude. Yes yet again that night the weather came in with lightning no more than 500m away hitting the top of the ridge. We were briefed in the very leaky dining tent on what was going on. thwe monsoon from Delhi is not meant to reach the mountains and come up high at all. It had done however and a storm pulse had got stuck in the mountains and couldnt get out. We were constantly crossing rivers and each day they were getting higher and slightly harder to cross. After reaching base camp, the following morning after another heavy storm we were told the news we had all expected that a foot of snow had falled on top of Jangkangri (the planned summit), that if the weather stooped now we would have to wait a week for the snow to compact and that the storms did not look like subsiding. It was too dangerous to stay on the side of the mountain as the lighting was close and we started our three day descent rather than climb. The same pattern followed the following two days with trek, rain and storm. Just before the campsite on the fifth day we crossed a river which was hard enough at the time, it was a good job that we did it that night. The heavens again opened and the following day we started on the short final leg of the disappointing but still amazing trek. We could not travel on normal routes to where the jeeps would collect us so we had to climg acros rock faces as there was no possibility of crossing the river back and forth as we had done previosuly. We arrived at a small village where our bags were to reahc us as usual by horse. We waited for 2 hours during which time the only bridge connecting one side of the village to the other, which was steel reinforced completely collapsed in front of our eyesunder the pressure of the huge waters that pushing against it. We came back to the hotel and our bags arrived 5 hours later, with the news that one horse had died travelling along the river and some sherpa trail crew kit had also been lost. Because we had been away from civilisation for nearly a week we were unaware of what the bigger picture was. Anyone who had not crossed the river that day we did, was now stranded and had to wait for the water to subside which doesnt look likely even writign this two days later. The river Indus has burst its banks insome places and half of Leh is isolated with hotels and guest houses empty. Roads are literally being washed away. The bridge between Leh and Manali has been washed away and the weather has to calm before the army can go about rebuilding it. We were due to set off early tomorrow morning to Manali however there is no point with no bridge to cross. It will take two days to reach the bridge so we intend to set off a day later than planned however this is not for definite. There are otehr possibilities which are not desirable in the least and we do not intend to have to use. The next avaliable flights out of here are in early september and the other road out is through Muslim Kashmir full of militants. None are ideal and hopefully the weather will calm down soon. We have had around 10 times their annual rainfall in teh past 5 days and this is the driest inhabited place on earth....! Hmm I wonder if it still is? Well hopefully next time I write will be from Manali or Delhi but theres hoping... Speak soon Jonny

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