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I did the Langtang trek in late November with a porter/guide. The best part of the trek for me were the excellent day hikes from Kyanjin Gompa. Click here to read my other blogs about the Langatang trek.
Contents
1. Introduction to Day Hikes on the Langtang Trek
The Langtang trek is very short. The first half of the trek is through forest at the bottom of a steep valley. Good mountain views are only to be found on the upper section of the hike between Thangsyap and Kyanjin Gompa.
The trail is very popular with foreign and Nepali trekkers. As the Langtang trek isn't a circuit the same trail is used for ascent and descent thus effectively doubling the number of trekkers on the trail.
You can probably gather that I am not that enthusiastic about the hike from Syabrubesi to Kyanjin Gompa! What I did like were the fantastic day hikes from Kyanjin Gompa.
Many trekkers arrive in Kyanjin Gompa poorly acclimatised and struggle up Kyanjin Ri or Tserko Ri the following day. They then quickly hike back to Syabrubesi or onto Gosaikunda. As a result they miss out on most of the best parts of the Langtang trek.
I recommend spending 4 full days at Kyanjin Gompa doing day hikes and enjoying the incredible scenery. Staying at Kyanjin Gompa isn't a hardship as there are good hotels with attached bathrooms. There are also several bakeries and a cheesery.
I recommend the following at Kyanjin Gompa:
Day of arrival - The short hike to the Lirung glacier viewpoint (4,161 metres).
1st day - The "flat" hike to Numthang (3,940 metres). If you are fit continue to Langshisha Kharka (4,125 metres).
2nd day - The hike to Langtang Lirung Base Camp (4,407 metres).
3rd day - Kyanjin Ri (4,596 metres).
4th day - Yala Peak Base Camp and/or Tserko Ri (4,984 metres).
If you only go to Tserko Ri on the final day you could start the descent back down to Syabrubesi the same day.
2. Langtang Lirung Base Camp
The hike to Lantang Lirung Base Camp is very scenic. The Langtang Lirung base camp is at an altitude of 4,407 metres which is almost 600 metres higher than Kyanjin Gompa. However, the ascent is gradual and the terrain is fairly easy.
There is a sign in Kyanjin Gompa pointing the way to Langtang Lirung Base Camp. The trail is easy to follow but the actual location of the base camp isn't clear. You follow the lateral moraine as far as you can easily go and the last flat and grassy area is the base camp.
The entire hike took 5.5 hours which included a stop for lunch and time spent enjoying the views at both the shrine and the base camp. Few trekkers do the hike to the Langtang Lirung base camp. They miss out on a fantastic hike.
3. Lirung Glacier Viewpoint
This is a short hike that I did on the day I arrived at Kyanjin Gompa. It took 1 hour to reach the viewpoint which is at an altitude of 4,161 metres, a 330 metre ascent from Kyanjin Gompa.
I enjoyed the hike even though the scenery wasn't as spectacular as on the 3 other day hikes that I did during my Langtang trek (see my trip report).
4. Kyanjin Ri
The main summit of Kyanjin Ri is at an altitude of 4,596 metres but there is also a lower summit at an altitude of 4,324 metres. There are several posts on the internet incorrectly stating that the higher summit is at an altitude of 4,770 metres.
My map identified the lower peak as Kyanjin Ri and the upper peak as Menchhyasma Ri. I haven't seen the name Menchhyasma Ri mentioned anywhere else.
I was already acclimatised, having done the Kanchenjunga trek, which made a big difference. I passed all the other young, but unacclimatised, trekkers and reached the lower summit of Kyanjin Ri in about 1 hour. It took less than an hour to hike to the main summit.
The views from the lower summit were fantastic, those from the upper summit were slightly better. Jiran and I had both peaks to ourselves and I enjoyed the views and the tranquility.
I wasn't looking forward to the descent as I thought we had to return the way that we had come up. It had been fine walking up but it looked steep and slippery for descending.
I was therefore pleased when Jiwan told me that we could descend along a different route. It involved continuing along the summit ridge for a short while before gradually descending. It was an easy path and it took 1.5 hours to return to Kyanjin Gompa.
5. Yala Peak Base Camp
Very few trekkers do this hike so my guide and I had the trail to ourselves. Usually only those intending to climb Yala Peak (5,500 metres) would go to Yala Peak Base Camp.
Initially the route from Kyanjin Gompa follows the path to Tserko Ri. The path crosses a river and then steeply ascends to Tserko Ri. After half an hour there is a fork in the path and the route to Yala Peak Base Camp goes to the right. There is a sign at the junction pointing to Yala Kharka which is on the way to the base camp.
From the junction the trail traverses eastwards along the mountain side. It gradually ascends following the northern mountain side of the Langtang Khola. The path traverses open countryside and there are very good views all the way.
It took us 2 hours 45 minutes to reach Yala Kharka where there are several stone shelters for yak herders. We had our packed lunches there as it was sheltered from the wind. There were excellent mountain views.
From Yala Kharka it was another 45 minutes to Yala Peak Base Camp. We wouldn't have known it was the base camp but for the 2 Thai climbers camping there.
We could see Tserko Ri from the base camp and the climbers' guide said it would take about 40 minutes to walk there. My map shows that there is a path from the base camp to Tserko Ri but I cannot remember if there was actually a proper trail. However, the grassy terrain between the base camp and Tserko Ri looked very easy to traverse.
We decided to walk a bit further up towards the north to enjoy the views. We slowly walked for another half an hour until we reached an altitude of 4,914 metres. There wasn't a path but the terrain was grassy and easy to cross. The scenery and solitude was fantastic.
We then walked for 45 minutes over the grassy terrain to Tserko Ri. My Garmin Inreach Mini registered an altitude of 4,984 metres at the summit. The views were even better but there were about 20 other people. Photos of the summit views are in the next section on Tserko Ri.
We reached the summit at 12.45 and were fortunate that there was little wind and the sky was clear. We stayed about an hour at the summit and by the time we left we were the last people there.
There are 2 ways to descend. The route most people use for the ascent is on the western side of Tserko Ri. This is a steep route and can be slippery going down. There is a longer and less steep route on the southern side and a lot of trekkers descend that way.
We took the longer southern route back to Kyanjin Gompa. After a while it joined the path that we had taken in the morning. It took 2 hours and 20 minutes to walk back.
In hindsight I wish we had taken the more direct western path back to Kyanjin Gompa. It would have been quicker and the scenery would have been different.
It was a long 8.5 hour day but an excellent hike. It is a more interesting way of getting to the top of Tserko Ri and the ascent is more gradual. It is also likely that there will be no other trekkers on this route whereas the usual route up Tserko Ri is popular.
6. Tserko Ri
The summit of Tserko Ri (4,984 metres) is often the main objective of the Langtang trek. Unfortunately many trekkers aren't properly acclimatised and attempt it after only 1 night at Kyanjin Gompa.
As a result trekkers often struggle with the altitude and the 1,150 metre ascent from Kyanjin Gompa. The internet states that the hike can take up to 8 hours. Most trekkers should be able to do it much faster than that unless there is snow on the ground.
As mentioned in section 6 I hiked up the eastern side of Tserko Ri from Yala Base Camp. I haven't hiked on the normal route up which is on the western side of Tserko Ri.
I hiked back down from Tserko Ri to Kyanjin Gompa on the easier, and longer, southern route. It wasn't shown on my map for the Langtang trek but was used for the descent by most of the trekkers when I was there.
It took 2 hours and 20 minutes to descend on this southern route. It would be quicker to descend back down the western side but it would be steep and possibly slippery.
It is definitely worth the effort to hike up Tserko Ri as the views are amazing. The views are different and more extensive than those from Kyanjin Ri. It is therefore worth hiking up both peaks.
7. Numthang & Langshisha Kharka
The trail from Kyanjin Gompa to Langshisha Kharka (4,125 metres) follows the Langtang Khola eastwards. It is an easy trail as it only ascends 110 metres to Numthang and then ascends another 185 metres to Langshisha Kharka.
Not many trekkers do this hike and those that do often turn back at Numthang (3,940 metres). Langisha Kharka is at least another hour further on and you have to cross a moraine. I believe the hike would take around 8 hours. It would be a very good acclimatisation hike for the first day at Kyanjin Gompa.
When I hiked to Yala Peak Base Camp the trail was high above the trail to Namthang. It gave me the impression that the trail to Numthang wouldn't have good views as it was at the bottom of a steep valley. As I only had one day left in Kyanjin I hiked to Langtang Lirung Base Camp instead.
I have since seen photos of the hike to Numthang and there are excellent mountain views. The valley may not receive much sun though. I now wish I had had an extra day for the Langtang trek so I could have done this hike.
8. Ganja La Pass
This pass is to the south of Kyanjin Gompa and crosses over to Helambu. The pass is rarely used by trekkers as it can be dangerous and involves camping.
It would be safe to walk towards the pass as a day trip. My guide had crossed the Ganja La and pointed out the route to me. The route went through forested areas and it appeared there wouldn't be good views for much of the route. The route can be difficult to follow and you would need a guide who knows the route.
I didn't do this day hike as I only had 3 full days in Kyanjin Gompa and the other day hikes are much better in my opinion.
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