For each mile of forward progress there are between 3 and 4 miles of road. This ratio is about average anywhere in the mountains here.
On travel days lunch is usually taken as a picnic. Cucumber with spicy crunchy Namkeen (various types of snack mixtures of nuts, raisins puffed riced and fried bean noodles with some fresh peas in the pod, oranges, bananas and pineapple. Lunch on the way to Munsyari was in the forest above the road looking down into the valley.
Typical roads look like:
The vertical relief of these mountains is far beyond what we are used to in the US. A typical pass will be 4-6,000' from the valley floor to the crest of the pass. The pass into Munsyari tops out at about 8,700' starting out around 3,000'
From the top one gets the first close up views of Panchachuli (The Five Sisters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchchuli
This is looking down into the valley where the road comes up to the pass. This is looking almost straight down. The road clings to the cliffs on the other side of the ridge below.
The scale is hard to grasp even when it is before your eyes let along when its shrunk down into a photo. But the highest is just a little less than 23,000' and the lowest is a bit less than 21,000'. The valley floor at the base of these peaks is 4,000' so in one view you see nearly 19,000' of vertical relief.
For those of you who have driven past the Tetons, from the top of the Grand to the valley floor is a little less than 7,000' vertical relief.
Munsyari is at the end of the road. Further up into the mountains is on foot.
There is a path along the ridge that the road in crosses that leads up towards the biggest of the 5 peaks. Stunningly, it paved with flagstone and about 4-6' wide. It appears to be constructed about 50 years ago and appears rarely used.
I head up and get to about 11,600' before turning around to make it back by dark. On the way back the sun is setting on the highest peaks for a gorgeous orange.
On travel days lunch is usually taken as a picnic. Cucumber with spicy crunchy Namkeen (various types of snack mixtures of nuts, raisins puffed riced and fried bean noodles with some fresh peas in the pod, oranges, bananas and pineapple. Lunch on the way to Munsyari was in the forest above the road looking down into the valley.
Typical roads look like:
The vertical relief of these mountains is far beyond what we are used to in the US. A typical pass will be 4-6,000' from the valley floor to the crest of the pass. The pass into Munsyari tops out at about 8,700' starting out around 3,000'
From the top one gets the first close up views of Panchachuli (The Five Sisters)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchchuli
This is looking down into the valley where the road comes up to the pass. This is looking almost straight down. The road clings to the cliffs on the other side of the ridge below.
The scale is hard to grasp even when it is before your eyes let along when its shrunk down into a photo. But the highest is just a little less than 23,000' and the lowest is a bit less than 21,000'. The valley floor at the base of these peaks is 4,000' so in one view you see nearly 19,000' of vertical relief.
For those of you who have driven past the Tetons, from the top of the Grand to the valley floor is a little less than 7,000' vertical relief.
Munsyari is at the end of the road. Further up into the mountains is on foot.
There is a path along the ridge that the road in crosses that leads up towards the biggest of the 5 peaks. Stunningly, it paved with flagstone and about 4-6' wide. It appears to be constructed about 50 years ago and appears rarely used.
I head up and get to about 11,600' before turning around to make it back by dark. On the way back the sun is setting on the highest peaks for a gorgeous orange.
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