Mera and Island Peak Climbing - 22 Days

Upon your arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport, a representative from the Himalayan Trekkers will welcome you and transfer you to the hotel. After your check-in formalities, you can take a brief rest before our short discussion session regarding the Mera and Island Peaks Climbing journey. In the evening, we will take a stroll around the Thamel Bazaar where you can get a glimpse of the lifestyle here. 

After breakfast, we will go for the Kathmandu tour. We start from the renowned Boudhanath Stupa. It is one of the seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu valley that houses the relics of Lord Buddha. The dome-shaped semicircle stupa with the golden pinnacle and giant Buddha eyes in every direction sits on a giant Mandala. Boudhanath represents Tibetan Buddhism; even that particular area is called “the little Tibet”. This biggest stupa in the county is flocked by thousands of local and international visitors including pilgrims. 

Then we will visit Pashupatinath Temple which is one of the four most revered Hindu sites in the world. The temple complex sits on the bank of the holy Bagmati River and the main temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The main temple is restricted to non-Hindus but there are more than a hundred other temples and monuments there to explore. You can also witness the open-air cremation ceremony, interact with the colored Jogi babas, and take pictures of the mischievous monkeys there. 

Following the tour, there will be a briefing on the trip, an introduction to the climbing guide, and a last check of the climbing gear for the trek to ensure that everyone is ready for the thrilling journey that lies ahead. 

The flight to Lukla (2860m) is undoubtedly one of the best flying destinations in the Himalayas. If the skies are not that cloudy,  you will be watching the first shimmering sight of Everest and even Mera Peak and Island Peak which are something to cherish and will raise your spirits high. 

After you land in Lukla, our staff will meet and greet you, and soon we will start the journey towards the night stop, Chhuthang passing through small Sherpa villages, dense Silver fir forest, birch pastures, rhododendron and pine forests, and wood yards. Once we reach our destination, we will rest, acclimate, and explore the local communities over the remainder of the day.

Today's trek involves a challenging ascent up the Kalo Himal Ridge in the Nau Lekh range. After leaving Chhutang, we keep moving forward till we reach Zatrwa La pass (4610m), where we are greeted in the customary Buddhist manner with prayer flags. After crossing our first pass, the views across the Dudh Kosi towards Kongdi Ri, Karyolang Peak, Number Himal, and Lumding Himal are rather stunning on a clear day. In addition, we catch the first look at the surroundings across the undulating Hinku River Valley slopes. From here, we will walk for an hour to reach today’s destination, Thuli Kharla. 

We leave Thuli Kharka and follow the trail leading us to the Hinku valley of the Khumbu region. The regular uphills and downhills through the midst of the green and lush forest of Rhododendrons, Pines, and Oaks take us into the Hinku Valley. The first glimpse of our ultimate destination, Mera Peak as soon as we enter Hinku Valley. After a short descent to the Hinku River bed, we climb for a bit to reach Kothe.

Today is one of the nicest trekking days. The journey to Thagnag at 4,360 m is one that you will truly enjoy and savor the views of the surroundings. The surreal beauty of the mountains in all directions as you move further on the trail will keep your spirits high. Our trek goes along the ridge of Hinku and we can enjoy superb views of Kyashar (6,769m), Kusum Karguru (6,367m), and Mera. We will pass through Gondishung, where we will visit an ancient monastery. As we get to Thagnag, we enjoy the beauty of the surroundings and retire for a relaxing sleep at night as we will be setting up here for providing a gorgeous experience.

The trail from Tangnag to Khare is blessed with the ravishing beauty of nature all around. The path cuts through the valley floor and the entirety of the majestic Black Mera Peak is heart-winning. 

Moreover, the whole trail is full of beautiful glaciers, and lakes, and certainly, it justifies itself as one of the most beautiful Himalayan Valleys. Once we arrive in Khare, we will get to relish the view of Mera Peak from every possible direction. 

The whole day today is dedicated to acclimatization to the high altitude and preparing for the further journey. Spend the time sorting all the climbing gears.  We give the rest of the day to you and spend the time admiring the stupendous setting of the region.

However, if another day is required for acclimatization, we will extend our stay for another day. Further, we will spend the day training on a beautiful hill which will further introduce you to one of the fortunate sights of your life which is a glaciated valley situated in the north.

We are already in the Mera Climb section and our aim for the day is to travel to the Mera Base Camp. We will get through two other exciting points - the Mera La and the Mera Glacier. 
Approach the path at a steady pace and make sure to put every step forward with caution. Always keep the helmets and crampons on as rock falls are quite common in this region.

As you reach the glacier, you can take some pride in yourself as the base camp is close to here. Enjoy the walk across the glacier and admire the unreal sights of the surrounding. These are some scenes that you can never wash out from your mind and heart.

The Mera High Camp is just one step short of the summit. Our trail today starts through the path on easy graded snow slopes. Following on in the trail, we will get to an area of huge crevasses which has to be approached with caution. 

As we move up to the high camp, enjoy the Himalayan treasures - Everest, Makalu, Lhotse, and Nuptse.

The hike to the summit is extremely exciting as well as extremely hectic and strenuous. We aim to leave for the peak by 2 am as it takes up around 6 hours and depends a lot on the weather conditions. 
The main or the central summit sits right above the wide glacier and is flanked by ridges on either side. Snowfields and crevasses make the most of the trail further for the next couple of hours.

Though Mera Peak has a total of 3 summits, we aim to conquer the highest one. The views you get to witness from the summit are bewitching and post-card perfect. Spend some alone time with nature as you are hardly going to get back this moment ever. 

Now, while you start for the descending journey, abseil for a bit before starting on the long descent back to the high camp. It is necessary to give your body and mind a bit of relaxation before resuming the final trail back to Hinku Valley and then to Kongme Dingma. 

The all-new and fresh mountain setting is a treat to the eyes of every traveler who has been here. We start the day out of our camp and walk through the Hinku Valley to reach the base of a stunning mountain called the Chamlang. The trail from here runs along the right flank of the Hinku River till we get to our campsite. You can choose to set up your camp at any place you like by the river.

After breakfast at our camp, we start through the remotest parts of the Himalayas. Along the way, you will get some unique and fancied sights on the backside of the Ama Dablam Peak. The trail traverses past glaciated lakes, glaciated moraine, and ice pinnacles to finally converge to a ridge marking the very end of Hinku Valley. 

Besides all the beauty along the trail, once you reach this spot, the sight of the stunning lake enclosed by a mountain ridge is truly amazing. At a distance, you can even see the Amphu Lapcha Glacier. We take the path around the lake to reach the campsite.

We will start the day very early in the morning. The first half of the walk is mostly on a rocky ridge till we get the first glimpses of the glacier. The thrill and adventure are unmatched as we get to the top of the Amphu Lapcha Pass. 

From here we start descending steeply on the other side of the pass. This descent will take us to the Imja Valley and is quite risky and threatening. A short abseil over snow, rock, ice, and scree with 250 m fixed ropes that will secure continuing steep descent till you get to a point from where you can walk down the slopes.

The campsite is at the end of the Imja Glacier and around 3 hours from here. Though the hectic ride will take a huge toll on your body, the awe-inspiring sights of Island Peak and Imja Valley will cheer you to the core. It is a long day of around 12 hours and probably the most hectic and strenuous of all the days.

We must give our body a bit of recovery time after the long day we had the previous day. Our journey is short today of around 2 hours only to the Island Peak Base Camp. We enjoy the relaxing walk on a gradual ascend till we reach the campsite. The grandeur of the Nuptse Peak wall is a compelling sight of the region.

We dedicate this day to acclimatizing and getting rest. If you think you need more training with your climbing gear you can choose that, else just sit back and relax in the extensive beauty of the Island Peak Base Camp.

We will start the day at the earliest with the right preparation and patience. We start with the climb of the rock gully to finally emerge out on the right flanks of the gully. Follow the ridgeline to get to the snout of the glacier. The glacier we need to traverse further has numerous crevasses so we need to rope up to the glacier and further we might need some jumaring and climbing. Though the trail seems easy at first, the final 100m on snow and ice slope is beyond tolerance. 

Our guides will help you fix the ropes as the angle of elevation is as steep as 60 degrees and can be extremely life-threatening. It is of utmost importance that you have prior climbing and mountaineering experiences. As you get to the top of the summit (6189 M), sink in the picturesque beauty of the views around you. On your way down, be careful with the abseiling and approach the descent with caution and patience. The long day of 9 hours finally ends as you reach Chhukung for the night. 

The day is separated as a contingency day in case we could not make it to the top of the peak due to reasons like bad weather. 

Leaving Chhukung we start descending to the Dudh Koshi River where we will cross the bridge. Then our walk continues and passes through lush pine trees and numerous prayer flags, and chortens. The backside of Lhotse and Mount Everest accompanies us during today’s walk. After trekking for nearly 7 hours, we reach our destination Namche Bazaar. Upon arrival in the town, we check in at the hotel and rest. In the evening, you can stroll around the Bazaar, visit a nice café or a bakery and enjoy the food that you missed the most during the journey. 

On our last day, we take the final steps back to Lukla. As you walk on the trail crossing the Dudh Koshi River over numerous bridges, keep the memories of the daunting peaks alive in your heart and mind. 

The 6- 7 hour hike to Lukla marks the very end of this outstanding trekking and climbing expedition. Find some time for souvenir shopping if needed and then the trip comes to a closure.

After breakfast, we board an early morning flight back to Kathmandu. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the hotel and the remainder of the day is at leisure. You can rest, visit a nice spa, or explore the sites of your interest. You can also make a last stroll around the Thamel market and get some gifts and souvenirs for your friends and families. 
In the evening, we will have a farewell dinner for the accomplishments we have made in the past 3 weeks.

As the journey of climbing Mera Peak and Island Peak came to an end, we will bid farewell to each other today. You will be transferred to the airport for your scheduled flight back to your home country or onward destination. If your departure is late or during the evening time, you can spend the day as per your interest.