4-30-07 // Himalayan Freeriders: Hans, Richie and Wade
Blake Jorgenson
We passed some Yak herds, which graze on the high-altitude plateaus; they look like a mix of a Scottish Highland Cow and a water buffalo. It proved to be a good decision on our part, to choose this previously unridden and little-traveled route via the off the beaten path village of Lupra, where black magic and human scarify (on already dead bodies) are part of the local rituals. The town had neither souvenir vendors nor restaurants and we were lucky to convince a family to cook us a simple noodle soup and Nepalese tea to sustain us. The trails were incredibly steep and technical; we crossed a river and ascended up through a pine forest, before heading down a super rocky riverbed for several miles. During mid afternoon we arrived back at Jomsom, where we had flown in a few days prior, from there we had another 2 days of hard-core downhill trails ahead of us. We spent the night at Marpha (2600m), a picturesque community known for its apple orchards (the tree-line in the Himalayas is much higher than in the Alps).
The next day started with a 10-km jeep road descent. By lunchtime, Blake looked sick as a dog and none of us had any real idea of either how long a day or how challenging a trail still awaited us. Luckily, Blake got a second wind that afternoon, but he was still suffering from some sort of heat stroke. By now the trail was about as technical as it gets, even though we primarily went down, there were many short uphills, which required pushing and carrying our bikes. Often the trails were carved into the side of the hill or were covered by recent landslides. Donkey caravans didn't make it any easier, trying to tackle the slow going stair-like trail, plus the heavy loaded animals wouldn't give us an inch of space to pass them. After 8 hours on route, we realized that we still had 3 hours to go and not much daylight left, with no time to loose we put the cameras away and started to charge, soon it was dark and our group was split in three. Not only were we out of water, light and energy - but we ran out of trail as well and we had to hike a steep and sketchy detour at twilight. Physically exhausted, dehydrated and disorientated from lack of light, we began to wonder about the insanity of this; at the same time I knew the adventure had started. We passed a few remote settlements, where candlelight and firelight silhouetted the faces of kids and farm animals staring at us in utter disbelieve. A few times that day I was chased by a pack of dogs, each time with them snapping at my heels and wheels, I was sprinting for my life, praying for no uphill or flat tire.
It felt so good when we finally arrived in Tatopani (1200m), where a 12-hour day ended with a hot meal and a cold shower. The next day was much of the same, more insane trails, I don' t know too many people who would have enjoyed them or have the skills to ride them.
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Every inch of our suspension was appreciated and the bikes were put through the wringer more than once. We descended further down the deepest gorge in the world, always along the Kali Gandaki river all the way to Beni at 800m elevation. Beni, was the end for this part of our trip, before we drove back to Pokhara on a dusty dirt road, we had a chance to award 10 locals with bikes for transportation purposes through Wheels 4 Life. Amongst the recipients were a milkman, a welder, a vegetable farmer, 4 students and 2 local newspaper writers. The people in the countryside live very harsh and hard lives, we witnessed it first hand and saw it etched into their faces; it made us feel that much better to help out in a small way. Seeing people lugging 200 pound loads on their backs up these trails put our accomplishments in perspective.
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