I didn’t want to go too far since I’ve been battling a flew for the last few days and didn’t feel very
strong. After about three and a half hours we came up to a couple of stone
houses on a nice grass field. It reminded me of the sheep herder huts in
the Alps. That was a perfect camp site I thought but Budhi had something
else in mind. -It’s time for lunch, he said.

We sat down and took out our lunch package that we had brought. It was
made up of Chapatti with a sliced boiled egg on top, a package of crackers
and a chocolate bar. As we dug into our food Budhi pointed to the top of
the hill that was at least 500 vertical meters higher up and said: -That’s
camp. We didn’t go all the way to the top but set camp about halfway,
which I was happy for. Budhi’s brother Kansha that is carrying a huge and
heavy wooden basket, full of kitchen stuff, strapped on top of his head,
also looked happy that was the end of the day.

Alongside us on the trek we had around 30 donkeys carrying gear for us and
other expeditions going to Dhaulagiri. They do a good job with the loads
but they also do a good job spreading their dung. They go as they like and
that might be on the 50 cm wide trail or all over our camp sites.

Second day of the trek was a feast in beautiful views. The higher we got
the more spectacular the surrounding mountains became. We had Nilgiri, on
the other side of the valley, behind us and after about an hour of uphill
the stunning view of Tukuche Peak and Dhaulagiri came into sight on our
left hand side. The more than 1000 meters higher Dhaulagiri looked
disappointingly small compared to the much closer located Tukuche from
that angle. Going around the northern side of Tukuche Peak we lost sight
of Dhaulagiri but saw the sun set behind its brother peak Dhaulagiri 3 as
we pitched our tents in camp.

During that day we walked for eight hours, climbed over the 5250 meter
high Dhampus pass and gained more than a thousand vertical meters. At that
altitude it’s a quite long day but the only worry I had was at what
shutter speed I would set the camera to get good photos. And I guess
watching out where I put my feet so I didn’t step into donkey dung. I
wonder if Budhi and Kansha were enjoying the view as much as I was or if
it’s just another day at work for them. They sure smiled as much as I did.

Unfortunately we didn’t reach our camp in the Hidden Valley before the
donkeys had spread their shit all over the place. During the night I got a
headache that was growing heavier and heavier leaving me with only a few
hours of sleep. I’m definitely blaming the donkeys for my headache and not
that I had ascended too fast to 5000 meters.

The final day of the trek was a four hour walk on rocky and uneven moraine
with the high point of The French Pass at 5360 meters. My headache from
the night before slowly disappeared with my growing excitement as we
closed in on our final destination, The Dhaulagiri Base Camp.

I have now settled down in our camp at 4780 meters. I have built a nice
platform for my tent that is going to be my home for the next month, taken
my first shower in five days and I’m enjoying Budhi’s excellent food. All
is good and I’m eager to head up the mountain.

For more info about Fredrik and the Dhaulagiri Expedition check out his
website www.fredrikericsson.com

Fredrik’s partners: Dynastar, Osprey, Adidas Eyewear.
Supporters: Grivel, Giro, Ortovox, Dynafit, Therm-Ic, Himaya, Duracell,
Loben Expeditions and Jämtport.