I'm leaving today for a trek in the Kumaon Himalaya, Uttarakhand. The destination is Panchchuli Glacier in the Darma Valley. We will also be going over on to the next ridge to the east and hiking toward the village of Tidang and finally Sipu in the Lasser Yankti river valley, gateway to Ralam Glacier.
I've embedded below an interactive map of the area.
The Panchchuli Glacier base camp is around 13,900 feet ASL. From what I've heard from friends and the pictures I have seen, the trek offers some pretty stunning views of the Himalaya. Hopefully I'll come across some interesting geology too. This time I made a decision not to read up on the geology. My recent Himalaya trips have given me some familiarity with the lithology and structure of the region. I am guessing that most of the early part of the trek will be in the hanging wall of the Main Central Thrust. High grade metamorphic rocks of the Greater Himalaya Crystalline Sequence are exposed here. Towards the village of Sipu I am hoping to get a glimpse (even at the distance will do!) of the Southern Tibetan Detachment, a fault zone that separates the Greater Himalaya metamorphic rocks from the overlying Tethyan sedimentary sequence.
Let's see.
I'll be posting on my trip later in the month of May. Depending on connectivity I may be able to send a few field dispatches via Twitter.
Stay tuned.
I've embedded below an interactive map of the area.
The Panchchuli Glacier base camp is around 13,900 feet ASL. From what I've heard from friends and the pictures I have seen, the trek offers some pretty stunning views of the Himalaya. Hopefully I'll come across some interesting geology too. This time I made a decision not to read up on the geology. My recent Himalaya trips have given me some familiarity with the lithology and structure of the region. I am guessing that most of the early part of the trek will be in the hanging wall of the Main Central Thrust. High grade metamorphic rocks of the Greater Himalaya Crystalline Sequence are exposed here. Towards the village of Sipu I am hoping to get a glimpse (even at the distance will do!) of the Southern Tibetan Detachment, a fault zone that separates the Greater Himalaya metamorphic rocks from the overlying Tethyan sedimentary sequence.
Let's see.
I'll be posting on my trip later in the month of May. Depending on connectivity I may be able to send a few field dispatches via Twitter.
Stay tuned.
Happy trails, looking forward to hearing/seeing more.
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