This week’s travel dream: A new path through Nepal’s highest peaks

“Traveling adventurously is as old as time, but adventure travel—the industry, the lifestyle, the passion”—didn’t exist until the world discovered Nepal, said James Vlahos in National Geographic Adventure. For decades, the Himalayan country was closed to foreigners, as it struggled with dynastic rivalries and civil war. Now that the onetime Hindu kingdom has officially become a democratic republic, a stream of thrill seekers have come to see Nepal’s spectacular glaciers, “rhododendrons that grow 50 feet tall,” and, of course, eight of the highest mountains on Earth. Nepal has even begun to construct the Great Himalaya Trail, “a nation-spanning route” that will connect it finest landscapes—Humla, Annapurna, and Everest.

At 1,600 miles, the GHT is “like the Appalachian Trail but on a diet of red meat, anabolic steroids, and nails.” Hiking the entire route would take four months, so I cherry-picked a segment that showcased its “crown jewels as well as the Himalaya less traveled.” From the capital, Kathmandu, I headed northwest to the remote “Delaware-size region” of Humla. What lay before me was like “one of those Lord of the Rings landscapes, juiced up by Red Bull­–chugging digital effects artists.” Hulking mountainsides “plunged to the Karnali River, turquoise and frothy.” Waterfalls cascaded from both sides of a rugged, deep-mouthed gorge. And this was just my first stop.

Annapurna and its “unrivaled scenic diversity” were next. If you only do one trek in Nepal, this should be the one. I started in the midst of subtropical lowlands, then climbed to the snowy 17,769-foot Thorung Pass before plumbing the Kali Gandaki, the “second deepest gorge on Earth.” Trekking east, I finally arrived in the Khumbu region—home to Mount Everest itself. I clambered up Gokyo Peak, then “atop a boulder that overlooked the world.” Before me stood “the black rock pyramid” of Everest. “Clouds, fiery in the setting sun, streamed from its top like lava from a volcano.” To me, the tallest peak in the world had a “look of dignity and endurance”—a fitting icon for an ancient land again on the rise.

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Contact: Greathimalayatrail.org