You will hear us!!

GVC has purchased an induction loop to provide those of us who need hearing assistance. It will be in operation at Chapter meetings. You can use it in at least 2 ways: if you use hearing aids that are equipped with a t-coil, just turn on that feature for the presentation. We also have 5 personal receivers for individual use. Either way, you will have an enhanced experience.
Contact Bill Lindenfelser or Katy Kuczek for more info.

Program:

My Return to Nepal: Five Weeks, Two Treks and One Summit Attempt

by Gary Diana

This presentation will detail my fall 2024 trip to Nepal. It was my second trip there, and was largely due to a phone call I had with my tent mate from our 2020 Aconcagua expedition. He had already planned a trek for the fall and I was calling to quiz him on it. We decided to do the Manaslu trek, which he had wanted to do, but could not find another person to join him on the required permit. The reason we picked the Manaslu Trek was due to the amount of road development which was occurring on both ends of this point-to-point trek. Much of the road construction was being built over top of the existing trekking path, which was causing major changes to the character of the trek. This was creating a conflict: on the one hand, the aesthetics and primitiveness of the trek was being altered, but on the other hand, goods, services, and better transportation options were being welcomed as well.

The trek was not just about the views of some of the world’s tallest mountains, but a chance to pass through tens of small villages, and get a sense of the daily lives of the people living there. After the Manaslu Trek, my trekking partner Mark was flying to neighboring Bhutan, to meet up with some people from his running club in Austin Texas. I took a planned two-day rest in Kathmandu, after which I would take about short flight to the village of Lukla, where my trek to Mera Peak would start. Well Mother Nature had other ideas. On the third day, my flight day to Lukla, the rain started. Not just a sprinkle or drizzle, it was torrential rain which went on for three full days.

Flights out of Kathmandu were mostly cancelled, except for the occasional break in the rain. The amount of rain that was coming down was causing flooding and massive landslides; roads and bridges were being destroyed, and my guides tried to get me on a helicopter flight to Lukla, but the Nepal government was ordering all heli operators to perform rescues only. So after being stuck in Kathmandu for five days, I needed a Plan B.

Most trips to the mountains, no matter where in the world they are, are subject to weather. Since I couldn’t get a flight to Lukla, I had two choices: leave Nepal and head home, or find an alternative trek. Working with my guide, I settled on another one: the Mardi Himal / Poon Hill trek.

I’ll detail this second trek, along with some thoughts on being flexible, in light of weather and other things that can change the plans and expectations of even the best-planned mountaineering trip.

My passion for the mountains began back in 2011, when a high school friend finally talked me into hiking a 46er (Mt. Allen!). Two years later, I would finish my 46er journey on Whiteface mountain, with friends and family. Since then I’ve hiked the tallest mountains on the eastern side of the US, which led to seeking out the summits of Rainier, a few volcanoes in Mexico, and a summit in Argentina, which is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas.

I recently celebrated his 44th wedding anniversary to my wife Sheryl, who has supported me through my hiking and mountaineering obsession. I am an instructor at the ADK’s Winter Mountaineering School, and am an avid deer hunter.

One year ago, I travelled to Nepal for a trek to Everest Base Camp, which included summits of two mountains, one over 18,000 feet, and the other over 20,000 feet. Most recently I again travelled to Nepal, for two treks and a summit attempt of Mera Peak (21,500 feet).

Program:

Peru: The Inca Trail and Beyond

by Jim Miller and Patty Mangarelli

In September 2024, Jim Miller and Patty Mangarelli (along with several other ADK members), traveled for 12 days to Peru. They visited many of the Inca sites in the Sacred Valley of the Inca along the Urubamba River, including the experimental agricultural site at Moray, where the Inca diversified crops, generating more than 20 varieties of corn, 240 varieties of potato, and multiple varieties of Quinoa and other vegetables. Many of these are still available and the market in Cusco had over 17 varieties of potato for sale.

Many of the Inca sites they visited, including the Temple of the Sun in Ollantaytambo, display the exceptional stonework of the Inca, where they created seamless joints, without mortar and without iron metals to grind the stones

They visited the island communities on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world at over 12,000 ft. They stopped at the floating islands of Uros, which are made from local totura reeds and have been occupied since pre-Inca times when the inhabitants fled to avoid hostilities on the mainland. They stayed with a host family on Amantani island, went to the community dance, and watched the moon rise over the Inca temple, Pachamama, on the top of the island.

Finally, they hiked the 29-mile iconic Inca Trail to the fabled city of Machu Picchu. The trail starts in the desert coastal climate where it is lined with cacti, climbs in elevation over Dead Woman’s Pass at 13,819 ft., enters the cloud forest on the eastern side of the Andes, and then descends from the Sun Gate into Machu Picchu.

Patty Mangarelli is a regular hike leader and the Secretary for the Genesee Valley Hiking Club (GVHC).

Jim Miller is the ADK-GVC Trails Co-Chair and EXPO workshop coordinator.