UKH

So my 50th birthday approaches (in 18 momnths time) and I am thinking of the possibilities of my long (self) promised big expedition. I am still undecided between the Himalaya or South America but am leaning towards autumn in the Himalaya.
I have looked at the possibilities of trekking/climbing with Community Action Nepal, partcularly the Kanchenjunga walk in and the big hill (6400m?) climb at the end of the valley.
I am looking for alternative suggestions for long treks and biggish mountains with an altitude of 6 - 6500 metres and would be grateful if anyone can provide some feedback on CAN and the quality of their expeditions. Oh and I can take a maximum 1 month off work.
I look forward to your replies!!

In reply to Gone for good: Island Peak is a popular 6km hill to trendle up in the Everest region. The walk in and Chukung Valley are fantastic, great views of Ama Dablam as you walk past with Lhotse on your left. 1 month would be perfect for acclimatize.

In reply to Gone for good: Have you thought of or looked into Mount Kenya and/or Kili?

T.

In reply to Gone for good:

Huayhuash trek, then take your pick of the 6000m peaks in the Cordillera Blanca. Peru.

In reply to Pursued by a bear: I climbed Kili in 2000, I quite enjoyed it as it was the route was fairly quiet until it joined the other routes at about 4000m (Umbwe). I would fancy a crack at Mount Kenya but will leave that a for a separate trip. Thanks for the input though.

In reply to THE.WALRUS: I take it this is the peruvian Andes? When I first read Touching the Void the descriptions of the Huayhush captivated my imagination and it would be a once in lifetime trip. Any more info?

In reply to Game of Conkers: I thought about doing Island Peak with Mera peak. Jagged Globe have a bit of info on their website about this. Would this be doable in 30 days do you think?

In reply to Gone for good:

Check out this KE trek -

http://www.keadventure.com/trip/mtr/peaks-and-passes-of-nepal-mera-to-the-r...

In reply to AndyC: Looks stunning and embraces every aspect of what I am looking for. Thanks for the link and I will give it serious consideration. (Once I have negotiated the extra week with Mrs Wanderer)

In reply to Gone for good: thanks for all the helpful suggestions so far. Anyone got a little bit left field they can recommend? I would be interested to hear about the Garwhal Himalaya if anyone has anything they can share?

In reply to Gone for good: not sure on easy peaks in the huayhush, the trekking is certainly superb and a friend (jermemy frimer) has published a guidebook so have a look.

in a month after a week trek you can gun for Pisco 5800 if thats a cruise there is much more to go at. alpamayo would be the obvious if a bit busy and quite technical.

peru is now an IFMGA country so excellent local guides will be available. A regular poster on here has also so spent circa 20 seasons over there and can surely advise.

there is a 50 classic climbs in the blanca book lots of great photos. Glacial recession has happened a bit so up to date info would be handy.Benefit against himalaya is its a very thin range so approaches are much shorter so you'll get much more climbing time

In reply to Gone for good: garwal is amazing.

extensive pilgrim road network means you can get into the hills really fast.

great culturally and unlike popular bits of nepal it does not feel like your on a gap year trail. middle class indians speak english which is pretty amazing.

pretty sure for some of the best stuff you need a guide as it's close to the sometime sensitive border

get trekking in the garwal and Kumoan and maps from stanfords

some excellent indian tour operators exist.

also martin moran does some amazing indian trek/climbing trips also ISM do cool stuff in the ex soviet stans

In reply to Gone for good:
CAN are great, I used them for EBC and going with them to Annapurna in March. Of course they are a charitable organisation and really look after the porters in terms of pay and weights carried...unlike some larger organisations. They can often tailor your itinerary too.

In reply to Gone for good: Hi, one suggestion Grady mentioned is the Rowahling Valley, went through there on my first and only Nepal trip and it was superb started from Barabise, a couple of hours truck ride from Katmandu and walked north into Rowahling. We organised it ourselves with support from a local outfit, cant remember which but could find our. Lovely aclimatising walk through fantastic landscape, no tea houses and little to buy along the way, only saw two other parties of trekkers the whole trip. The cvally itself was stunning, Gari Shankur on the left, big pass ahead (6000m) Tried Ram Dun a 5800m peak on the right of the valley but got hopelessly lost on it. Could have done Pachermo (6100m) but terrible avalanche risk. Very "interesting" but straight forward descent to Namche Bazarr for apple cake and couple of days wander down to Lukla and plane to K'mandu. I do think arranging it ourselves (five of us) made it doubly special-this was very straight forward-a brilliant trip.

Rich

In reply to Gone for good:

The "Khumbu Climber" is a demanding trip of 28 days through fantastic scenery with 3 challenging peaks thrown in (4 if count Gokyo Ri trek up to get views). Jagged Globe very good.

http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/exp/itinerary/khumbu+climber.html

Enjoy!

In reply to Gone for good:

Yeah, it's the Peruvian Andes.

You'd need to fly to Lima, then get an overnight bus to Huaraz.

There are numerous variants of the trek itself, but expect to spend 12 days or so on the trail.

You'll spend most of the time above 4000m, and by the time you get back to Huaraz you'll be very acclimitised....it would make sense to go for a peak.

Of the 'easy' Peaks, Pisco (grade PD) is probably the best. You can be up-and-down in a couple of days and the views are unbelievable.

Alternatively you could do the shorter Santa Cruz trek, and spend more time peak bagging.

This should give you an idea of how it works out there:

youtube.com/watch?v=OGcITvhy1-w&