Jhomolhari Trek – 9 Days

Day1: DRUGYEL DZONG TO SHARNA ZAMPA
17KM/4-6 HOURS/ 360M ASCENT, 80M DESCENT

DAY2: SHARNA ZAMPA TO THANGTHAGKA
22KM/7-8 HOURS/ 770M ASCENT, 10M DESCENT

Brace yourself for a long, hard day with lots of ups and downs, made worse by all the rock-hopping required to avoid mud holes.

Begin the day by climbing through conifers and rhododendrons flanking the Paro Chhu. If the water is high, you might have to scramble over a few small hills to get around the river in places. About 15 minutes beyond Sharna Zampa are the remnants of an old bridge with a house and a chorten on the other side. Welcome to Jigme Dorji National Park. After two hours of trekking through oaks, rhododendrons and ferns, and crossing several streams, you will reach Shing Karap , a stone house and a clearing at 3110m. Consider stopping here for lunch. Further ahead is the stone-paved trial trail leading left to Tremo La. This is the old invasion and trade route from Phari Dzong in Tibet, and still looks well-beaten since it’s used by army caravans to ferry rations to the border post. Beware; many trekkers have casually ambled down this trail in the pastand made a long, exhausting side trip to nowhere.

Immediately after the trial junction is a wooden bridge over a side stream. Climb a short set of switchbacks over a little ridge, then descend and cross the Paro Chhu to the river left on a wooden cantilever bridge at 3230m. The route now goes up and down a rocky trial through forests of birch and fir, followed by blue pine, maple and larch woods, crossing an old landslide along the way.

About three hours ahead, there’s a bridge back to river right at 3560m. The trail climbs to a place where you can see a white chorten on the opposite side of the river. There is a bridge here that leads back across the river. Don’t cross it, or it’ll take you up the Ronse Ghon Chhu towards Soi Yaksa, the campsite on Day 5 of the Jhomolhari trek 2.

Follow the trail on river right, and climb over a small ridge as the Paro Chhu makes a noticeable bend. Fifteen minutes from the bridge is a lovely meadow with Jhomolhari looming majestically at the head of the valley. This is Thangthangka (3610m), with a small stone shelter and a Bhutanese-style house in a cedar grove at the edge of the meadow

Day 3: Thangthangka to Jangothang
19km/5-6hours/480m Ascent

Less than an hour ahead, at 3730m, there’s an army post with rough stone barracks housing personnel from both the Bhutan army and the Indian Military Team (IMTART). Along this stretch the trail can be extremely muddy. At 3770m, about one hour from camp, the trail turns sharply right at a whitewashed Mani wall.

A short climb leads to a small chorten on a ridge and will see the huge beasts lumbering across hillsides and lazing in meadows. Of two trails, both contouring up the valley floor as the river bends sharply to the right. Parts of the hillside are covered with larches, which turn a light-yellow in autumn. An hour beyond Soe is Takethang, a cluster of stone houses on a plateau at 3940m.

The trail follows straight across the plateau, high above the river, crossing a little stream on a bridge made of big stones laid on logs. On the opposite side are a white chorten, an outreach clinic and the few houses of Dangochang. This area is snowbound from mid-November until the end of March. Slow going, uphill beside a side stream to the camp at Jangothang (4080m). Offering a spectacular view of Jhomolhari.

The guidelines for pack animals require that you now exchange your horses for yaks from Soe or horses from Dangochang. Don’t be alarmed when your loads get dumped at the camp and the animals disappear down the valley, leaving you alone with a mountain of baggage. If all goes well, the replacement pack animals will show up on a schedule when you are ready to leave.

Day 4: Acclimatization Day and Exploration of Jangothang

There are four major possibilities for day hikes from Jangothang. The first, and best, is a four-hour excursion up to the ridge to the ridge to the north of the camp. There’s no trail, but it’s a broad open slope and you can just scramble up but after an hour or so, you get an excellent view of Jichu Drakye. Jhomolhari is hidden behind the ridge but becomes visible if you continue to the highest point at 4750m.

An alternative, which can be combined with the walk up the ridge, is to trek up the main valley towards the last house, then continue up the valley towards Jichu Drakye.  A third hike goes up towards the head of the valley in the direction of Jhomolhari. There is a very rough overgrown trail that cuts across moraines and brush, leading to the foot of the mountain. You can’t get very far, but there are good views in the upper part of the valley.

The last alternative is an expedition to Tshophu, a pair of lakes that sit high on the opposite side of the river to the east, with a good simply of brown trout.

Day 5: Jangothang to Lingzhi
18km/6-7hours/840M Ascent 870 Descent

If you are having problems with the altitude at Jangothang, consider returning. Otherwise, push ahead past three stone houses inhabited by park rangers and a few elderly people. This is the last settlement in the valley and it’s extremely isolated. Around a corner, there’s a spectacular view of Jichu Drakye.

The trail crests at the foot of a side valley and goes eastwards. Jichu Drakye towers above the Paro Chhu valley and soon the top of Jhomolhari appears over the ridge above the camp at Jangothang. The snow peak in the middle is a secondary summit of Jhomolhari.

The trail dips and then climbs back up a moraine, offering spectacular views of the sharp ridge jutting out from Jichu Drakye. The final pull is up a scree slope to Nyile La (4870m) about four hours from camp. You can climb higher to the northwest, where you’ll see Jhomolhari 2 and Jichu Drakye on one side, and Tserim Kang (6789m) on the other. Nyile La is frequently very windy. There is some vegetation here, mostly grass, juniper and cotoneaster. It’s an excellent lunch spot.

Following a long walk to a lookout at 4360m, the trail now descends into the large Jaje Chhu valley, making many switchbacks through rhododendrons and birches to a yak pasture on the valley floor. Jichu Drakye and Tserim Kang Tower over the head of the valley and you can see some remarkable examples of moraines on their lower slopes. The camp is at Chha Shi Thang near a large stone community hall (4010m) used by both Bhutanese travelers and trekking groups. Lingzhi is up the obvious trail on the opposite side of the Jaje Chhu.

If you take a spare day here, you can make an excursion to Chhokam Tsho at 4340m near the base camp of Jichu Drakye. During the hike you may enter blue sheep and musk deer. If you are continuing to Thimphu, schedule a rest day here. The village and Dzong at Lingzhi are worth visiting, and it’s useful to rest up for the following strenuous trek day.

Day 6: Lingzhi to Shodu
22km/ 8-9 hours/ 940m Ascent, 920m descent

Start early today, you have a long and tiring trek ahead of you. Climb towards a white chorten on a ridge above the camp, then turn south up the deep Mo Chhu valley. The trail stays on the west side of the valley, crossing numerous side streams, most without bridges. About three hours from camp, it crosses the Mo Chhu. There is no bridge and the river has broken into many small channels, presenting a tedious route-finding exercise through hummocks of grass and slippery rocks.

The trail climbs steeply up the side of the main valley and crosses above a stream. It then makes an impressive climb up the headwall, zigzagging through rocks to a large cairn atop Yeti La at 4930m. Avoid walking with the pack animals because the trail here is carved into a rock cliff and is quite narrow. From the pass, on a clear day, you can see Jhomolhari, Gangchhenta and Tserim kang.   

Descending to a hanging valley after passing a small lake at 4830m, the trail tracks the outflow from the lake, and goes down to another huge valley with a larger lake.  Khedo Tsho, at 4720m. Watch for grazing blue sheep. The trail then crosses the upper reaches of the Jaradinthang Chhu and descends along the valley following the river southwards, crossing several side streams. After crossing back to the east bank on a log bridge at 4340m, the trail reaches a chorten at 4150m where it turns eastwards into the upper Wang Chhu valley. Descending and crossing to the south bank (river right) on a log bridge, the trail traverses a narrow, sandy slope to a camping place at Shodu (4080m), just at the tree line.

Day 7: Shodu to Barshong
16km/ 5-6hours/ 250m Ascent, 670m Descent

Upon leaving Shodu, you cross to river left and pass an abandoned army camp and a small alternative campsite. The trail traverses under steep yellow cliffs with a few meditation caves carved into them, where the Zhabdrung supposedly spent some time. Down a steep stone staircase, the trail reaches the river, crossing it on a log bridge at 3870m. For the next three hours, the trail crosses the river five mire times, slopping through muddy cypress forests on the south slope and hugging the steep canyon walls and crossing large side streams on the north-slope, eventually ending up on the north bank (river left) at 3580m.

The route climbs gradually for one hour to Barshong where there is dilapidated community hall and the ruins of a small Dzong. The designated camp is below the ruins at 3710m, but it is in a swampy meadow and most groups elect to continue to a better camp by the river, about 1.5 hours beyond.

Day 8: Barshong to Dolam kencho
15km/4-6hours/ 290m Ascent, 640m Descent

The trail descends gently through a dense forest of rhododendrons, birches and conifers, and then drops steeply on a rocky trail to meet the Wang Chhu. Thirty minutes of walking through a larch forest leads to a clearing known as Ta Gume Thang (waiting for horses) at 3370m. Most groups camp here or 15 minutes further on at Dom Shisa (where the bear died) instead of Barshong.

Stay on the river left, climbing over ridges and descending to side streams. From here, the route then makes a steep climb to 3340m. After traversing for about 30 minutes through rhododendron forests, a trail leads off to the right. This descends to Dolam Kencho, a pleasant camp site in a large meadow at 3320m. If your group has elected to shorten the trek and continue on to Dodina,  stay on the left-hand trail, bypassing Dolam Kencho, and climb to a crest at 3430m.

Day 9: Dolam Kencho to Dodina
8km/ 3-4 hours/ 500m Ascent, 930m Descent

From the camp, a track climbs back to the main trail, reaching a crest with a cairn at 3430m. The trail descends to a stream at 3060m, then climbs again to a pass at 3120m. Another short descent and climb through bamboo forest leads to a rocky stream bed, which the trail follows down to the remains of a logging road along the Wang Chhu at 2720m. It is then a 15-minute walk south along a rocky route to the road head at Dodina (2640m), opposite the bridge that leads to Cheri Goemba.