Manaslu Circuit journal: our spring 2023 trek in 31 photos

The trip at a glance

We left Machha Khola on 25 March 2023 and drove out of Tilije on 4 April. Days 1 and 2 (arriving in Kathmandu and the drive in) have no photos, so the journal starts on the trail. This table is the trip in one look; the entries below go day by day. Tap any photo to open it full size.

The journal

25 Mar 2023 · Day 3: Machha Khola to Jagat

1,340m · ▲ 471m · ~22km · 6–7 hrs

The first day on foot. Our one photo from that morning shows what the start of the circuit looks like now: a dirt road running up the Budhi Gandaki above Machha Khola. From there it's Khorlabesi, the hot springs at Tatopani, and a last climb into Jagat, where our Restricted Area Permit was logged at the first checkpoint.

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26 Mar 2023 · Day 4: Jagat to Deng

1,860m · ▲ 520m · ~20km · 6–7 hrs

The gorge gets serious here. The trail is cut into the cliff above the river, and we shared it with porters carrying doko baskets. Looking back, the valley below Jagat ran up to a snow peak at its head. Near Deng the rhododendron was out on the valley walls, which is about as clear a sign of late March as you'll get.

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27 Mar 2023 · Day 5: Deng to Namrung

2,630m · ▲ 770m · ~19km · 5–6 hrs

The biggest climb of the lower trek. Above Deng the gorge drops away under the trail, and then the houses change: stone walls and prayer flags, the start of the Nubri valley's Tibetan villages. A suspension bridge over a side stream in the forest brought us up to Namrung, where the MCAP was checked.

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28 Mar 2023 · Day 6: Namrung to Lho

3,180m · ▲ 550m · ~13km · 4–5 hrs

A shorter day through Lihi and Sho, with snow ridges standing above the forest. We walked through a kani gate on the way into Lho. The last photo of the day is the village at dusk, with the valley running on up toward Samagaon.

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29 Mar 2023 · Day 7: Lho to Samagaon

3,530m · ▲ 350m · ~8km · 3–4 hrs

Manaslu day. It was there up the valley as soon as we left Lho, then again over the pine forest, and then Samagaon opened out across the valley floor right below the massif. It's only 3 to 4 hours of walking, and the afternoon is yours.

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30 Mar 2023 · Day 8: Samagaon, rest day

3,530m · Acclimatization

A rest day, though not a lazy one. Dawn came up over the monastery with Manaslu behind it, and yak were grazing on the flats outside the village. We took the hike up to Birendra Tal, the glacial lake above Samagaon, where the Manaslu glacier falls almost to the water and a prayer-flag cairn stands by the shore. Then back down to sleep at the same altitude as the night before, which is the whole point.

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31 Mar 2023 · Day 9: Samagaon to Samdo

3,860m · ▲ 330m · ~10km · 4 hrs

Out of Samagaon past a long mani wall, then across the open valley to Samdo, with yak on the slopes. It's a short day on purpose. Samdo is the last real village before the pass.

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1 Apr 2023 · Day 10: Samdo to Dharamsala

4,460m · ▲ 600m · ~7km · 3–4 hrs

We woke to fresh snow on Samdo. The whole valley up toward Dharamsala was white, right up to the trail below the lodges. It looked dramatic, but it didn't change the plan. We walked up as scheduled and had an early night under the pass.

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2 Apr 2023 · Day 11: Larkya La to Bimtang

5,106m pass · ▲ 646m then ▼ 1,386m · ~26km · 8–9 hrs

Pass day. We climbed out of Dharamsala by headlamp and were going up the last of it at first light, with the sun catching the peaks around the Larkya La. The Bimtang side started as a steep snowfield, then eased off down to a lodge below the glacier. The longest day of the trek, and the one we talk about most.

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3 Apr 2023 · Day 12: Bimtang to Tilije

2,300m · ▼ 1,420m · ~22km · 6–7 hrs

More snow overnight, this time on the lodges at Bimtang. In the morning Manaslu's west face was clear above us. The rest of the day was downhill: snow peaks above the forest, then the wide glacial outwash plain below Bimtang, and on down to Tilije, where the walking ends.

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4 Apr 2023 · Day 13: Jeep, Tilije to Besisahar

760m · 4–5 hrs by jeep

No more walking. A jeep down through Dharapani, where the ACAP was checked and the last of the paperwork closed out, then down the Marsyangdi gorge to Besisahar and a hot shower.

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What the photos tell you

Put them in order and spring on Manaslu is easy to read. Rhododendron in flower down at Deng. Snow on every ridge from Namrung up. Two snowfalls in three days, at Samdo and again at Bimtang, and neither one moved the plan by a day.

A trail with this much to look at would be busy on the Everest or Annapurna side. On Manaslu the restricted-area rules keep it quiet, even in season.

If spring sounds right, our spring vs autumn guide compares the two seasons. For the hardest day in more detail, read crossing the Larkya La. The same days, with altitudes and walking hours for each, are in our 15-day Manaslu itinerary, and everything else is in the Manaslu Circuit Trek guide.

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