CORNWALL, Ontario – It seems the “bucket list” for avid trekkers from Cornwall never ends.
“Ever since I was in Nepal in 2012 to hike the Everest Base Camp, I have fallen in love with the area,” said Cornwall resident Cathy Chumley.
She is already making plans for the third trip to Nepal.
Chumley completed the trek with Kathy Maguire, also a city resident, and Susan Near who used to live in the city but recently moved to Meadow Lake in Saskatchewan.
“The plans are in the works for a third return trip to Nepal. Yes, the bucket list never stops,” said Chumley.
“I have fallen in love with Nepal. I love the culture, the people and especially the trekking.”
Chumley is a seasoned mountain climber.
A few years back, she scaled and proudly displayed Cornwall’s flag on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.
Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania is 19,341 feet.
She was among eight who made it to the “Roof of Africa” at the Uhuru (Freedom) Peak.”
“Nepal is such an awesome place,” she said. “The trek this time around was much harder than Kilimanjaro and the Everest Base Camp.”
Once again the trekkers used the sane Nepal Trekking company Advanced Adventures.
They hiked for 16 days and covered nearly 180 km.
“It was one of the longest treks we had done.”
Since this was their second visit to Nepal, the team was able to see a lot more than the first trip and was more comfortable in their surroundings.
While in Nepal, they visited temples which are being rebuilt due to the major earthquake in 2014.
Chumley said they visited Durbar Square in Patan and the Royal Palace near Thamel.
This time around, they hiked the Annapuma Circuit and cross over the highest pass in the world.
Tilicho Lake is a lake located in the Manang district.
It is situated at an altitude of 4,919 meters or 16,138 feet in the Annapuma range of the Himalayas.
This lake is sometimes called the highest lake for its size in the world, even though there are lakes at higher altitude even in Nepal.
“The diverse landscape was truly spectacular and reminded us of other trips across the world,” said Chumley.
She said they went from tropical to maple trees and from desert to alpine with high winds.
Chumley said there were times they put on shorts and quickly dressed to very warm clothes.
“The entire trip was truly amazing,” she said. “We truly loved it and found it challenging.”
She said it was truly a most thrilling journey.
