Lifetime experience on Pikey Peak

It is a truism in tourism of the Himalaya that the closer we get to the mountains, the less we see of them. This holds for the Annapurna Base Camp Trek, which follows the narrow Mardi Valley where Machapuchre is hidden by towering cliffs. And it is true of the Everest Trek, where the highest mountain in the world is not visible after Tengboche, unless trekkers climb Kala Patthar.

For the best panoramas of the mountains, therefore, one has to step back to mid-mountain peaks, like Pathibhara in Taplejung for a view of Mt Kangchenjunga and Jannu, or Kalinchok for a grandstand view of Mt Gauri Shankar. Then there are peaks like Pulchoki on the southern rim of Kathmandu Valley, Bandipur for a tour d’horizon of the entire Central Nepal Himalaya, and the famous Poon Hill for the vista of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna.

But one of the best kept secrets of trekking in Nepal is Pikey Peak in Solu, which offers a view of eight of Nepal’s eighthousanders from one place, including Mt Everest. The 4,065m peak used to be a favourite of Sir Edmund Hillary after he climbed it to take a look around during the walk-in on his 1953 expedition.

For several decades after that Pikey was isolated because it was so difficult to get to, and most people doing the Everest Base Camp trek overflew Pikey en route to Lukla. Indeed, there is a parade of planes overhead every morning doing the Kathmandu-Lukla ferry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vDEMl1dCdg&feature=youtu.be

But with new roads from Kathmandu to Jiri and the Solu Highway reaching Phaplu via Okhaldhunga, Pikey is suddenly accessible. After major snowfall last month, Pikey saw dozens of Nepali youngsters roughing it out on a camping trip.

Winter is the not the best time for a Pikey hike, but the views can be stunning especially after snowfall blankets the mountains in white. The best time is actually early spring when rhododendron forests are abloom in pink, red and white and the mountains are dazzling against deep blue skies.

Since few people know about Pikey, visitors will find the trails deserted and the tea shops basic, although new lodges are now coming up, and the local Sherpa community is trying to promote homestay tourism. Pikey is revered by the Sherpas as a deity and climbing it does seem more like a pilgrimage than a trek.

The fortunate thing about Pikey is that you can make it a circuit so you do not have to come down the same way you went up. A recommended itinerary is to drive up the Jiri Road from Kathmandu, continue on to Shivalaya, following the old trek route to Khumbu before Lukla airstrip was built in 1968.

From Shivalaya it is a leisurely three-day trek to Bhandara, Namkheli and Pikey Danda with only some steep sections. The trail winds through thick oak and rhododendron forests, with pine giving way to grasslands in the higher reaches.

What is astounding is that from Pikey on a clear day one can see more than 800km of horizon from Dhaulagiri to Kangchenjunga. All along during the walk-in, Annapurna, Manaslu, Mt Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga and other eight-thousanders play hide and seek behind lesser but nearer peaks. But smack in front is the elegant summit of Mt Numbur, standing tall above Mt Karyolung.

Sunrise from Pikey Peak is a ‘lifetime experience’ as the slogan for Visit Nepal 2020 puts it. The sun rises from behind Kangchenjunga, illuminating the peaks to the north one by one, even as the valleys below are shrouded in fog.

For the return, the descent can be down to Junbesi, and on to Phaplu, from where you can either take a flight back to Kathmandu or make the trip by road. For those pressed for time, you can make a flight in and out from Phaplu with a circuit to Pikey via Lamjura and down through Dhap. (See map). 

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