Lhonak Glacier Ice Cave
by Eric Higbie, Indiana - USA
In the spring of 2001 Dave Haun and I made a trip to Nepal to hike through the Himalayas. The trip through Nepal would cover several articles. This article will cover the trip to a glacier, finding an ice cave, the trip to the ice cave, and our visit to the ice cave.
From Kathmandu we flew to Biritnagar, a rather industrial town on the Nepal India border. We then flew to the town of Suketar (elevation 6,645ft), which has an airstrip hacked out of the side of a mountain. It took us about 10 days to go from the "airport" to our destination of Lhonak.
The scenery and landscape outside of Suketar were lush and filled with terraced farms. The hills were plentiful and had lots of switchbacks. We called these trails "Nepali Straight". I began to question if the many weeks of afternoons spent climbing steps at the 13 story Indiana State Office building had been worthwhile. As the altitude increased the scenery began to change.
