Words: Alex Scoffield
Photos: Alex Scoffield
& Gethin Roberts
Thanks
The Natural Environment Research Council, the Mount Everest Foundation, the Royal Geographical Society, the British Society for Geomorphology and the University of Leeds sponsored Alex and Duncan’s expedition. All kayaking equipment was sponsored by Nick Pipe, owner of Vortex Advanced Elements (www.advancedelementskayaks.co.uk). Kayaking training was undertaken with Geth Roberts, co-owner of Sea Kayaking Wales, based in Anglesey (www.seakayakingwales.com).
To hear more about Alex’s work, visit her Twitter (@alex_scoffield).
From Anglesey to Annapurna
This time last year, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d been in a kayak. Fast forward to May 2023, and along with my colleague Duncan, I’m paddling on a glacial lake in remote Nepal, with ice towering above me, installing equipment that will help us predict how this glacier will behave in response to climate change.
Motivation for research
I’m Alex, a PhD Student at the University of Leeds. My research ultimately centres on mountain communities and how they have been and will be impacted as our natural environment responds to a changing climate. Nowhere is changing faster than the Himalaya at the moment, and this is a worry because the glaciers there provide freshwater to almost 20% of the global population, who use it for irrigation, sanitation, hydropower and drinking. I am focused on understanding how these glaciers will respond to a warming climate so that we can help the people of South Asia to adapt to changes in the water supply that are now an inevitable part of their future.
Our aims
The main aim of this expedition was to set out a network of sensors that would collect information on the physical conditions of a glacial lake in Nepal. The period between May and October is particularly interesting here because it marks the Indian Summer Monsoon, during which the glaciers gain mass from intense snowfall and lose it through intense melt. Primarily, we wanted to capture how the lake changes as it becomes filled with cold and sediment-laden meltwater. To do this, we installed three sets of submersible temperature sensors distributed throughout the lake, continuously recording water temperature between the lake surface and the lake floor until they are removed in October.
Few observations of this kind exist in the Himalaya, or indeed the world, and those that do are limited to the length of fieldwork expeditions (days or weeks). Once we have observations that extend throughout the glacier melt season, we can improve our predictive model to account for the role of the lake. We anticipate that including the lake effects in our predictions will significantly reduce the time this glacier will survive and therefore reduce the remaining time before water availability becomes a problem for the people who have lived here for centuries.
The site
Nestled at the flanks of Manaslu (8156 m a.s.l.) in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Dona Lake (4050 m a.s.l.) is one of the largest glacial lakes in Nepal, measuring over 2.5 km in length. It originally formed on the surface of Thulagi Glacier but expanded so rapidly between 1990 and 2000 that the glacier’s end has now melted away in its entirety, replaced by the lake water we are interested in. The lake is dammed by moraine sediments (soil and rock that was eroded and deposited by Thulagi Glacier during the previous hundreds of years).
Dona Lake is considered hazardous because those moraine sediments are not necessarily stable, so any weakness or failure could result in a catastrophic outburst flood into the downstream area, which would wipe out hiking routes, community settlements and hydropower facilities. As a result, the lake has been extensively researched through remote and in-person observations in recent years. Still, more is needed to know about the physical conditions of this lake or any large glacial lake in this region.
The team
The crack team of two – myself and Duncan Quincey, who supervises my PhD – are based in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Duncan has been working in the Himalaya for almost 20 years and is no stranger to research methods that push the boundaries. His most recent project in the Himalaya took a converted pressure washer as high as Everest Base Camp (5364 m a.s.l.) to drill into the Khumbu Glacier and measure its internal temperature with depth.
Whilst I have researched other glacierised areas, including the Alps and the Arctic, this was my first experience leading an expedition, never mind an expedition to the Himalaya! Luckily, we had a brilliant team from Himalayan Research Expeditions to support us. However, aside from the classic residential activities in our youths, both Duncan and I needed more experience kayaking and knew we would need to put in the training hours if we were to feel comfortable on the water in such an extreme environment.
Training
One of our first challenges was sourcing a tandem kayak that could be transported on foot to the lake. Here, Nick Pipe, who runs Vortex, an independent retailer importing Advanced Elements equipment to the UK, came to our rescue. We acquired an Advanced Elements Convertible Elite kayak through his sponsorship of our expedition. This fifteen-foot tandem kayak packs down into a large backpack weighing 25kg, perfect for our highly experienced porters to transport to high elevation.
After numerous dry runs, inflating and deflating the kayak in my living room (much to my dog’s confusion), we knew we needed to seek expert guidance in learning how to kayak in tandem and to deal with the highly changeable, extreme conditions at Dona Lake. In March, we headed to Anglesey to join Geth Roberts, owner of Sea Kayaking Wales, for a full day of coaching on the Menai Strait. On a drizzly but warm day, we launched our kayaks on a slack tidal moment, exploring the Swellies area between the Menai Straits’ bridges. After a lunch stop, we paddled out towards Bangor Pier, crossing back towards Anglesey, recording the depth and bathymetry of the strait with a Deeper+ CHIRP sonar, an excellent test run ahead of our expedition.
During this time, Geth guided us through boat handling skills to manoeuvre both single-seat and double-seat sea kayaks, aiming to assist us in deploying and collecting temperature loggers in the lake. In addition, we learnt boat handling skills for inclement weather (e.g. high winds, waves) in preparation for the changeable conditions at high elevation and incident management, including recovering from a capsize in the kayak. A couple of visits to our local reservoir with our Advanced Elements Convertible Elite kayak following this meant we felt ready for our research at Dona Lake in Nepal.
The expedition
We departed Kathmandu by jeep to travel to the trailhead. After a nine-hour journey, we arrived at our guesthouse in Karte, ready to begin our trek the following day. Residing at just 2,000 m a.s.l., we had over 2,000 m of elevation to gain over a two-day trek, a little daunting for your first time at high elevation! Luckily, a combination of the amazing scenery and our guide Mahesh’s skilful pacing, the trek was very enjoyable. After passing through dense forests filled with blooming Rhododendron trees, crystal clear waterfalls and many Yaks, we arrived at Dona Lake – ready to set up our camp for the next ten days.
Our first day on the water demonstrated precisely how extreme and changeable the weather can be at high elevation. We launched the kayak with clear, blue skies and the surrounding snow-capped mountains reflecting in the calm turquoise waters of the lake. However, within 30 minutes, thick white clouds had rolled over the headwalls of the valley on a biting wind. As the waves on the lake grew in size, we decided to return to shore, almost blown from the lake in the wake of the wind heading down-valley. The following snowstorm confined us to our tents for the rest of the day. Luckily, the weather cooperated with us for the rest of the trip; we were able to spend up to six hours each day on the lake, clocking up the kilometres (12 km in a day becoming our record!) and soon became a well-oiled machine paddling in tandem.
Memories
Two memories stand out from the expedition for Duncan and me – the first was the feeling of paddling up the lake each morning, admiring the surrounding mountains and the towering glacier face ahead of us; the only sound to be heard was our paddles breaching the still waters’ surface. The second was the daily ritual that our Sherpa cook performed before paddling each day. Glacial lakes are believed to be the abodes of gods and goddesses by many mountain communities.
They believe that these lakes should not be defiled by human activity, and breach of this may result in the guardian deity’s indignation. The ritual sought the gods’ permission for us to undertake our work. Given that we had eight consecutive days paddling in near-perfect conditions, we’re hopeful that the spirits provided their blessing for what it was we were trying to achieve! It’s a trip that I, for one, will never forget, and who knows, you may see me paddling along the Menai with Geth in the future, but this time just for the fun of it.
