davebrophy

Yeah so I'd just crossed some seriously dangerous steep exposed snow slopes without crampons, so going back wasn't really an option. Got to a river and the bridge from the guidebook didn't seem to be there... hiked up a side valley to see if I could get across that way - got across but the route on the way down was too overgrown.

If I had gone back I would have had to cross the really dangerous section again, and also be 10 days late meeting Mathi at Makalu Base Camp (she was meeting me on day 30, and at that point was already hiking).

So I used my trusty Garmin InReach Mini to contact the logistics company. Gave them a lat/long for the pickup and drop off, and they got a couple of quotes. $3500 for a 10 minute ride, and they dropped me off part of the way up the Makalu Base Camp trek where Mathi was having a rest day. Perfect timing.

I was planning to add it up, but very approx:

Logistics: $3,000 (8 resupply packages brought from Kathmandu to points along the trail)

Mountaineering guide: $2,000 (we met the guide to assist us over the five technical passes, but the rest of the trek we hiked solo)

Permits: $800 each (including $500 for a week in the Upper Dolpa region)

Helicopter rescue: $3,500 (oops)

Food: $1,000 each (backpacking food brought with us from the UK)

Spending money: $3,000 each (to cover guest houses and food along the trek)

Wait, that $1000 is just for the backpacking food. We brought enough backpacking food for 60 days, so about $16/day. You can see a full breakdown on the "Food" sheet on my planning doc:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W6Nbe-NhahaRc2Mqn5_lRELf0l7R-Pgjgh27r_chu0k

In the end we only camped for about 30 days, so we didn't need all that food. When we were staying with locals we were spending about $25/day each on accommodation plus food. Less in the remote regions - more in the commercialised regions.

World Expiditions charge $37K (AUD).

Yeah I think that's for a fully supported trek where you have guides showing you the way and porters carrying all your gear and cooking for you. Different vibe for sure!

$1000 in food over 154 days? That’s insane!

However I'm interested... did you think $1000 was expensive for 154 days of food? Or cheap?