Tilicho Lake Trek

Thirteen days to the highest big lake in the world at 4,919 m, then over Thorong La at 5,416 m.

Tilicho is the detour that makes the Annapurna Circuit worth the extra four days. From Manang the trail leaves the main route and climbs a notoriously loose, exposed traverse to a base camp at 4,200 m, then up again to a five-kilometre sheet of turquoise water at 4,919 m — the highest lake of its size anywhere, walled in by Tilicho Peak and the back of the Annapurnas with no vegetation at all. We then rejoin the circuit and cross Thorong La at 5,416 m into Muktinath, which is the real high point of the trip and the reason we grade it strenuous. The altitude is the whole difficulty: two nights above 4,000 m before the lake, a hard pass day, and a landslide-prone traverse that we will turn around on if conditions are bad.

Why you'll love it

• ✓Tilicho Lake at 4,919 m — the highest large lake on earth
• ✓Thorong La at 5,416 m, the classic Annapurna pass crossing
• ✓Manang's Tibetan-Buddhist villages & the Gangapurna glacier
• ✓Two acclimatization days built in before the lake and the pass
• ✓Finishes at Muktinath with a flight back down to Pokhara

Day by day