Part 35 - Black Mountain camp notes: water scarcity and local lore

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SUMMARY:
At a high camp around 10,000 ft with scarce water, the writer describes leeches, midges, and limited washing, expecting no water at the next camp. Locals share stories of the Black Mountain’s golden, silver, and emerald lakes and rock salt, recalling an old man punished by HH for musk deer trapping and a mad lama who returned with rock salt three years ago.

CONTENT:
to stick to the ridge. Even then, one would expect some water, but there is none. A few leeches today; midges awful in last camp, but we are almost too high for them here. We must now be at 10,000 ft. The locals have many stories about the Black Mountain. There is one old man with me who used to come up here 20 years ago to shoot or trap musk deer. When HH heard of it he had him beaten, so he has not been here since. There are said to be three kinds of lakes near the top - one golden, one silver and one emerald. They say also that rock salt is found on the mountain, but that the Tibetans prayed the Bhutanese not to use it, as they would have nothing to trade if they did. So now it is not used. This is hearsay, but 3 years ago a mad lama went up the Black Mountain and came back with a big piece of rock salt. So there must be something in the story. They say we will not have any water even in tomorrow's camp. I have not shaved or washed these last two days, but have at least had two small cups of tea at breakfast and at tea time. This camp must have been the scene of a terrific storm,