Part 45 - Camp near Mera and bearings to local passes; 11 March halt at Trongsa

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SUMMARY:
The writer moved camp to a site below Mera to avoid wind and dust, noting bearings for the Cholin La, Sirkim La, and the course of the Mera Chu. On 11 March at Trongsa, the writer and Tenduk searched the hills for flowers, finding Primula whitei common but most other plants not in flower, and noted impressive forests including Abies and Juniperus.

CONTENT:
up there, I moved down to a camp about 4 miles below
Mera, there the wind is not so bad, & there is no
dust. But I fear I won't get much even here. The only
sign of plants were Meconopsis (Meconopsis paniculata 1171,
Meconopsis nepalensis 1172) which of course is not
in flower. This was seen in several places. Blue Primula
(Primula whitei) or a little Gentian. As far as I can see, the Mera valley
here runs pretty well E & W, giving a bearing from Mera to
the Cholin La of about 280. The Sirkim La is one mile
off the road at a bearing of 170°. Mera Chu comes from
about 140° M heading 1 m above Mera, & again to the South
about 1 mile W of the Cholin La.

11th March. Halt. Trongsa, Tenduk & I spent from 6:30 till 2 pm
looking all over the hills for flowers. But we failed to find
any flowers at all, barring Primula 1166 (Primula whitei 1166), which is everywhere
where the moss is damp. I even saw it coming into flower
through the snow in places. The locals say it comes into
seed in the Bhutanese 9th month, but that seems too late
for this flower. Another Meconopsis (Meconopsis nepalensis 1172) was seen, not in
flower. The trees here are magnificent. Besides larch, rhododendron
& birch there are whole hillsides of Abies (spectabilis webbiana?) 1174
(Abies spectabilis 1174) & Juniperus recurva 1175.