Tilicho Lake and the Cliff Moss High Altitude Lake: Annapurna's 4,919 m Mirroreasytravelpost #Tilic
#easytravelpost Tilicho Lake (4,919 m) is the highest large lake on the Annapurna Circuit, reached from Manang→Khangsar→Tilicho Base Camp (4,150 m)→lake shore, 2 days from Manang. I bused Kathmandu→Besisahar (NPR 1,000, 6 hrs), jeep Besisahar→Chame (NPR 1,200), walked Chame→Manang (3 days), Base Camp (1 day), lake (half day) in October.
The cliff moss is the lake's east cliff seep: Sphagnum and Fissidens in the meltwater where the snowbank clings till August, Polytrichum on the basalt blocks of the shore cairn, and the cliff above Base Camp has Hylocomium in the alpine meadow—at 4,919 m the moss is stunted, silver-green, glowing at 06:50 before the wind. I sat at the shore at 07:10, the moss frozen-cool, a chough on the scree, Tilicho's surface flat black under the Nilgiri. ACAP NPR 3,000 + TIMS NPR 2,000, guide mandatory since 2023.
Mistake: I did Manang→Base Camp→lake→back to Manang in 2 days and got a 4 a.m. headache—sleep Base Camp 2 nights, lake is a day-hike from there. Another: I believed "no permit needed" rumors and the Khangsar checkpoint turned me back to Manang for ACAP; carry printed copies, phones don't count. Would you sleep 2 nights at Tilicho Base Camp and dawn the lake for the cliff-moss 07:10, or skip Tilicho and save energy for Thorong La?