Crossing into Tibet

1st April 1924

The expedition team crossed the Jelap La, at 14,500 feet, from Sikkim into Tibet. Sandy climbed 3000 feet in one morning and noted that he ‘felt a slight headache towards the top, especially if my feet slipped & shook my head much. I felt quite tired in my knees & panted a good deal if I tried to go fast. At the top of the pass put the largest stone I could lift on the cairn from about 20 yards away, just to make sure that the altitude wasn’t affecting me unduly! Anyway I was quite glad to sit down for a few minutes, the altitude being my record up to date, 14,500 ft'. Whenever Sandy reached a new height record he was blighted with a headache. He took photographs of the cairn with its prayer flags fluttering in the wind and continued down from the pass into Tibet on foot. He was interested in the different characteristics of this side of the pass, where the tree line was some 2500 feet higher than on the other side. They had come from a valley of lush vegetation into a dryer and cooler valley in the lee of the pass where the trees were now predominantly pine.