Tilicho lake
Encyclopedia
Tilicho lake is one of the highest lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s in the world. It is 4,949 m high in the Annapurna
Annapurna
Annapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over and 16 more over ....

 range of the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 in Manang
Manang
Manang is a town in the Manang District of Nepal. It is located at 28°40'0N 84°1'0E with an altitude of . At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 391 people living in 120 individual households....

 district of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

.
Another source lists Lake Tilicho as being 4,919 meters high (16,138 feet).

Mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns
Tarn (lake)
A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...

if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres.
Due to the extremely inhospitable surrounding terrain and the difficulties associated with reaching the area, this lake is rarely visited by outsiders.

It was also the site of one of the highest ever altitude scuba dives
Altitude diving
Altitude diving is scuba diving where the surface is 300 meters or more above sea level . The U.S. Navy tables recommend that no alteration be made for dives at altitudes lower than 91 meters and dives between 91 meters and 300 meters correction is required for dives over 44 meters sea water...

. A Russian diving team consisting of Andrei Andryushin, Denis Bakin and Maxim Gresko conducted a scuba dive in the lake in 2000.

Trekkers attempting the Annapurna Circuit route usually cross the watershed between Manang and Kali Kandaki valleys over the 5414 meters high Thorong La pass. The alternate route skirting Tilicho Lake from the north has been gaining popularity. This route is more demanding and requires at least one night of camping. New lodges have been built between Manang and the lake, but there are no teahouses or lodges past the Tilicho BC lodge some kilometers east of the lake and the next village of Thini Gaon in the Kali Kandaki valley. Most groups spend two nights between these places. There are two passes leading to Thini Gaon and Jomsom; Mesokanto La and Tilicho North pass known also as Tilicho "Tourist pass". These routes via Tilicho Lake are more often closed by snow than the higher Thorong La.

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