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Mera is high and wild, but not daunting. Make sure you acclimitize well, don't burn yourself out on the approach like some youths are apt to do, and you have a good chance at bagging a nice 6400 meter summit.

Oh, and get some solid basic mountaineering skills under your belt first, so you only have to deal with the altitude and not fumble around with your equipment and technique.

The trek in there is absolutely through suberb Himalayan scenery, and if you do the Hongu circuit it is totally wild country.

So, my $0.02 for Mera.

Yala is also very nice (the whole Langtang / Kyanjin Gompa area is). I would say Mera, Yala, Island Peak is the order of difficulty.

Yala is the easiest all-round, lowest altitude, least technical. Mera is the highest and Island Peak is the most technical tho' not overly so.
Yala is usually combined with a climb of Naya Kanga with Yala the "warm up".
So, what challenge do you want to enjoy? Altitude, a pair of peaks with least walk-in, or the more technical climb with the bonus of being in the Everest Region?
Discuss!
fd

smoky wrote:being in and out of Nepal in under 2 months. Would we be able to complete the Yala, Naya Kanga climb in that sort of time frame?

Yes, 2 months are more than sufficient for Yala + Naya Kanga. If everything goes well, I think you could probably climb both and be back in KTM in 2-3 weeks.

I would say:
- KTM -> Syabrubensi - bus - 1 day
- Syabrubensi -> Kyanjin Gompa - hike - 3 days
- acclimatization (if needed), preparation hikes (if needed), waiting for good weather (if needed) - as long as you want, you can easily spend an enjoyable week there, or you can immediately go up to Yala
- KG -> Yala - 1/2 days depending on how fit you are and how much time you want to spend at it. There are several variations to the route. You can make at least 3-4 different approaches. You can go over glacier or on rock for the last section.

If you are there, and are experienced enough, you could try the slightly higher Tsergo (not the same as the lower Tsergo Ri closer to KG) further along the ridge as well.

I'm not sure about Naya Kanga, but I think you would need 2 days to make the ascent.

smoky wrote:Would it be absolutely essential to hire porters/sherpas for this sort of climb?

You don't need either for getting to KG, exploring the area and climbing Yala (depending on how experienced you are). I would probably hire a guide for Naya Kanga.

Michael

Hi,
not that I have any personal experience with these peaks. But to specify the 'material' Nelson already was referring to: this should include CRAMPONS - and knowing how to use them.
Cheers and good luck,
Henning