Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek in June

Stone steps and rain are the combination that defines June here. The Ulleri staircase is slick, the descent to Ghandruk needs deliberate feet, and the whole route is wet underfoot for most of the month.

Leeches arrive in numbers below about 2,800m and are worst in the forest between Ghorepani and Tadhapani. They come off wet leaf litter onto boots and socks and you will stop repeatedly to remove them. Salt or a lighter works, long socks reduce the count, and no preparation eliminates them.

The compensation is real and it is not the mountains. The hillsides are the greenest they get, the waterfalls between Tikhedhunga and Ulleri run hard, and the rice terraces below Ghandruk are being planted and flooded, which turns the whole descent into stepped mirrors on the rare clear afternoon.

Close to empty. Lodges stay open, because these are permanent villages with year-round populations rather than seasonal camps, but you may be the only guest at Ghorepani. Menus stay full and prices do not change. The lodge family will have time to talk, which in June is most of the entertainment.

The Kathmandu to Pokhara flight becomes unreliable in June, and monsoon cloud cancels it with little warning. The road is the fallback at six to seven hours, subject to its own landslide delays after heavy rain. Build a spare day at the start of a June itinerary specifically for this, because the flight is the single most likely thing to go wrong.