We woke up at 4am when it was still pitch black and bitterly cold outside. We dressed in all the layers we had but the cold still chilled our bones. We were on the trail with our headlamps by 4:20am. The stars were beautiful. The first part of the trail was the most challenging, as you gained 500m over a 1.5km distance. Each step was difficult as our bodies struggled in the low oxygen environment. Every few steps left us gasping for breath. After about an hour we were rewarded by the gorgeous view of the morning light hitting the snowy peaks of the Annapurnas.
After about 2 hours we reached another lodge, called High Camp (4950m). This is the highest lodge on the circuit and the last one we would see until after we crossed the pass. We stopped here to rest and warm up. At this point our toes were numb and our water bottle had frozen shut. We sat and sipped hot tea and rubbed our toes until they were warm again. We then prepared to begin the push toward the pass.
After High Camp the path became much less steep and we ascended more gradually. But when you are above 5000m even the slightest uphill requires a very high breathing rate and a huge amount of physical effort.
Soon the sun came up and began to warm us, even allowing us to take off some of our layers. The sunlight felt wonderful and it was so beautiful as it glistened on all the glaciers and snow covered mountains surrounding us. It felt as if we had entered another world as we walked through rolling hills among these white giants.
We believe we encountered the rare Himalayan Yeti.
After a further 4, very exhausting but very beautiful, hours we reached the Thorung-La (5416m!)!
The pass itself was an area of rolling hills less than a kilometre wide. It separates the two peaks of Thorung, to the south, and Yakwakang to the north. It was an amazing place to visit, nestled at the base of these two giants, one of rock and one of ice. Like Yin and Yang, the two peaks guard the rocky path below. There is a small tea hut here where we purchased a litre of melted snow (liquid water isn't found this high up).
Thorung Peak was covered on most of it's surface with snow, ice, and glaciers. It towered over us in blue-white magnificence, the peak occasionally hidden by the swirling clouds.
Chelsea poses with Yakwakang in the background.
A massive glacier coming down off the side of Thorung Peak, nearly at eye level.
After an hour of resting and taking photos, we started our descent
The path after the pass was a steep and slippery downhill, with snow covering the path in many spots. Ahead of us was the valley formed by the Kali Gandaki river. Our destination, Muktinath, was visible within an hour of leaving the pass, but it would take us another 4 hours of steep and relentless downhill hiking to reach it. In total, we descended 1600m from the pass to Muktinath.
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