April 1st – Close To the Top
The snowstorm last night turned everything into a winter wonderland leaving around four inches of snow on the ground. After an almost inedible breakfast, we were on our way. I took my time and plodded along while shooting plenty of photographs along the way.
Andrea’s Achilles heels have really been bothering her lately, frustrating Mike and leading to him giving her the nickname “Achilles.” She tried to start hiking today in sandals and socks in plastic bags but had to change back into her boots.
I was out in front of the group around 300 yards or so amusing myself when I turned around and no one was behind me. I had rounded a bend and didn’t see anyone, so I amused myself goofing off on the side of a mountain while waiting for everyone else to catch up. To pass the time I chatted with fellow travelers going by and took pictures of the scenery and porters. Anish also passed me carrying our gear as I waited on everyone else. I goofed off a good 45 minutes at around 14,500 feet until the rest of the group caught up. Bethany had been feeling the effects of the altitude and Blaine had to carry her pack.
As we all hiked down the trail, we came to a treacherous part of the trail that snaked like a “W” down to a bridge over a river. All of the previous trekkers had packed the heavy wet snow into a thick layer of ice. I was glad that I had my hiking poles to help aid my trek down the hill. At the first bend in the “W”, you could clearly see in the snow, someone had went over the side of the trail and slid all the way down to the river a good 30 feet below. What we would find out later, it was our porter Anish who had went over the side and slid down to the river. Fortunately he was alright and none the worse for wear.
After crossing the river, we all stopped to have a lunch break at a small trailside stop that happened to be packed with fellow trekkers. My favorite part of the stop was the Russian trekker who needed a cigarette at 14,700 feet. He struggled for several minutes to get the damn thing lit which I found highly amusing.
After the break, it was time to press on. I passed a German tour group to get ahead of the long line that was going to start forming on the side of the hill as the other trekkers got done with their meals. Out far enough in front, I took several pictures of a “Landslide Area” sign which I found very cute. I then looked up and noticed all of the crap that was coming down the hill ranging from golf ball to bread loaf sized rocks.
The previous night’s snow had started to melt which made the mud on the side of the mountain slide and send larger rocks down. There was actually a good two foot wide stream of gravel flowing right down the mountain just like a river that you had to jump over, but that was small potatoes compared to the larger rocks coming down that could cause real damage. Blaine took a video of the stream that you can view here.
Fortunately along the trail, there were large rock outcroppings that you could quickly scurry between when the coast was clear. After several outcroppings, the trail rounded to the left and the danger was over, although I kept a weather eye on the mountain side above me to avoid any future surprises.
A short 30 minutes later, I arrived at Thorung Phedi. Everyone else showed up around 5 minutes later. Despite the best efforts of Blaine and Mike and their excellent bartering skills, there was no negotiation to be had regarding the rates of the room we were staying in. This was the only lodge available to stay at so we had no leverage. After a small conference, we have decided not to go over the pass tomorrow and take an extra day to rest and acclimatize. Mike, Andrea and I all shared a room for 300 rupees per night, but it was well worth it due to us having our own in room squatter.
The rest of the day was spent in the dining hall where we saw a lot of the same faces that we’ve seen over the trek so far. It was quite a sad sight to look at everyone as a good 75 percent of the room looks like someone just ran over their puppy. People were exhausted and miserable from all of the hiking. Some are really not dealing well with the altitude. I am surprised about how great I am feeling and credit a lot of it to the ice lake hike that we did two days before. I had a little moment when I crawled into bed to look at my watch to see the altitude at 15,000 feet. It’s pretty crazy to think that I’m sleeping at the same altitude that people jump out of airplanes at for skydiving.