10/31/08 - Day 10 - Thorung Phedi to High Camp

Thorung Phedi Elevation: 14,599 ft

High Camp Elevation: 15,700 ft

Daily Distance Walked: 1.2 miles

Total Distance Walked: 66.5 miles

Starting Time: ~10:00AM

Ending Time: ~11:00AM

I have acclimatized really well.  I had a headache yesterday afternoon in Thorung Phedi, but other than that the altitude hasn't been bothering me that much.  The diamox is working well.  And with the exception of the night in Upper Pisang, I have been sleeping really well too.  We have been able to get blankets every night, so I have been plenty warm.  Laurence is jealous of how well I am sleeping.  Apparently this morning at about 3:30-4:00AM, everyone's guides were going around and knocking on doors to wake people to get started going over the pass.  I didn't hear a thing and slept through it all, but Laurence wasn't quite as lucky (she's the one who relayed the story to me).  We had decided the night before that we would wait in Thorung Phedi for our Canadian friends and walk with them up to High Camp.  We figured we had until 10 or 11 before they arrived, so we slept in, packed up our things, and took our time at breakfast.  We were the only ones in the dining hall.  While we were eating, guides and porters were already starting to arrive and reserve rooms for the people staying in Thorung Phedi that evening and it was only 9:30AM.  One of the guides who came in recognized us and informed us that our friends were already in Thorung Phedi and had stopped for tea at the other lodge.  I went up to it to let them know we were still there and that we would meet them in a few minutes to head up to High Camp.

The walk to High Camp only took about an hour, but we gained a lot of elevation during that time period.  I had really developed a rhythm by that point of the trek between my poles and my feet on the steep ascents.  Even though the elevation was much higher, I found myself not breathing nearly as heavily as I was earlier in the trek.  The beginning part of the walk was rather eventful.  Just as we were beginning, a helicopter appeared and started circling Thorung Phedi.  We soon realized we were very close to the helicopter landing site and altered our path so that it could land.  A woman was being evacuated to lower altitude.  We had learned at out altitude sickness talk in Manang that 50% of people doing the trek suffer from altitude sickness and that a few people die from it every year.  We were fortunate that what symptoms we had were relatively mild and didn't necessitate extra acclimitization days or returnign to lower altitudes.  We had met a couple of people after Manang who were either going back to Manang because they weren't feeling well or were taking an extra day of rest before going higher.

Laurence and my luck continued with finding a room at High Camp.  Laurence had gone up the trail more quickly than I had and was able to secure the last room at the lodge for us.  We hoped our luck continued for one more night so that we would be able to spend one last evening with our Canadian friends.  Where our luck looked like it might run out was when I went to ask for balnkets for the night and I was told that the were for porters only.  I figured I wouldn't be getting much sleep that night due to the cold even if I wore all of my clothes.  Even at the height of the day, all of the water at High camp was frozen - not a promising indicator for the night time temperatures.

We ate lunch once we arrived in High camp and once it had a bit of time to digest, we hiked up to the top of a ridge overlooking High Camp that had spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.  The view was well worth the hike up, but it was a bit scary up there.  One wrong step and you would fall right off.  The wind was not comforting either.  It would have been nice if I had taken my poles with me because the descent was very steep and made me nervous as well.  Thankfully, Brian was kind enough to stay back with me and let me hold on to his elbow.  I think that actually worked out for the best because I think my poles would have made me nervous while we were at the top of the overlook since they would have been one more thing to hold onto while I was up there.  I preferred hanging on to the rocks.

We had dinner with our friends, and Laurence and I hung out in the dining room until they started shooing people out at 9PM.  We were going get an early start in the morning (~5AM), but we were dreading going to our room to freeze.  Even though there wasn't any heat in the dining room either, the number of people there and the kitchen made it warmer than our room.  Our reluctance to go to bed paid off because they started handing out blankets to trekkers a little before 9PM.  All of the porters were taken care of, so they were given the leftovers out.  I slept well afterall that night :-)

The only lodge in High Camp.

The view from our room.

The trail heading up to Thorung La pass.  The color of the sky is so intense at this altitude.


The view from the dining hall.

A mountain goat skull placed near the trail up to the pass.

Views from the overlook at High Camp.  We were completely surrounded by mountains.

Thorung Phedi from above.

The trail leading from High Camp up to the pass as seen from the overlook.

Edelweiss

Rick at the top of the overlook.

Me at the top of the overlook.  It was a bit naroow for my liking, so I wasn't letting go of the rocks.

I didn't carry my tirpod around for nothing! Finally a phot with all of us.

John, Terry, Rick, Martin, Laurence, Me, and Brian

360 view from High Camp