Thorung La Elevation: 17,768 ft
Muktinath Elevation: 12,335 ft
Daily Distance Walked: 8.7 miles
Total Distance Walked: 75.2 miles
Starting Time: 5:00AM
Ending Time: 12:00PM
Our alarm went off at 4:00AM and Pashupadi, our Canadian friends' guide, was knocking on our door shortly after that to make sure we were awake. We hurried to put on several layers. Even with our blankets, we had slept in half of them, so it didn't take us too much longer than a regular morning to dress. We arrived in the dining room a few minutes after 4:30 with our backpacks in tow and ate our breakfast and drank our tea quickly. Pashupadi was eager to get started because high winds often develop along the trail and at the pass by 8:00AM adding a rather severe wind chill to an already freezing environment. Our Canadian friends were now affectionately calling him "Push Push" and "Nike." Our friends left a bit before us while we settled our bill, but we weren't too far behind them and caught up to them quickly.
At 5:00AM, it is still night, so we had to use our headlamos to see the trail. Walking in the dark made me nervous, but the view of the stars was amazing. The only time I was really uncomfotable and slowed my pace considerably was when both sides of the trail were covered in snow. It made it feel so much narrower, and it was nearly impossible in the dark to see where the side of the mountain fell off.
I reached the Thorung La pass between 7:00 and 7:15AM. Laurence was very speedy and reached it by 6:40. There is a tea house at the pass, so she had a cup of tea while she waited for us. We stayed up at the pass until close to 8AM congratulating each other as another one of reached the top, taking pictures, hanging prayer flags, and trying to stay warm. My hands got so painfully cold that I had to warm them in John's armpits. It took a while for them to warm up, which I imagine made for an interesting sight for the other trekkers, guides, and porters. Unfortunately, it only took a few minutes for them to freeze again after I removed them, so all I could think about at that point was descending. I hurried down from the pass towards Muktinath. Laurence and I were able to descend over 1500 ft fairly quickly and that was enough to warm my hands back up. After another 1500 ft of descending, we stopped to take of our layers.
Laurence and I were lucky again with our room, although this time luck came by way of Pashupadi who sent one of the porters ahead to reserve rooms for our Canadian friends and was kind enough to include the two of us on the reservation. With half the day still ahead of us, we were able to do some laundry and take our first showers (they were even hot!) since Manag 4 days ago. It was quite a contrast to the frozen water at High Camp.
After we had lunch, Laurence and I walked around the village taking photos. We ran into our Dutch friends along the way. While they had gone over the pass the day before us, they had decided to spend an extra day in Muktinath to rest. They will also be going to Jomosom tomorrow, so we should see them again.
We ended up at a newly constructed Gompa (temple) across from our lodge where we sat and enjoyed the sunshine for a while. It was almost 5PM before the sun went behind the mountains, giving us two extra hours compared to the previous couple of days.
I had been struggling with whether or not to finish the trek in Jomosom or complete the circuit. Over the past few days, even with the cold, my heart was moving more and more towards finishing the circuit. As Laurence and I were silently sitting at the Gompa reflecting on our recent experiences and listening to the sounds of Muktinath (cow bells, cows mooing, the wind) tears came to my eyes at the thought that my trek could be all over tomorrow when we reached Jomosom. I was desperately hoping for an e-mail from Heather encouraging me to finish.
We had our final dinner with our Canadian friends since they were only going as far as Kagbeni tomorrow, permanently placing us ahead of them on the trek. I will miss them and do hope we keep in touch. I would really like to visit them in Vancouver at some point.
Thorung Peak at dawn.
Thorung Peak, Pashupadi, and the tea house at the pass.
Yakwakang Peak - the Thorung La pass goes between Thorung Peak and Yakwakang.
Sign at the top of the pass. Many people bring prayer flags to hang at the pass.
Our group at the pass.
Our first look at Dhaulagiri - 8,167 m (26,794 ft) - the 7th tallest mountain in the world
Brian admiring the view.
Martin doing the same.
Looking back towards the pass.
Rick and Laurence taking a break before the final bit of descent into Muktinath.
Everyone is admiring the spectacular view.
We made it!
We met this Frenchman in Thorung Phedi. He was mountain biking the circuit, although it sounds like he did more carrying of his mountain bike on the ascents. On the other hand, he made it from the pass to Muktinath in 1.5 hours whereas it took us 4.
Yak wool waiting to be died and made into scarves in Muktinath.
A woman weaving scarves.
A man preparing meat. He's stuffing ground meat (I'm guessing yak) into stomachs.
A man in Muktinath.
Laurence
The sun slowly setting in Muktinath. It was so much warmer on this side of the pass even though we still at 3800 m. The sun also stayed above the mountains longer.
1 comment:
Perhaps Brian should get a thank you note for the use of his armpit body heat? :) Lol... that's a great story. I'm glad to hear that you haven't gotten through the pass. The sunshine looks beautiful and I want to meet your Canadian friends. They seem so very cool.
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