Annapurna Circuit Day 12

The morning came briskly as my watch starts to beep, followed by another alarm and finally a third. I sit up out of my sleeping bag and rub my eyes. I see my breath in the dry cold air and it seems like my head is steaming as I remove my beanie cap that I’ve slept in. I rub the outsides of my arms to warm up and throw on my fake North Face trekking pants, fleece and softshell jacket. Waking up today is has been one of the hardest mornings for some reasons. My throat is dry, my lips are chapped and my thirsty as hell.

I open the doors and immediately stop as a blinding wall of light comes to view. It takes my eyes a few moments to adjust as the snow is already reflecting the morning sun. I do a few jumping jacks to help my body warm up for the day and carefully walk and slide across the trail to the kitchen area of the camp. The doors open and immediately feel the warmth of firewood and the sweet smell of breakfast. All the other trekking groups are already eating and some already heading out, as this is the longest of the days. We will suddenly go from Thorung Ghedi at 4,500m (17,760ft) to the highest point at the Thorung La Pass at 5,400m and then we descend to Muktinath  at 3,800m. This mean we will roughly ascend 900m (2,953ft) and then immediately descend 1,600m (5,250ft), this totals 2500m (8,202ft) in elevation coverage. However, since we forgot to order food the day before we would have to wait for them to cook our breakfast. I quickly order breakfast which consists of pancakes, bread, omelet and coffee and head back to the lodge to pack.

By the time I scarf down my breakfast most of the groups have already long left. We head out behind the camp and start on a series of switchbacks that Joe and I ran down in roughly 20minutes the day before. This time with our gear and going uphill versus downhill it takes us around an hour. Joe and Nate venture ahead as Christine complains of headaches. I urge her to head back down and rest another day but she refuses and we decide to take things slow and break frequently. At this point we are separated into two groups.

Highcamp comes up after an hour’s worth up seriously vertical uphill climb. This camp has only place to sleep and most trekkers prefer to stay lower since there is not much up here. Regardless this camp is the last stopping point before taking on the Thorung La Pass. We break at the top on the bench next to some of the other trekkers. The sun has come out and I lounge with my pack still strapped to my back and quickly warm up. The next part of the climb is all snow and I have to remember what I learned from my Ben Nevis climb to use the edges of my boot to get good traction. Essentially I am walking like a duck with a giant pack on my back.

The rest of the trek is blinding. Christine has somehow lost her sunglass that she picked up at Manang. At first she decides to tie a plastic trash bag around her head. She somehow thinks this helps and is what “they” use to do before the days of sunglasses. Well that method doesn’t work very well and also makes you look like an idiot, so we are sharing my pair; basically taking turns wearing the shades, enjoying the views and leading the blind person. We continue taking breaks as Christine’s headache gets worse, but she decides that she is at the point of no return, opposing my caution to head down, and we continue going. We find two more tea shops along the way. The last tea shop is at the top of the pass at 5,413m. The pass is decorated with a congratulations plaque with a clutter of prayer flags blowing the wind tied to it.

From then on it was a quick all downhill descent from 5,413m to 3,800m. This descent is beautiful at first but the rain starts to move in. This is probably the loneliest part of the trek. I think besides two other trekkers it was just Christine and me. During some portions of it I was truly worried that we had somehow gotten off course. But actually since we took so many breaks we were the last trekkers on this mountain. Much to my relief Christine’s headache starts to get better and better as we descend.

This part of the trek is covered in snow but since the sun was out earlier that day has now turned to slush. And other parts that are in the shade have frozen to dangerously slick patches of ice. Christine falls down the mountain its quite entertaining. My knees are now buckling under pressure from the shenanigans of the previous day and also from stomping downhill this entire way. To help with that problem, we take plenty of breaks to enjoy the view below.

During one of our breaks I turn around to see a huge expansive black sky behind us. It’s a giant cluster of rain clouds and its moving quick. We pick up our pace and chase the disappearing sun. On the bottom of this giant downhill ravine there are a cluster of houses that have accommodations.  We see a few groups of trekkers stopping there for the night due to stomach issues, but we decide to continue to a bigger village.

At one point we can see two villages below; one to the left and one to the right. We are not sure which one to go to but after looking at a plaque we somehow decide that Muktinath. At that point there is series of bridges and the sun blinding us with her last rays of light. It is at this point that small amounts of rain start to drizzle down. It is not too long before we reach the outer walls of the village.

As we enter, I look up and see Joe running over to use shouting. Joe is already drunk and ecstatic to see us. There is a good celebration and an extra burst of energy as we are reunited with our group. Joe wasn’t sure if we were going to make and at that point it was already getting dark. But he saved us a room at their lodge.

At the lodge we say hello to our trekkers that we have been traveling with along the way. A lot of them passed me and Christine heard her complaining about her headache. They were all relieved that we made it safely. There was a big rumor that we had turned back. I guess one of the trekkers heard me urging her to take another rest/acclimatization day. Finally settled I throw my soaked shoes and socks next to the campfire and head straight for kitchen.

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