This is Chandra (my guide) and myself
at the summit of the Thorung La Pass on the Annapurna circuit. It took 12 days
to get here and was a relief once we finally made it over. I had suffered from
mild altitude sickness twice, but did o.k. on the pass. We had to start at 4am
to get to the summit by 10am and pass before the high winds start. When we
started in the morning, it was pitch black out, with a full moon and a clear sky
loaded with stars. We walked up the snowy slope that was all switchbacks and
nobody said a word since the elevation was too high and nobody had the energy to
talk. Also, it was just damn cold and you just focused on keeping warm. Some had
headlamps, but with the full moon they weren't really needed. After we did this
for a few hours, we saw the sunrise… wow… It's amazing the beauty that the
Lord has given Nepal. 1 week after this was taken, the pass was closed because
they received over a meter of snow. Lucky us, because if the pass is closed,
then it's a 12 day walk back out. The elevation is 5,416m or 17,600 ft.
This was the base camp, just before the pass. As you can see, for the very needy, there is helicopter rescue. While I was there, a guy had pretty bad altitude sickness and wasn't physically able to descend. One way out had landslides and had killed some trekkers, another way out was steep and icy/snowy with a cliff, and he could barely walk. They asked about calling a helicopter to get him lower but their phone was out. I left the next morning so I don't know what happened to him, but I didn't hear of any deaths (in this area), so he must have made it.
I met these folks while I was trekking and became quite good friends with them. The guy in the red is a Brit, the rest are Canadians. The base camp lodge was full, but the 2 ladies had an extra bed in their room so they let me have it. The one in the orange jacket is Valerie, and her and I went kayaking for 4 days at the end of the trek. It was a 4-day adrenaline rush unlike anything I had done before. We were all sitting on this ledge enjoying the clear sunny day we were blessed with. Once the sun was gone the temperature plummeted and it was too cold to stay outside. Note the medical problems of trekkers. At one point or another, all of had to rest at least 1 day to recover from our illnesses:
Myself: Diarrhea/altitude sickness/food poisoning/vomiting/sunburned lips
Guy in Black: Knee Problems/food poisoning/diarrhea
Guy in Red: Knee problems/altitude sickness-almost severe (very dangerous)
Girl in Orange: Lice/Giardia/diarrhea
Girl in Blue: Giardia/altitude sickness/her 2 big toe nails fell off