20 Days trekking in the Annapurnas

A sunrise at 17,800 feet. An amphitheater of towering peaks. A quiet pine grove. A rhodedendron forest, in full bloom. Hot springs. Stairs stairs and more stairs. Hot tea for a tired cold body. Yak steak. Prayer flags and mountain gompas. Prayer wheels and mani stones. A friend and former colleague, Ellie Dwight, used to ask students about "Kodak Moments." The last 20 days were a prolonged Kodak experience. Great writers and artists have attempted to describe being in the Himalayas. I have read some of the books and see some of the art, but nothing and no one can capture it. Ever since my high school religion teacher, Jason Berv, cried in class when describing the his experience in Nepal, I knew I had to come. My high expectations were exceeded. Hightlight #1: Thorong Phedi to Muktinath We were staying at the base of the Thorong La Pass in a Bohemian-run guest house. We were at 4600m and the next day would get to over 5400m in crossing the pass (roughly 17,800 ft.) We awoke at 3:30 am and started walking in the dark. A light snow blanketed the packed snow trail. My headlampp quickly died, so I stayed close behind Kels. We walked slowly, for the path was slippery and steep. In front and behind us, you could see the headlamps of other groups. We did not stop because it was to cold to do so. We had been nervous about altitude sickness, but the cold weather trumped those fears. The pre-dawn light came slowly, and eventually we could see outlines of the mountains. I no longer depended on Kels' head lamp so I finally could relax and enjoy the walk. Then, in front of us, the first light hit Thorong Peak. The early morning light was soft and yellow. It dripped slowly down. I stopped and looked behind me to see the sunrise. We then pushed on a little more. We rounded a bend and the pass was just 50 m in front. The group in front of us was leaving so we hasa little bit of time aone at the top. Tons of prayer flags were draped from the sign. We put up a flag. In putting up the flag, we hoped for our families to be healthy- in particular, we thought of aby Stella and for Wesley having a successful kidney transplant. The moment was powerful, and while we wanted to linger, the cold pushed us on, so we dropped down 1600m to the town of Muktinath. For dinner that night, I had the most amazing meal: Yak steak. Delicious! Highlight #2: Annapurna Base Camp (A.B.C.) After finishing the Annapurna Circuit, we headed into the Annapurna Sanctuary. As we walked from Chomrom to Deurali, the flora changed. Everything was more mossy, there was bamboo everywhere, and there were tropical ferns. The air was damp; the ground moist. Clearly we had entred a different ecosystem. It came as little surprise when the rains came. Kelsey was somehow inspired by the cold rain and started charging. I started asking myself why we decided to keep hiking. Arriving in Deurali, we were just a day from Anapurna Base Camp. While it was supposed to be gorgeous, the clouds and mist totally blocked the views of the mountains. The next day we got up at 6. I ran outside, hoping for blue sky. Instead, there were just more clouds. We proceeded up regardless. Onthe way, wecaught a ouples glimpses of Machupuchre ("Fishtail Mnt") and of Annapurna South. However, by the time we reached A.B.C., the cloud were back in full force. Hours later, a snowstorm whipped in. We had been lucky with the weather so far, but it appeared that our luck had run out. Around 4 am, I was up, so I went outside for a peek at the weather. The stars were pulsing brighter than I had ever seen. The Milky Way looked likea creamy blanket. The lightfrom the stars illumanted the mountains, andfor the first time I understood why it was described as an amphitheater. All around me, huge mountains pierced the night sky. At 5:15am, Kels and I put on every article of clothing we had and walked out to a shelf where we watched the sun rise. It was a perfect blue-bird day, not a cloud in the sky. While cold, the wind had died. The light first hit Annapurna South and Annapurna I. Then it hit the sides of Machupuchre. The soft yellow turned to a brilliant white as the sun peaked over the mountains. We looked at our guest house, covered in snow. We turned in circles, mountains everywhere. Huge. Beautiful. Magical. Highlight #3: Ghorapani to Chomrom via Poon Hill. We left at 5am, heading up Poon Hill in a herd of other trekkers to watch the sunrise. While I did't like being surrounded by so many others, Poon Hill serves up a pretty wicked start to the morning. Perche up on the Hill, we saw a full panoramic view of the Annapurna range, including the holy Machupuchre and Dhaligiri (the 7th highest mountain in the world). I have seen the sunrise almost every single day this academic year (mostly in the water in Costa Rica) and this was one of the best. We then headed back to our guest house, packed up, and headed off. The walk was spectacular. The path led through rhodedendron forests in full bloom. For the first couple of hours, every turn gave another spectacular view of the mountains. We then dipped down a valley, following a creek for a while. When we got to our planned stop, both Kels and I were having too much fun walking, so we pressed on for another 3 hours. Up. Up. Into the clouds. Walking on a path etched ino a steep mountain. And when we finally arrived in Chomrong, our guet house had a piping hot shower. The first hot shower in weeks. Heaven! There were many other amazing days, like my birthday treat when we hiked a high ridge and got our first views of the mountains. Or soaking in the tatopani hot springs. We took tons and tons of pictures and hopefully soon we'll be ale to upload some of them and share them with you.