Annapurna Circuit Trek: Day 8-9

I began Day 8 feeling pretty good, better than recent mornings, but I walked very slowly, enjoying the views and the feeling of not being in a rush (because of the altitude we were scheduled for a relatively short day). Also, Maria was not feeling well. The path provided a view over the route we'd taken back from Khangsar the day before so we got to see the scary bit and felt fully justified in our fear. Today we went above the tree line - it's just shrubs now, with the mountain peaks becoming ever closer and more impressive:



The best moment of the day was watching a flock of yellow-billed chaffs circling above us (here reduced to black pixelated dots):

Suddenly, about an hour before we were due for lunch, I felt overwhelmingly tired, like I was hit by a massive wave of exhaustion, and developed a mild headache. As these are both symptoms of AMS I was somewhat worried, but Vivek was far ahead and Dil and Ram far behind. I struggled on, exhausted, in pain from the blisters and increasingly angry at Vivek for leaving us so far behind, which I felt was irresponsible, especially at this altitude. It was fortunate that I knew the next stretch was flat - it would have been a far bigger problem if I'd had to increase my altittude to catch them up, as that's a big no-no when experiencing symptoms of AMS.

By the time Maria and I finally arrived at the lunch stop I was utterly miserable and let Vivek know it, and why, which put him in a sulk. Dal bhat made me feel somewhat better, as did the decision to stay in Yak Kharka (as opposed to pushing on to Letdar as originally planned). I had a much needed rest then took short acclimatisation walk. The light on the moutains was beautiful. At this height (4000m) we're seeing new peaks. It almost feels like we're in the clouds.

On the morning of Day 9 I felt much better, but took it very, very slowly as this, plus drinking lots of water, is the best prevention against AMS. Other than a minor headache, I felt in pretty good shape.

It was a long day. The standard itinerary is Letdar-Thorung Phedi, but we did an extra hour and a bit on each end of that; at the front end because we'd stopped early the day before and in the afternoon because Vivek wanted to push on to High Camp in order to shorten the mammoth walk up to the Thorung La pass the next day. It was also a big altitude hike. We gained 800m that day. Gradually we climbed even above the shrub-line and into magnificent ice-capped peaks. The final section, from Thorong Phedi, where most trekkers were staying, to High Camp was particularly steep and slow-going. Despite my repeated requests, indeed demands, that Vivek should stay within ear-shot of me and Maria, he was soon far ahead. Dil and Ram, who I think were as frustrated with Vivek as us girls, were fantastic and stuck right by us, setting an appropraite pace, resting when we rested, providing encouragement and looking out for our safety. They were fantastic.

High Camp, nested at 4800m in the mountains, feels totally isolated:

The view from the same peak in the other direction:

There was an excellent camaradarie that afternoon and evening, with all the trekkers huddled together in the dining room, the only part of the complex with heating. The people I met that day became friends and were to be a feature of the rest of the trek; cute Maria, Jolie and Paul; Rabbi Dan from Boise, Idaho; Simon, Clyde the Guide from Australia. We were all in good spirits about having made it so far and shared in our excitement and trepidation about the following day, a 600m ascent to a 5416m pass, followed by a 1600m descent, a description of which will follow shortly.