Kicking ass and acclimating at Ice Lake 12/8 Day 6
We took our time today, had lunch at 7:30 of veg omlettes and hit up the bakery downstairs for a chocolate croissant and cinnamon roll- they were massive. We saved most of the goods for the hike.
We started on our journey at 9:30. Crossed the road in Bhraga, up toward one of the bigger monasteries we've seen, traversed the hail and started the switchbacks up the mountain. Andy is still pretty sick but he's a beast so we decided to climb the mountain. We took our time, slow and steady, planning for how we would take the overpass. We didn't have our bags on today and it was amazing! It felt so good it made me sad to think about how fucking heavy our bags are.
Walking up the mountain is kinda like meditating, all you can do is watch where you step and breathe w your steps. It was very peaceful, we were walking at such a pace we weren't losing our breathe. We made good time though. We hit the lookout point in 1.5 hours and it was supposed to take 2. We would pause every now and then to take in the view. We could see Annapurna 2, 3, and 4. We were so high, we hiked up 4K ft. The town and valley was so small from our viewpoint. The trail was full of false peaks- we kept thinking we were there and we weren't.
We passed a heard of Rams w their huge curved antlers. They were running across the mountain trying to get away from us. A condor flew just above our head, probably thinkng we were dead. The sun was hitting us all day, we sat for a bit on a pasture to take in the view and eat our baked good that were now warm from the sun. We decided to go up one more section, if the lake wasn't there then f it. Luckily it was a flat walk and we finally made it to Ice Lake at 1592 ft. The lake itself was ok, but there was a herd of yaks drinking from it. The yaks, the lake, the view of the Himalaya, it was a other National Geographic moment. We didn't stay long at the top, Andy thought my lips were turning blue and I had a headache (since I was still hungry I wasn't worried about altitude sickness).
We made it to the top in 4.5 hours w our breaks, we made it down the mountain in less than 2. Going down is really hard, it's hard on the quads and it's hard not slipping on the lose rocks. Plus we were tired. We grabbed our bags from the New Yak and headed for Manang. Sooo tired, it was cold, and I was very hungry. The walk was supposed to be 30 min, more like 45, but when you are that tired, 15 min is a huge diff. We grabbed a room in the same place as the rest of the travelers we met yesterday. First priority is the change and get food. We had ginger lemon honey tea, soup, spring rolls, and French fries. I'm still hungry. Andy thinks I'm eating a lot. This is nothing for all the calories we are burning. I'm a machine and I need energy dammit! Tomorrow we are either taking a rest day or hiking for ~8 hours to start the Tilicho Lake hike. If we go we can go w friends, I'm needing a rest day. We'll see. I'm really hating my bag weight. Other people have a small tiny bag w them. I'm so jealous. I'm also now ok w not taking a shower until we end our trek (it's too cold) and brushing my teeth once a day. My hair braids are turning into dreads.
30k steps, 15 miles, 4K ft