Lake Tilicho at 16k ft 12/10 Day 8

No rush today since we were only going up the mountain and back but we got up at the normal time anyway. It snowed last night. It actually woke us up and it sounded like hail. Snow isn't what we need, it could make the path back to Manang impossible. It was just a light dusting. Breakfast consisted of doughy apple pancakes and two eggs each and shit coffee. Time to stick to tea. 

We headed up at 8 w the crew. The walk up wasn't too bad, it was pretty gradual except for 15 or so switchbacks. A couple landslide areas, but I was numb from the intense scree yesterday so they weren't a big deal. There was a lot of ice at the top which slowed our hike. It took us 3.5 hours to reach the lake at 16k ft which was 2.8k up from the lodge. 

The lake was beautiful and blue. The skies were clear, and we were lucky to see some glaciers moaning and cracking and a small landslide into the lake. It was a bit windy but the closed hut blocked the wind. I was surprised how good we felt at the top. We took the sun and scenery in for 30 min. Only places this hard to get to are this beautiful. I'm so glad we had enough time for this side trek. 

The hike down was pretty easy and sun was hitting us the whole way. We reached the lodge at 2 and finally had some time to relax. The lodge was so hot from the sun beating in, just what we needed. Then we are some veg spring rolls and Tibetan Bread which is fried dough for an appetizer. Since they take forever w food, and Andy finally wanted to eat (yay!), we ordered fried noodles w egg and fried potatoes to get our carbs on. Less people around the fire tonight. We saw the 3 Indian girls and the hippie walk in. They only have jean jackets on and look so cold. I'm trying to stay away until 7. We'll see how far we press on tomorrow. Back to Manang and maybe Yak Kharka.