Thorang La Pass F yeah 17.8k!! 12/14 Day 12
Up before the alarm because of the loud ass kids. No worries, I slept like shit from a major headache and wanted to get the day started. No breakfast, that would just allow my body to get cold. We packed and got on our way by 6:30.
I know I've been saying it cold everyday, but it's really fucking cold. I wish I knew the temperature but it must have been -20 w the slight breeze. Andy's eyelashes froze and he an icicle off of his headlamp. My gloves froze and then after a slight panic attack, Andy warmed my hands against his body and I put on the parka. I'm always reminded how much he takes care of me when we travel. I wouldn't do this stuff w just anyone! I thought we were going to kill it up to the pass since we've been doing so well. That 2k ft to the pass was fucking hard! I mean real hard. We took small steps and then had to break since the oxygen was so low. We climbed for ~2 hours and hit the pass! I was so excited a little tear came to my eye- or maybe it was due to almost body failure. This is really the hardest physical thing I've done in my life.
At top we took some pics, awed at the beauty of the day and mountains, and got excited to go down. Andy got a pic w his work launch badge and a Goodpeople Tshirt. We didn't want to stay too long up there since it was 17.5k high and that's not good for a body. Stoked to go down! I mean the hardest part was behind us right? Hell no.
The next 3 hours of going down was over ice, steep slopes w rocks that make you slip, and 3 hours is a long time to trek on that shit. The view on this side was very different. It was like we were walking on a glacier on one side, rocks on the other. It didn't feel like we were moving much. We powered through and got to Muktinath.
Unfortunately the kids were trekking w us. We decided to bypass the Bob Marley hotel because that's where they were staying (sorry Bob, I'm sure you would have done the same w people who were so not down). We opted for The Path of Dreams hotel. We took our first shower in 10 days! Thank you Patagonia sports bra for becoming one w my body, but I need to trade you out. It was a cold not nice shower but I'll take it. We ran into the guy who was sick and Andy gave him magic pills. The dude was so grateful! He said thank you over and over. Those pills were the reason the dude got over the hill. Very cool.
Sitting in the sunroom makes everything OK, or maybe it's the beer we are having to celebrate. Either way, we made it, we are warm and enjoying our accomplishment. We have no plans for what the next several days lay ahead of us. I think a mountain bike ride is in our future, or maybe we'll hit up some animals in Chitwan. Dinner consisted of pizza and yak burger. The burger wasn't bad, there was curry in it. First time having meat in about 2 weeks!
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/cleatus_cobb/
26k steps, 13 miles