Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Feb 28th

Day 12

It’s 5 am, and with our headlights on we set off up the mountain in complete darkness…but under a clear starry sky like nothing I’ve ever seen before. While feeling lucky that my stomach is good enough for me to be able to push it to the back of my mind I’m also wondering what on earth I’m putting myself through. The snow has covered any signs of a path, the icy wind makes it feel like someone is slapping your face and fingers and toes are running a hard battle of trying to keep sensation. Thank goodness for our guides who, despite much harsher conditions than expected, stepped up and trudged through the snow in order to create a trail that we could all follow.

As the sun rises we start to warm up a bit and 4 hours later we reach our peek. 5416 meters, the Thorong La pass…an absolutely amazing feeling! I realize that I like these kind of challenges, I like how they push me forward…which puts me in better spirits than most others there and I believe I might be the only one who actually enjoys the trek back down on the other side. My glass is very much half full at this moment. Eventhough the time at the top, the actual goal that has taken days to reach, only lasts for a few minutes, the achievement of getting there will always stay with me.

We set off...
...in the dark
Sun is slowly rising...but it is still pretty darn cold

4 hours later...first group to reach the top
Yihoo!!
Me, sue and our two heros :) Such a great team
Happiest feeling ever was to look up and see these prayer flags...that meant the top was in sight
On my way down, feeling tired as heck but oh so good!
Finally down and enjoying the warmth of the sun


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