After some vacillating back and forth about going up to Annapurna Base Camp or not, I decided not to go. It usually takes about 2 hours each way. It’s not very far (maybe two miles), and it’s not even very steep with about 1300′ of elevation gain. But, it was going to be almost all on ice. Now it wouldn’t be as bad going up because of the overnight freezing, but I really dreaded the coming down. And then I would have to continue on for several more hours to get back to Deurali. Besides, it just wasn’t going to look like this in March with all the snow still on the ground.
Since I couldn’t take any pictures when I arrived at MBC, I’m limiting this post to my early morning shots before we started down at about 7:30a.
Gurung Co-op Guest House sign
Annapurna South and the way to ABC are behind me
Tharpa Chuli or Tent Peak towers over MBC
One of the reasons we began our descent about 15 minutes after we left the lodge was that we had to wait for an event. It began by several men shoveling some snow. [Note the icy path in front of them.]
Shoveling snow in front of the Gurung Co-op
Soon we heard a chopper.
And it landed right beside the path.
Several of these people below climbed aboard,
and by the time we got down the path to their level, the chopper was taking off.
Deb thought probably someone in the party was suffering from altitude sickness, but I heard from someone else later in the day that they had flown up the day before, hiked to ABC, spent the night, and flown out.
My porter with the lodge and Tent Peak behind
The way to ABC
Tharpu Chuli
ABC is just over the hill
Machhapuchhare Base Camp (MBC)
The way down
I wonder how long it takes to dry