Phedi means "foot" and today's hike was to the foot of Thorung Peak, and our last hike before the ascent to Thorung La, or Thorung Pass. It was again a short hike, but gained about a thousand feet of altitude, to 14,600. One thousand feet doesn't seem like much, but at this altitude, its impact is considerably greater. The air is now noticeably thinner, and finding a reasonable rhythm to the hike is paramount. Thorung Phedi consists of two guesthouses, one of which has a sun room that provided luxurious warmth for the afternoon after our hike.
After lunch, Waylen, John and I spent a couple hours taking an acclimatization hike up to High Camp, which, at about 15,600 feet, was a valuable but tiring exertion. The true benefit of High Camp, in my opinion, was a little dash we took up to an overlook, another ten minutes up, that provided stunning views of the whole valley and a glimpse of what was to come tomorrow. Additionally, we would be waking up so early the next morning that we'd be covering this stretch in darkness, so it was nice to get to see it. The panorama from our perch was especially rewarding, and provided a place for me to hang prayer flags, since I anticipated non-functioning hands the next day at the pass.
Rachael makes her way to Thorung Phedi.
Looking back, we could see the trail that guided us through the valley below.
Andrea in front of Thorung Peak. We're about 10 minutes from Thorung Phedi at this point.
This was taken from our perch at High Camp.
This panorama of the view from High Camp can be enlarged by clicking on it.
Posing behind the prayer flags I left for the elements.
Back in the sun room, I'm wearing the "Scarf of Shame." This scarf, picked up in Kathmandu, was awarded nightly to someone who exemplified shame through their actions over the past 24 hours. Whoever held the scarf would officially open up nominations at dinner, whereupon we would recount with great relish each other's inspiringly embarrassing behavior from the day, and then vote on the winner. The winner had to either wear the scarf or have it within 10 seconds of their body. Examples of winning behavior included slipping and falling on ice that the guide had JUST told us to avoid, losing one's passport (found by other members of the group), failing to clean one's hair, dumping a whole jar of salt into one's soup, etc. I earned the scarf for the extraordinarily shameful act of not having won the scarf before my last full day with the group. The Scarf of Shame was just one of many traditions that took hold on this hike, and I'm grateful for having had the good fortune of hiking with five such good-spirited people. Waylen, John, Rachael, Andrea, and Dante truly made this hike a memorable one, whether with our nightly card-playing, the many conversations we had while hiking, the sharing of food, the post-dinner journal-writing sessions, and the more general sharing of joy and suffering. I look forward to staying in touch with all of them.
The next morning, we would wake up early and begin our ascent to the pass. Since the weather was so cold, we wouldn't necessarily be hiking together, having to continue moving to generate body heat. We said our goodbyes before bed that night, and planned to see each other briefly once more in the groggy pre-dawn hour before our hike.
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