the peacemill: annapurna cicuit day 4

day 4 was a doozy. the views were astounding up that point, but had lacked the monster mountains i came for. but no more. i walked out my door in the morning and there she was, lamjung himal (22,910 ft), staring at me with the glory of the rising sun dressing her in a glowing yellow. off to the right the 26,040 ft annapurna II was just visible over other mountains. what a beginning to the day. they, as i was brushing my teeth a few minutes later there was a cloud of white on lamjung himal. an avalanche. it was breathtaking.

that day we climbed more than 2500 ft to lower pisang, passing one of the most stunning remnants of glaciation i've ever seen in person. the the swargadwari danda is a smooth as glass rock face that looks more like a slide, soaring from the riverbed more than 4000 ft. i couldn't help but think it would be fun to slide down it. deadly too.

in the afternoon we gained enough elevation and turned in behind what is called the great barrier, to see the vegetation grow sparser and dryer. mom, it looked like the mountains around flagstaff to be sure. i remarked the very thing to my guide. in pisang, where i spent the night, i was once again among tibetans. it felt like home in a way. though they spoke a different language and i could not communicate with them, it was good to be with them.

on this day i began to see that i was in a very daring place, daring of life to take hold and live abundantly. these people struggle so hard to make their living. and the weather is brutal. the winds ripped through the valley, chapping my skin, and giving all the locals the distinctive red cheeks of the tibetan plateau. at night the temperatures dropped quickly, and i had to run back to my room to put on the long johns, which i wore with shorts. quite stylish indeed.

this was also the place i met the most racist man i've ever met. maybe i've ever heard of outside a few famous ones. listening to him talk literally made my stomach knot up. it had to bite my tongue to avoid lashing out in violent speak, or from getting made enough to hit him. he was so pompous he offered to send me his book, detailing his theories of race for free, offering that it might open up some doors for me and help me see things clearly. what and prick. the really strange thing was that he did not see that his theories were based on bad science. really bad science. to me he was just a man giddy to have a justification for his bigotry. science can be a danger to those with causes to justify. my opinion of aussies changed a lot on this trip. 3 out of 4 offered what i consider to be racist opinions of the aborigines. i know they are not all that way, but man.