day 7 & 8

up and over. i didn't take many pictures these 2 days. as the scottish guy i trekked with said, it was a brutal slog. these 2 days we climbed over 6000ft. from manang to thorong phedi (base camp of the pass) wasn't too bad, but i hardly slept because of the altitude. that made the next morning all the more difficult. the first hour from thorung phedi to the pass almost knocked me out. literally. my heart was pounding, and my head was aching, though i was hardly moving at all. so you can get an idea of my pace, stand up and take one step every 2-3 seconds and suck in a lung full of air. that's what i did for 5 hours straight up to the pass.

the one good thing about this all was that i was the 2nd to last person to set off for the pass, but i was by no means the last person up. i passed at least 30 people going up, and more coming down. most left before sunrise, hoping for good views and plenty of time. the earliest people left at 2am. not smart. i waited to about 6:30, about 2 hours after originally planned. sometime during the night it began to snow, so for me there was no hope of a good view. most of the way it was a near white out. man was it cold at the top (17,769ft). the wind blew hard, snow fell steady and my hands and feet felt it brutality. but i did it, marking my highest point ever reached while on land.

thorung phedi (14,599ft) with 2 of the 3 kiwis and the scotsman i trekked with.

me at the highest point of the trek (17,769ft). it was cold.