Day 134 - 4850 Metres Elevation. Letdar to Thorung Phedi

We are now above the tree-line. With no trees to hold the rocks and dirt in place, the mountains are subject to frequent landslides. As we passed into one area a sign warned "Entering Landslide Area". "No Shit" I thought to myself, eyeing the loose rock sloping up, the same loose rock that had been looming over us for the past few kilometres. I kept hearing rumbles from the mountain above, but I couldn't place where they were coming from. A Nepali guide ahead of us didn't seem to be worried, so I thought I might be imagining things and kept going forward.

Then a rock flew by. The guide stopped, and I stopped behind him. Another rumble, and few more rocks came whizzing by. They weren't large, but they were moving so fast that they made a sound like a blender as they hurtled by. "RUN!" called the guide as he sprinted off. "GO, GO, GO!" I yelled back to Cz, and ran after the guide. Remember that we are at over 4000 metres of altitude (That's about 14000 feet for those of you out there on the imperial system). Remember that we are wearing packs. Remember that this is uphill. Remember that the paths are no wider than ones shoulder at times. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing.

I cleared the likely path of a landslide and looked back for Cz. Adrenaline wasn't enough to push him into a run uphill at that altitude. He hunkered below a boulder, still in the line of the slide. Rocks, some as big a two footballs together continued raining down. Cz ducked and dodged and waved porters and other hikers to stop. As the rock rain slowed to a trickle, the guide waved Cz and the other UW girl on. Cz managed to pick up a stone that dropped two feet in front of him (as a keepsake perhaps?). They scrambled across the slide, and we continued on. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we passed the sign marking the edge of the landslide zone. Oddly enough it was painted with "Thank You". Thank you for what? Not dying where someone would have to porter your body out?

We were thankful though, and the rest of the day passed uneventfully.

We arrived in Thorung Phedi by 9:30 AM. Nearly all the rooms were taken already, but luckily we had befriended a guide the night before, and he reserved two rooms for the UW girl and her gang, and Cz and I. We spent the rest of the morning playing cards and airing out socks and sleeping bags.

Around noon, UW girl, Cz, and I hiked up to High Camp (4850 Metres), another 450 Metres above Thorung Phedi (at a mere 4400) to acclimate and to get some idea of what tomorrow's hike would hold. The trek up wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, and we ran into some other trail friends at High Camp. We ate lunch, and then hauled ourleves back down to Thorung Phedi for an afternoon of yet more cards.

We all went to bed almost immediately after dinner, as tomorrow's haul up and over Thorung La would begin before dawn.