Annapurna Sanctuary Trek – At the Top

In 2013, MK and I trekked in Nepal’s Himalayas, spending time both pre- and post-trek in Kathmandu and Pokhara. This is part 6 of an 8 part series on our experiences. Please use this site’s search function to read other parts of this series

The alarm goes off at 3:30 a.m. I lean over. MK is shivering in her sleeping bag. She is still sick and nauseous. Her fever has interrupted her sleep. She had a helluva birthday yesterday and now, one day later, still feels terrible.

"Go on without me,” she says. “There is no way I'll be able to make it."  I kiss her forehead, which is cool and damp from perspiration.

“I’ll be back in several hours,” I tell her. “Maybe in time for some breakfast.”

I leave our room. It is pitch black. The stars are brilliant. There is a cold wind coming off of the mountains from the west. I gauge the temperature to be around 20 degrees. I wait for the 4:00 a.m. meeting with our guide, lingering in an alcove near the toilets of our tea house to stay out of the wind. As I tremble in the cold, I feel bad for leaving MK behind. But, back before we left the States, we agreed that if one couldn't make it, the other one would still try. That way, at least one of us would achieve the goal of reaching the Sanctuary.

Our original goal was to trek up to Everest Base Camp. This had been a dream of MK’s for many years. We scheduled our trip so that on her actual birthday, her milestone fifty year birthday, we would arrive at Everest Base Camp. But the weather conspired against us. We learned of the grim forecast soon after we arrived in Kathmandu.

Our spirits sagged as one flight after another into Lukla, the gateway village for trekkers hoping to make it up to base camp, was delayed due to the poor weather, rain, and fog. It would be impossible to land at its notoriously perilous airstrip. Eventually, all flights would be cancelled, dashing our hopes and dreams of reaching our long sought after destination.

Of course, the weather would have to eventually clear, but we could not afford the time to wait any further. We would have to seek out another trek with a schedule that would fit within the limits of our vacation time.

We chose a trek to Annapurna Base Camp and the Annapurna Sanctuary as our alternative. Pokhara, the gateway city for this trek, was not subject to the same weather problems that frequented Lukla. The flight there was without delay and our trek to the top was soon underway.

After six days of trekking in weather both cloudy and rainy and later, fantastically clear and crisp, we made it to our tea house in the waning light of the late afternoon about three hours below the Sanctuary. Along the way, we both had our struggles with various stomach and intestinal maladies. MK’s, however, lingered and left her weak enough that she needed a day of rest while I pushed on.

On schedule, Ramkumar, our guide, shows up at 4:00 a.m., finding me waiting in my sheltered alcove. He is fully dressed in his parka and other winter gear. I match him with my outerwear: t-shirt, mid layer jacket, parka, hat, and gloves. I turn on my headlamp. It helps to guide the way in the darkness. Instead of a headlamp, Ramkumar uses the flashlight app on his smart phone but only does so to augment the light from my lamp. He otherwise picks his way along the rocky trail by instinct, having traveled this route many times in the past.

I look up ahead. Many tiny dots of light – trekkers’ headlamps – are snaking their way up the trail. I look behind me. There are many more dots of light, all moving up the trail along with Ramkumar and me. 

People are moving along at varying paces. I say I'm about average. We come up on a slower group. There are about eight of them, all resting but doing so right on the trail itself. I can't get by them. They are oblivious to my presence. I elbow my way through. They begrudgingly move, just enough to let me by. 

The cold is biting. Despite this, I start to overheat. I need to strip off one of my layers before the sweat will chill me later on. I do so without moving off of the trail. It is my turn to be oblivious to those stacking up behind me, waiting to pass while I adjust my clothing. With apologies, I move to allow many to pass me, their pace quicker than mine. 

I struggle with the exertion. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it will explode out of my chest. After working fine for 55 years, please don't fail me now. We are nearing 13,000 feet. Doubts start to creep in. What am I doing this for? This is a young man's sport. Are our days of this kind of adventure numbered? The pay off will be the views at the top, right? 

It is still dark. I hear the roaring, glacial fed river on my left but I cannot see it. On my right, I hear the neck bells the sheep were wearing when they passed us on the trail yesterday. I must be in an area where they bed down for the night. I smell wood smoke, perhaps from the camp the shepherd has set up for the night. That smell is interrupted by the smell of garlic by several others who pass me. I read that garlic helps with altitude sickness, or at least alleviates some of its symptoms. 

The skies start to brighten. The mountains make their appearance. They are ghostly white against the backdrop of dark skies. We reach the sign announcing our arrival at Annapurna Base Camp. I'm at 13,550 feet, the highest I have ever been. We walk through the lodges and guest houses that are based here. Those that have spent the night and those, like us, who have made the trek up from the lower camp, all gather on a rise a few hundred feet further up the trail. 

Ram and I reach base camp, just below the Sanctuary 

From this rise, we see the mountains bathed in the day's sunrise. Alpenglow it is called. Several nearby trekkers cheer at this first sign of the mountains receiving the day’s sunrise. The scene is stupendous. The mountains surround us on all sides. The area is called the Annapurna Sanctuary, an apt description in that the mountain range and different mountain peaks are viewable 360 degrees.

Full sunlight now bathes the mountains. Various shrines and chortens, honoring deceased mountain climbers and draped in colorful prayer flags, are silhouetted against the stark and bright white peaks. The skies are turning a brilliant blue with no clouds whatsoever.

I stand next to Ramkumar. We shake hands. I thank him for taking me up here. He says this is around the 25th time he has been to this spot and that this is probably the best weather he has ever experienced in all those times. I am now impervious to the cold. Instead, I am awe struck with what nature can produce.

After an hour, it is time to turn and head back down. We drink a cup of hot, black coffee before shouldering our packs. I turn and take one last look at the scene. We begin our descent back to the lower camp. I can now see what was invisible in the dark on the way up. I cannot believe what we traversed to get up here; an accomplishment to be sure. 

Approaching camp, I see MK in the distance. She is up and dressed. She tells me that she is feeling a tad better, but still knows she would not have been able to tackle the trek and the heights just accomplished. She is happy that I was able to make it. And I am happy that I have a wife as great as her, who allowed me to proceed without any resentment. 

SuZen and Ram prepare for the descent

And so do we

We pack up after breakfast and begin our further descent to lower elevations.  Along the way, my Achilles tendon begins to tighten. The pain soon follows. My entire ankle hurts, I can barely walk. The walking sticks save me. They allow me to make progress, painful though it is. 

We arrive at a small village guest house located at around 10,000 feet and our stop for the night. We room with two Canadians. They give me a fistful of pain relievers with codeine to combat the pain in my ankle.

Miraculously, my ankle feels very good when I awake. What was that all about? I can barely walk one day and the next, I’m good to go.

We leave the guest house at our normal early hour. We have two and a half days to get down to Nayapul where a car would be waiting to take us back to Pokhara, our flight to Kathmandu, and our connection back to the United States.

A video of the experience at the top and into the Sanctuary is at the following link: