Out of camp at 7:30 - cold and clear as usual. A large Spanish group and the small independent groups were also moving this day. We went up and across the Chhonbarden glacier and along the moraine towards French Col at 17,173 ft. We started off with all our clothes on as the temp was around 20F, but once the sun came out we ditched the down jackets only to put them back on as we neared the very windy French Col. By the time we hit the pass, I was starting to feel some mountain sickness. I finally went on the Diamox and it seemed to help.
The view from French Col made the trip for me. So many huge mountains, icefalls, and the barren swath of land across Hidden Valley that we imagined what most of the Tibetan alpine must look like. About an hour after we descended from French Col, the clouds started rolling over the top obscuring the views. It would've been a real bummer to get there and not have been able to see the view. After many stops for photos, we finally rolled into camp at 2pm. All the porters had beat us to camp - now that their loads were getting relatively light they had definitely picked up the pace.
We passed by where the large groups were camped and traveled a bit further to have some privacy. After several days of being in a pack of a hundred or so hikers and porters, it was nice to get back to just our little group. Nima found a small trickle of water running below some ice, so the fuel should stretch a bit longer since we don’t need to melt snow for drinking water.
...the next day
link to all the photos
The view from French Col made the trip for me. So many huge mountains, icefalls, and the barren swath of land across Hidden Valley that we imagined what most of the Tibetan alpine must look like. About an hour after we descended from French Col, the clouds started rolling over the top obscuring the views. It would've been a real bummer to get there and not have been able to see the view. After many stops for photos, we finally rolled into camp at 2pm. All the porters had beat us to camp - now that their loads were getting relatively light they had definitely picked up the pace.
We passed by where the large groups were camped and traveled a bit further to have some privacy. After several days of being in a pack of a hundred or so hikers and porters, it was nice to get back to just our little group. Nima found a small trickle of water running below some ice, so the fuel should stretch a bit longer since we don’t need to melt snow for drinking water.
...the next day
link to all the photos
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