Day 6
And now, the day of the ABC arrival! It was now time to push the 4000m barrier and it started with a gentle climb through tree-less, dried grass covered terrain. Rocks strewn everywhere, with fluorescent green cacti hanging for dear life underneath, with the ever flowing rapids and the hills snow laden, this scene resembled an abandoned planet. As winter approaches, the snow line drops soon to meet the tree line. The dry and thinner air made the gradual incline feel like a steep climb. In fact I consumed 2 litres of water before our first tea break at Fishtail Base Camp!
The theatre of mountains beckoned us not long after and we saw the first stream of trekkers leaving ABC after viewing the sunrise. Annapurna III glowed in the sunlight, before the rays reached us, and its presence indicated the location of Fishtail Base Camp (MBC). There were quite a few misnomers here. We had tea at the "Gurung Co-operative Guest House" but the guide said that it is not actually a co-operative (I'm getting used to over-the-top naming of guest houses). According to the Hindu customs, Fishtail (Macchapucchare) mountain is holy and climbing it is prohibited. So I didn´t bother to ask why we were in its base camp(!!). So, this was out last stop before ABC. The journey for today took just 4 hours but the last 30 minutes of it was eternal as we were now above 4000m, the air was thinner still and the wind chill eating in. The incline here followed the path of main glacier. Behind us, Fishtail began to glow in the emerging sun and avalanches were stirred higher up in the more distant Annapurna peaks. MBC disappeared behind us and the partially frozen but flowing streams were now on the opposite side of our path with regard to the glacier. Basically it felt like hell froze over with heaven just round the corner.
Dry and slash-n-burned grass were the main vegetation, even the fluorescent cacti shied away, and the landscape became more desert like. ABC's rooftops became visible and closer but the gasps for the meagre oxygen made the destination seem elusive. At last we arrived! Fellow trekkers trickled in as we struggled to sit down on the outside porch of our guesthouse. My main concern was keeping warm with the help of some noodle soup, and it was in style, smiling at the view ahead of us with Fishtail and its sister Annapurna peaks gleaming back at us.
K.
The theatre of mountains beckoned us not long after and we saw the first stream of trekkers leaving ABC after viewing the sunrise. Annapurna III glowed in the sunlight, before the rays reached us, and its presence indicated the location of Fishtail Base Camp (MBC). There were quite a few misnomers here. We had tea at the "Gurung Co-operative Guest House" but the guide said that it is not actually a co-operative (I'm getting used to over-the-top naming of guest houses). According to the Hindu customs, Fishtail (Macchapucchare) mountain is holy and climbing it is prohibited. So I didn´t bother to ask why we were in its base camp(!!). So, this was out last stop before ABC. The journey for today took just 4 hours but the last 30 minutes of it was eternal as we were now above 4000m, the air was thinner still and the wind chill eating in. The incline here followed the path of main glacier. Behind us, Fishtail began to glow in the emerging sun and avalanches were stirred higher up in the more distant Annapurna peaks. MBC disappeared behind us and the partially frozen but flowing streams were now on the opposite side of our path with regard to the glacier. Basically it felt like hell froze over with heaven just round the corner.
Dry and slash-n-burned grass were the main vegetation, even the fluorescent cacti shied away, and the landscape became more desert like. ABC's rooftops became visible and closer but the gasps for the meagre oxygen made the destination seem elusive. At last we arrived! Fellow trekkers trickled in as we struggled to sit down on the outside porch of our guesthouse. My main concern was keeping warm with the help of some noodle soup, and it was in style, smiling at the view ahead of us with Fishtail and its sister Annapurna peaks gleaming back at us.
K.
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