Trek Day 6

There was the freshly laid snow blanket to welcome us in the morning at MBC from the previous night's snow storm. The sky had cleared and we felt that the day would be great. We had a great view of the Machapuchare peak (Fishtail Peak) from the base camp. Mountaineering and Summiting the Fishtail Peak is banned by the Nepal Government due to religious reasons.

Usually at high altitudes the weather changes dramatically and within short period of time and hence it was always advisable to start the day early and complete the task on hand by noon.

We had an early breakfast and started our trek by 7 AM. As Ms. Asha has been advised not to continue the trek she started her walk downhill with one of the guides and the remaining 10 of us continued uphill towards ABC our final point in this expedition.

Even though the climb was gradual we had been briefed to go slow and enjoy the scenic beauty and to trudge carefully as walking on ice needs skill. The heavy jackets were on. Sun glasses were On (To save us from snow blindness), Gloves were On. The walk was slow but the whole group walked together and it was a day of photo session. the walk was pleasant except for the excessive clothing that we had On. The views that we saw made us spell bound and relieved us of all bodily pain caused by this arduous trek. The fresh snow blanket all around us and the icy fumes emanating from the snow covered peaks enthralled me. These memories will linger all

through my lifetime.

Me and Raji apart from various photo sessions, enjoyed playing in the snow as well; carving names and creating cartoons (It had been a childhood dream of mine). The short beautiful walk of 2.5 hours made us reach the amazing Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) from where almost all the mountain peaks of the Annapurna range where visible which include Annapurna 1, Annapurna 2, Annapurna 3, Annapurna 4, Gangapurna, Hulchuli etc...Annapurna 1 is the highest of the lot at 8091 Mts and is the tenth highest peak in the world.

We had reached an altitude of around 4200 Mts (14000 Feet) at ABC. It was not a mere achievement as there had been a few trekking accidents in the Annapurna circuit due to Avalanche and snow storms. 43 people had died in 2014 due to trekking accidents in the circuit. The base camp altitude is almost equal or higher than most

Mountain peaks in the Alps of Europe or Rockies of Continental USA. The enormity of our trek nor the achievement of the trek is yet to fully sink. Regardless of the pain and effort the mere accomplishment of a successful trek expedition was blissful.

We were provided with a dorm style accomodation and had difficulty sleeping due to adverse weather consitions in the night. The wind was howling all through the night with such velocity that it was difficult to sleep. As we have completed the trek expedition we were all eager to leave the camp and return to lower ground. The whole night was spent sleepless waiting for the first light.