Mardi Himal 6 : Upper Viewpoint – Trek Day 4

High Camp to Upper Viewpoint, back to High Camp & then down to Low Camp – Trek Day 4 : ~13 KM; ~ 7 Hours

To the 'rush of the rarest red'; To the tsunami in the breathwork; To the restless thrill in every conscious cell of the body; And yet, to the calm in the nerves...To the roar of my lion dreams and the quivering of my chicken heart, I count my blessings.

Ah! To Life!

Robert Frost says, ‘You can’t get too much winter in the winter’. This line has always given me a fuzzy feeling of warm boots and mugs full of hot chocolate. But at 4 o'clock in the morning in the High Camp, when I put on my freaking cold t-shirt and it sends a chilling shock to my skin, I feel this is a tad too much winter for me!

I have no words !

I got about seven layers of clothes on me, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of hats. My toes feel bitterly stiff as I start the trek on the cold winter night.

And we climb up...

Mardi Viewpoint (4200m)

The trail starts off with a gradual ascent, winding its way around two mountains and then it climbs up through a series of stony steps. There are no tall trees here, just valley grass and short stubs going down the slopes. The exposure to the elements is real. The current lack of wind as we walk along is a blessing.

Leaving behind the teahouses at High Camp...

As we get halfway through the climb, the darkness seems to fade off. As the dawn peels through dim lights, the mountain folds get more prominent. Suddenly, a sharp orange light tears through the dark horizon and sets the sky on fire!

Gosh ! How do I put this feeling in words !

I take a turn from behind the mountain wall, a big boulder possibly; my head down, focussed on the troubled footsteps. I breathe hard. I look up to gauge the gradient of the slope ahead. And like a flick of a magic, a golden dome shines brightly at me! The massive white majestic peak of the Annapurna South appears out of the cold darkness. An orangish golden radiance of the rising Sun floods the valley. The peak shines like the queen it is! My heart skips a beat; a foolish smile rests on my lips as I climb up the steps to bask in the mountain glow.

Mama Nature does her Magic and I am all smiles !

You know the feeling when the heart bursts into a thousand pieces because it fails to contain the myriads of emotions! Well…my lion dreams roar and my chicken heart quivers. I am in love with Annapurna…all of them!

Such amazing contrasts !

I continue the climb through the rough steps and its many deceiving turns. As it gets nearer to the top, the climb gets harder. And the harder it gets, the more alluring it becomes. It softly announces the proximity of the summit and the possibility of something magical. Maniram suddenly looks excited as he spots a Himalayan Monal on the climb. It’s a very shy bird and rarely spotted. and my first time ever seeing this bird outside of television! Its gorgeous! Its feathers are a celebration of colours.

Himalayan Monal ^.^

We trudge along. Every steep climb seems to be the last climb before the viewpoint, only to find further steps in front. My legs and glutes ache, my breathing gets harder. But I do not feel tired. There is a magical energy around. Slowly and steadily, we get to the top in due time.

At the Viewpoint !

Words fail me now!

All the majestic peaks that have been our companions all along for the last three days, suddenly launch themselves into a surreal scale of grandeur! They appear so much bigger, so much bolder, so much more beautiful and so very close! Hiunchuli, which appeared to be smaller than Annapurna South all this way, is suddenly so huge! You can see the glaciers in their folds too.

Hiunchuli looks so much bigger now !

Machhapuchhre has never seemed more taller and prouder. And in between Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhare, from behind a set of brown hilly wrinkles, shines the pristine Annapurna massif. The wide-spread milky snowy top of Annapurna I brings a wave of nostalgia from my days of ABC trek.

Annapurna I !

A series of other peaks like Gangapurna, Annapurna III, Gandharba Chull and of course, Mardi Himal have also unfolded themselves, making the picture complete.

We started late so we experienced the sunrise halfway up. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience the same up top! Nonetheless, it's mind blowing.

Machhapuchhre or Fishtail !

The lovely blue sky, the white snowclad queens, the earthy mountain creases, the plunging yellow-mossy valleys and I stand amidst them, completely soaked in the over-pouring beauty of the Annapurna range. You know that physical touch of emotions? an overwhelming gush of gratitude and love? Somehow, it's all there. Unexplainable. And I know I repeat myself when I say, its Magic. It is Magic.

With The Queens...

We fuel ourselves with a handful of dry fruits, apples, protein bars, chocolates and a very costly mug of black tea. We spend a good amount of time there taking pictures, marveling at the splendor and just sitting in silence. After an hour or so, we slowly start the descent. We come back to the High Camp just before midday and help ourselves with another little meal of omelette and fries.

An Apple On the D-Day!

We rest for a bit and then start to climb down to Low Camp – our destination for the day. We expected Low Camp to feel warmer after the freezing cold conditions in the High Camp, but the Sun decides otherwise. It gets a lot cloudy on the way down. And it feels equally cold, if not more at Low Camp today.

Back at the High Camp in the afternoon.

Low Camp (3050m)

We are at a different teahouse at Low Camp this time. The owner is very old and seems to be fumbling. He offers us Wi-Fi at a cost. When we say, we are okay without Wi-Fi, he offers it to us for free! He says he is too old to ask for money anyway. A sweet generosity coming from this lonely man at the top of the mountain.

On the way to Low Camp; Leaving the peaks behind...

We do our usual routine of changing to warmer clothes, pottering around the campsite, drinking some hot ginger lemon tea and finally settling in front of the burning stove. We get served a cold dinner today, courtesy of the struggling old host. You can’t really blame him though. He is just old. Whilst having dinner, we meet another couple from Bangladesh today. They will be on their way up to the High Camp the next day. We chat for a bit, then I wish them luck and call it a night.

That first glimpse of the golden Annapurna lingers as I shut my eyes...