Greetings from Nepal…wish you were here!

Photo taken just after passing the Thorong-La Pass, at almost 18,000 feet, the highest point along the Annapurna Trek. We had to hike all the way down to that light brown speck at the bottom.  

My recent trip to Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico got me reminiscing about the long hike down from the highest point of the Annapurna Trek.  We had started at 4 am, hiking in a long line up in complete silence and darkness.  My nerves were bothering me as I wasn’t sure yet if I could make it to the top.  It wasn’t due to stamina but due to the fact that I’d never been that high before.  It was freezing cold and slippery.  At one point a mule train began to slide and I thought that it was over for the poor creatures.  But thankfully the mule caught its step and didn’t go crashing down the mountain to its death.

By 6:30 am as the sun was rising, we made it to the top.  We were elated and took loads of  photos which are triumphantly displayed on my blog thirdeyemom and in my home.  Yet what we forgot about was the long hike down.  It was a five-hour strenuous hike in which we descended over 5,000 feet.  I could barely walk the last hour of the way, my knees hurt so bad and my feet ached.  But somehow I made it.

Fast forward to last weekend, when I was climbing up to 12,400 feet carrying my skies on my back and wearing ski boots, I thought back to that moment.  I was exhausted but realized that this trek up to ski down the ridge was nothing like I’d done a year before.  It just goes to show what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it!