Day 4 - Low Camp to High Camp

High Camp is the highest camp on our trek and, hopefully, would provide us with the most spectacular view of the Annapurna Range. Rather disconcertingly, Hari told us that he had led a 7 day trek just last week to the same area and they did not get any views of the Annapurna Range - ever.

This is to be another short day, 4 to 5 hours but another rise of 500 metres to take us to our camp at around 3,500 metres.

The walking involved is probably best summed up by the picture of Sylvia taken by Steve - two and a half hours and 2.3 kms into the walk. I am sure that if he had pointed the camera at any of us we would have looked like this!

The walk started through the rhododendron forest but when we reached the ridge we were above the treeline. We were walking through grassy fields but still climbing. By the time we reached camp the weather had closed right in and it was pretty wet and miserable.

We had some lunch after which Sylvia and Carol went for a lie down in the tents. Steve and I watched the rain until all of a sudden it cleared. There right next to us was the Annapurna Range. We got Sylvia and Carol out of the tents and we enjoyed snapping pictures and taking in the view for an hour or so. This was also our first full view of why the Fishtail has its nickname - the face we were looking at was definitely shaped like a fishes' tail.

And then it rained again. Not just any rain - a monsoonal downpour! The girls, exhausted from such breathtaking views, were having another lie down. Steve and I were in the dining tent watching a river flow through! To make things easier, Hari prepared us some fresh roasted peanuts and delivered them with chocolate biscuits - not a bad way to spend an hour or two.

Except, while we were indulging ourselves, there was a dog barking at the back of the tent. After about half an hour of this it gave a sudden yelp and then the tent collapsed around us. Outside the door was what I told Steve was a black and white water buffalo that had just head butted the dog while ripping the pegs out of our tent. Turns out it was the dominant Tibetan Yak in the herd that was up there and it took exception to the dog harassing him and his mates.

The rain cleared again before dinner so we were treated to more views of the range.

Interestingly, we met the only other trekking group we saw after leaving Deurali as we were ascending to High Camp. It was a group of South Koreans, two men, a lady and a boy. They had actually been to Mardi Himal Base camp, which is further than we went, and warned us of ice up there. We stopped for a while and had a pleasant chat with them as one of them had been to Melbourne and was keen to discuss what he knew.

Nepal Day 4 - Low Camp to High Camp