Day 11: Thorong Phedi to Muktinath — October 27th, 2016

We were woken up at 3:00 am by our guides and by 4:00 am, we were on our way to the pass. Several other groups also decided to hike at this time. The scene created was beautiful: no wind, perfect night skies, and tens of headlamps slowly moving up the hill.

After about an hour of uphill hiking, we made it to Thorong High Camp. Despite being around minus eight degrees Celsius, I was feeling great. I felt a little thirsty as my CamelBak tube was frozen. We continued up slowly as the sun started rising. The sunrise at 5,000 meters is something I will never forget. I am not sure if it was because of how high we were or the atmospheric conditions, but it was a purple sunrise. The silhouette of the horizon behind the Chulu range was white, with the sky colors going from a faint lavender to black as your eyes moved up the sky. Unfortunately, I could not capture the moment as it was too cold to take my gloves off.

After our last tea stop, four of us and a guide decided to go towards the pass. I slowly started to stay behind. After hiking for two and half hours uphill, in high altitude, in minus five to minus ten degree weather, I was spent. The last 500 meters hike to the summit was one of the hardest things I have ever done. After a long struggle, I finally made it. I had achieved the goal of making it to Thorong La Pass (5,416 meters above sea level), a goal I dreamed of two years ago.

After receiving the congratulations of my companions, I suddenly realized that there was a DJ spinning house music at the top of the pass. It was such a surreal scene! Props to the porter who had to carry on his back a large speaker and a diesel generator.

DJ Chhewang spinning at Thorong La Pass (5,416 meters)

More of my companions started arriving. When the last one showed up with our head guide, we all rejoiced. We had all made it! We completed this accomplishment together! An accomplishment which has a ~25% failure rate!