World-Class Trekking Adventure On Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit-Part IV

We arrived at Thorung Phedi just before dark. An 8 hour day with an elevation gain of over 1000 meters. Long, tiring, and risky before a summit of the Thorung La Pass. But I was fine other then feeling the long day on the trail.

I’m not a huge fan of trekking in the dark. I feel more tired, frustrated, and generally uncomfortable, so sometimes these summit days don’t start out pleasant, but when the first light comes up in the sky my spirits are all of sudden lifted. I feel light, full of energy, and excited to reach our goal, in most cases, the hardest day of the journey. 

Yes there is a horse on the trek, some choose a horseback ride up to the top of the pass. For most it’s usually a 4-5 hour walk from Thorung Phedi. Some stay at Thorung high camp, just over 300 meters higher, which will slice an hour off your morning summit.

Whenever you reach the summit of a pass, which inevitably is part of many treks in Nepal, the feeling of accomplishment, relief, elation, is mutual with all of your fellow trekkers. 

The Thorung La Pass at 5416 meters, is the widest mountain pass in the world.  It’s always a place with dangerously high winds that start as early as 8am, so our time on the pass was limited to less than an hour before we started to descend. Just over a year ago this was the sight of one of the most tragic trekking accidents in the history of the Annapurna Circuit Trail.

On October 14 2014, a snowstorm struck the Annapurna, Manang, and Mustang Districts of Nepal causing severe avalanches. In the end over 400 people were rescued from the area with at least 43 deaths, which included 21 trekkers. Excerpts from “World-Class Trekking Adventure On Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit”.