Day 11: Thorung Phedi - Thorung La - Muktinath (14, 599ft-17,768 ft-12,335ft)

A reenactment of the proposal at 17,872 ft.

A juxtaposition of colors and textures.

Bleary eyed at dawn. The sun rising and moon setting over Thorung Phedi.

We got our earliest start yet (6am) to tackle our monster of a day which has us climbing 3,300 ft and descending about 5,300 ft in the same day, which should take us a good 8-10 hrs in total. We have gotten the reputation for being the slackers on the trail as we are usually the absolute last party to set off for the day. Today was no exception as many parties left Thorung Phedi at 3:30am in the morning to beat the crowds and get over the pass before the late morning winds kicked up. We found in completely unnecessary to get up that early as the weather has been ideal the past several days and folks put themselves in more danger from trekking on unstable ground in the dark and risk of hypothermia due to the frigid early morning temps. Steve and were fairly intimidated about today's trek as we've heard numerous stories of how many people fail to cross due to AMS or other ailments. As we were setting off, we overheard another trekker negotiating a helicopter for her sick partner who failed to make it earlier this morning. Helicopter rescues cost in the range of $2,500-$5,000!

The morning ascent was cold and uncomfortable as the dry slightly above freezing temps dried out our sinuses and exacerbated our breathing difficulty in the thin air. Once the sun rose, we were able to shed our hats and gloves and a few layers which made trekking a little more comfortable. We managed to push through the 5hr ascent by playing mental games in our head (like naming US cities in alphabetical order or 6 degrees of separation with actors and movies) or simply counting paces as it took all our concentration to breathe and put one foot in front of the other. After passing several glaciers and witnessing an avalanche (from far away) we finally made it to the top of the pass.

I was starting to get a headache at the top so I told Steve that I simply wanted to take our photos and start heading down as soon as possible. Steve kept stalling with various activities to my growing dismay, when suddenly he crouched down to me (I guess his legs were hurting from all that climbing making it difficult to kneel) and asked me to marry him! Forgetting all about my headache, I of course accepted with open arms, but I guess it was a bit windy up there because Steve had to ask me a second time because he hadn't heard my first response! We shared the great news with Prem, who probably didn't understand any of it, but he was a good sport taking staged photos of the proposal. Not sure if it was the extra strength Aleve that I took, the extra oxygen my brain was getting on the descent, or my euphoria at our future, but I seemed to float all the way down the mountain to Muktinath.