Text Box: Xpedition 8000

Dispatch Twelve: April 5th, 2010

Annapurna Expedition 2010

Day Twelve: Trek from Miristi Khola to Annapurna North Base Camp

Today, we woke up at 6:00am, had breakfast in our tents, and quickly packed up our things so the porters could get an early start on the day (they intend to return to Lete directly after reaching Annapurna Base Camp). The trek was a gradual uphill alongside the river. Around 4000m, we turned east and ascended the final 200 meters to Annapurna North Base Camp. We quickly began preparing the place for our individual tents and the mess tent, and by the time we were finished, most of our equipment had arrived, to our relief. We pitched the tents, organized the gear that we had with us, had lunch outside in the sun, then were visited by both the Korean expedition as well as the Spanish Al Filo expedition. A number of them recognized me from 2007 expeditions on Broad Peak and Shishapangma, where they were also with Edurne Pasaban filming for Al Filo del Imposible. After their visits, we took refuge in the mess tent with hot drinks, as it began to snow outside. We headed up to visit the Koreans, but couldn’t find their mess tent within their enormous tent city, so decided instead to visit Carlos Pauner. He described the route for us and warned us of it’s dangers, chatted  about past expeditions, and told us that Juanito was up at Camp II and probably would be heading down tomorrow. We thanked Carlos for his hospitality, then headed back to our camp for dinner. We ate dinner, chatted for a bit, then went to bed, relieved to finally be settled in Base Camp. Tomorrow, we will have a small puja ceremony and the following day, weather permitting, I will head up to Camp I, and possibly up to Camp II the following day, weather and route conditions permitting.

Photos: Left: Annapurna I with high winds viewed close to sunrise; Right: My tent in Annapurna Base Camp, my home for the next month 

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